Well-shaped Rubies from my Little Real Journal

It is an interesting fact to note that I am getting a chance to comment on my real world journal through this online journal. Maybe this is one of the pleasures I receive from blogging. I am kind of inspired to do this act of writing. I just returned from a creative writing class and I also read an interview with Jumpa Lahiri in which she discusses her writing style and her new collection of short stories titled –‘Unaccustomed Earth’.
So here I am to give you the best quotes that I have recorded in my real world diary.
The first one is from Deepak Chopra – The spirituo-management guru. The article appeared in TOI. I really enjoy reading the Sunday magazine of TOI for its colorful images and the spiritual corner.
‘You and I are infinite choice makers in every moment of our existence we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices. Some of these choices are made consciously, while others are made unconsciously. But the best way to understand and maximize the use of Karmic law is to become consciously aware of the choices we make in every moment’.
The next one is from Anne Frank…I almost forgot Anne (The other - I am trying to forget). She helped to discover the theater element in me. This one is from her book titled – Tales from the Secret Annex. The writing is titled as – ‘Why’
The saying “You must ask in order to know is true in so far as it leads to thinking about things, and by thinking nobody can never get worse but will only get better”
The third one is from Osho. I used to read Osho Times when I lived in Chennai. These days I practice what I have learned from him.
‘Associate your happiness with your own self. You are sitting unoccupied under a tree. Be happy. It will seem difficult how to be happy when there are no reasons for being happy. We usually become happy for some reason a friend is approaching, so you are happy. Happiness without any reason is masti, ecstasy. There is no visible cause for the happiness; one is just rejoicing in something from within’.

The Mountain - Louise Gluck

It was an accidental discovery. Thanks to Swaroop sir for pin pointing this particular poem in the bulky volume titled (1600 pages) – Elements of Literature. The poem is written by Louise Glϋck (I didn’t get much information about the poet except for another poem of hers which was there in www. livejournal .com. Anyway, one day, I will read more about her. The poem is a treat to all those good souls who like literature. It has little bit about Teaching and something about Life.

My students looked at me expectantly
I explain to them that the life of art is a life
of endless labour. Their expressions
hardly change; they need to know
a little more about endless labour
So I tell them the story of Sisyphus,
how he was doomed to push
a rock up a mountain, knowing nothing
would come of this effort
but that he would repeat it
indefinitely. I tell them
there is joy in this, in the artist’s life,
that one eludes
judgment and as I speak
I am secretly pushing a rock myself,
slyly pushing it up the steep
face of a mountain. Why do I lie
to these children? They aren’t listening,
they aren’t deceived, their fingers
tapping at the wooden desks –
So I retract
the myth; I tell them it occurs
in hell and that the artist lies
because he is obsessed with attainment
that he perceives the summit
as that place where he will live forever,
a place about to be
Transformed by his burden: with every breath,
I am standing at the top of the mountain.
Both my hands are free. And the rock has added
height to the mountain…

Gabriel Marquez on Journalists and Journalism - Part Two

Gabriel Marquez, the old timer in the profession feels that there is a gap between the human factor and the technology. The latter one is speeding forward leaving the former in a messy situation. The attempts made by the companies to acquire the latest gadgets and their slackness in training their staff about the know how about these modern tools. In his words ‘journalists are getting mired (trapped) in the labyrinth (confusion) created by technology as it hurtles forward’. Too much use of technology has impaired the human interactions for which newsrooms where once famous for. ‘Dehumansition is spreading at an alarming pace’. In order to illustrate the point he uses the example of the voice recorder – He says that ‘the recorder hears but does not listen’. He calls it – ‘the electronic parrot’.
All through his article Marques stresses the importance of human factor. This is applicable when you write and also when you collect the information for your writing. He says that the ideal journalist will always try to ‘touch the heart of the readers’. An ideal journalist will avoid the voice recorder and use the ‘modest note book’ instead. Marques remarks that the ‘voice recorder does not have a ‘heart’. He will depend on his ‘intelligence to assess the source of the news and judge them based on his ethical standards’. Marquez feels that one way to develop this human factor is to give importance to the humanities programmes in the universities.
According to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, academic schools fail to build three factors which are essential for any journalist to survive in the media profession.
Priority should be given to aptitude and vocation.
The academic environment should be research oriented.
Ethical standards should be set.
Marquez concludes his article by saying that journalism is all about facing the reality of life. A journalist should enjoy his art and ecstasy involved in breaking the news. He should be equipped to face the failures and the happiness that is part of the profession. He also reminds that the journalist should not experience a sense of finality, because he is always on the job without experiencing a ‘moment of peace’

Gabriel Marquez on Journalists and Journalism: Part One

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Colombian born Nobel Prize awarded writer and journalist. He shares his thoughts on the world’s best profession i.e. Journalism in this article which appeared in the Outlook Magazine anniversary issue. Garcia Marquez is one of Latin America's most recognized writers. Although he has written many acclaimed non-fiction and short stories, he is most well-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967and Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985. He has achieved both significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for introducing what has been labeled as magical realism to the literary world. He is thus considered one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. (Courtesy – Microsoft Encarta -2006).
In this article Marquez discusses the profession of journalism as it existed 15 years back. His ideas may look little out dated but they still are the cornerstones of the profession. Anyone who is curious to know the early stages of journalism will find it here in this article. The writer is juxtaposing the past with that of the present. There is a bit of nostalgia for the early practices of the profession. He ends his article by discussing the advent of technology and how it has influenced journalism in a negative way.

Marquez uses different epithets to describe journalism and journalists. Journalism is described as a craft which means that it should be handled carefully. The word also gives journalism the status of a creative enterprise. He fondly recollects the working atmosphere that existed earlier in the news rooms. He calls it as a ‘collaborative atmosphere’. Journalists worked in tight knit groups which enabled them to work in a more participative way. The kind of energy they had is described as ‘fanatical’. Today he compares news rooms to aseptic (protected) labs where people work hard in isolation.
During that time journalism fell into three categories – News, Features stories and Editorials. The editorial was given the highest importance as it needed lots of pruning and deliberations. Reporter’s job was regarded as something inferior. Marques make an auto-biographical comment here referring to the days when he worked as a journalist for a Colombian newspaper. He started his life as the member of the editorial staff. Through his hard work, he was able to work in different sections of the newspaper and finally he became a ‘plain old reporter’.
Marquez stress the importance of having a broad cultural back ground and extensive reading will help you in procuring this cultural background. Marques appreciate journalists who are self-taught since they are avid and quick learners. He is of the opinion that a school certificate is not necessary to become a good journalist.
In spite of the training they receive at media schools, most of the students enter the profession with ‘obvious deficiencies’. They have serious problems with grammar and spelling and they do not have an instinctive grasp of the news material. They also have false notions about the ethics of the profession. They have a pre-conceived notion that journalism is all about secrets and getting the news using any means. When they realize that they are misfits, they start blaming their teachers for failing to instill in them the virtues they do not have. Marquez opines that one important virtue that all journalists should possess is the ‘curiosity for life itself’.
…To be continued…

Words of Ruskin Bond and Abba...

'My solitude is not my own, for,I see now how much it belongs to them and that I have a responsibility for it in their regard, not just in my own. It is because I am one with them that I owe it to them to be alone, and when I am alone they are not 'they' but my own self. There are no strangers'.
from 'Confessions of a Guilty Bystander'

Thomas Merton.

That man is the strongest who stands alone.

The things I do best are the those things I do on my own, alone, of my own accord, without the advice or approval of others. Once I start doing what other people tell me to do both my character and creativity take a dip. It is when I strike out on my own that I succeed best.

Be like water, be soft, and clear, it finds its way through over or under any obstacle. It does not quarrel, it simply moves on (Lao-Tzu quoted in the movie – 'Memoirs of Geisha')

Finding sense once again with ABBA...

"They say a restless body can hide a peaceful soul.A voyager, ad a settler, they both have a distant goal.If I explore the heavens, or if I search inside.Well, it really doesn't matter as long as I can tell myselfI've always tried."

Like a roller in the ocean, life is motion

Move on

Like a wind that's always blowing, life is flowing

Move on

Like the sunrise in the morning, life is dawning

Move on

How I treasure every minute

Being part of it, being in it

With the urge to move on

I've travelled every country, I've travelled in my mind

It seems we're on a journey, a trip through space and time

And somewhere lies the answer

To all the questions why

What really makes the difference

Between all dead and living things, the will to stay alive...

Elegy On Dead Pet Animals...

Unda Kannan or the round eyed one passed away today. With a tinge of ceremony I buried him in the watery grave (toilet). He has left behind a legacy of silence. It seems as if he was trying to say something from his water world. He was elegant when he moved around in the limited square shaped world which I had provided him. I used to sit outside this world and look at his movements. He once had a partner. They both had filled my world with colors and animation. His partner left him some 3-4 months back.
(Entry dated – sometime in 2006 maybe in the month of February)

Quoted from Outlook magazine: Outlook magazine editor - Vinot Mehta on Funny
We’ve had bereavement in the family. Funny passed away a fortnight ago. Funny was one of the three stray dogs we had adopted. We called her funny because she had a crooked front leg, cauliflower ears, and when she ran she was a comic sight. I have never seen a dog so weary, loving, emaciated and slow. She had borne children, she had seen all there is to see; she seldom barked or pestered. She was supremely confident and supremely indifferent. Funny was stoic, patiently waiting to die. My wife and I fed her each morning and evening and the only time she perked up was when we approached her. She loved getting her stomach tickled, that was her sole pleasure in life.

Editor was extremely displeased at the attention we paid Funny. When it turned freezing cold, we would quietly sneak her in late at night was Editor was asleep. We made a bed for her, covered her with a blanket, and gave her some milk. She slept like a baby in the home she had ever known. In the morning Editor, having smelt her, would bark furiously. My wife would take her out and put her back on the road. She died of neglect. When we buried her close to Nizamuddin railway station, she looked completely at peace.
We miss Funny, for both of us life’s not the same without her.

A sensibly worded bookmark...

They say that we find happiness in the most unlikely places. The words below are quoted from a book mark which was there in my diary. These days I do not write in my diary because I have become a kind of a web junkie…anyway I am in the process of transferring the purple patches from my real world diary to the virtual journal. I find this exercise quite stimulating and challenging. So read on…
The three grand essentials of happiness are
Something to do
Someone to love
Something to hope for
One cannot run after happiness to find it, but seek to do good.
The day then will dawn full of expectation, the night will fall full of repose and this world will seem a very good place, and the world to come a better place still.

Seven tips to be happy...

1. Never be Late
2. Don't cheat
3. Live simple
4. Expect little
5. Work more
6. Always smile
7. Help others.

To this list I will add my own list which may give you happiness...

Listen to music everyday in the morning. Listen to songs that you like,preferrably instrumental songs.

Watch movies...not the violent ones but the ones which has a good story, a good line up of actors.

For Matrimonial Purposes - Book review

A novel which was recommended to me by my Prof. It took some time for me to finish reading 'For Matrimonial Purposes'. It started off with a dull phase with the character of Anju in a wedding reception. Then the story becomes fast paced with entry of Puran, the man from Madrid, and other prospective bridegrooms. The story ends with Anju wedded to Rohan. The book calls for an effortless reading. It is well-structured and the theme of matrimony is handled well. I would not be surprised if there is a movie version based on this book.
The book cover is done in a very elegant manner and the catch line – Would you let your mother choose your husband? is an interesting one and will get some readers hooked on to the book.
I enjoyed the special episode which Anju had with Jeff. I strongly feel that the author has spent some extra time creating the encounters between them, because it has got a special touch.

The book is another instance of the so called cross-cultural writing. An Indian looking with a sense of awe at the cauldron of Indianism from America. Maybe it is not as funny as the Inscrutable American but it is a good attempt. It will inspire all those people who want to write a line or two based on their cross-cultural experience.

The Human and the Being

The world is changing fast and I am just a conscious witness to it. It is an easy thing to do when you know that’s the only thing you can do. Reading, listening and watching news with a disinterested interest. Sarbjith is going to get hanged; Shivani’s murderer is roaming on the streets of India, 50 Iraqis got killed, Tibetan’s are protesting all over the world even in New York. They are spilling their own blood in their own land – Lhasa. There are n number of human rights activists all over the world fighting for what they believe is the right way to save human beings from the problems that are essentially human.

I am a nobody
Who are you?
Are you a Nobody too? (Emily Dickinson)

Creations from Language Lab - Page Two

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Creations from Language Lab - Newsletter Page One

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The month that wasn’t ...

Ha…it’s been a long time…the month of Feb just ebbed away with its leniency towards the leap year. Things are the same…fast paced and days of full immersion in the thing they call Life. I am completely drenched and from my mouth drip the essence of life. A drooling mouth with a hidden voracious appetite.
Oscars happened – my fav Ratatouille won the best picture award in the animation category. I fell in love with Marion Cotillard, the beautiful French dame who won the best actress Oscar and I started hating Elton John for making a remark in Larry King Live about the absence of good nominations in that category. I became more introspective after watching the new HBO series titled In Treatment. Dr Paul is just wonderful and Laura is lavishing (played by Melissa George). The show even inspired me to do a language exercise based on Conversation.
Valentine’s Day came to earth once again – Thank God…nothing much happened. But I watched a good movie that night which celebrated the beauty of friendship. I had read the book a few years back. The director of Finding Never land waves his filmy magic wand once again and there you have - The Kite Runner. A movie based on the best seller by the same name. It is haunting and true to the printed text. I think after Steven Spielberg, the only director who has got the knack of handling child artist is Marc Forster. I felt happy that day/night when I realized that I am in love with something deep inside me. It was also the day when The Hindu carried a thought provoking toon in its editorial page titled – Violentine’s Day – referring to the violence that rocked Mumbai based on the Marathi and North India dichotomy.

I lost my grandmother this month. This is all I have to say about her.

The marching month of March is here...
Many Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep...

Celebrating Grand/Motherhood

Times have changed and times are strange

Here I come, but I ain't the same

Mama, I'm coming home

Times gone by seem to be

You could have been a better friend to me

Mama, I'm coming home.

(Ozzy Osbourne – Greatest Hits)

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin

Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa

Yun to Main, Dikhlata Nahin

Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa

Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa

Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Meri Maa.

(Taare Zameen Par – Shankar Mahadevan)

Death struck again in our family maybe after a gap of two years. A ridiculous visitation which reminded everybody about the ultimate destination. My grandmother was an ordinary being who lived a cornered life in the corners of my ancestral home. Nothing much is known about her. (At least to me). She never told me stories or fed me with her hands. Going by stereotypical images of popular culture she was a bad grandma. Anyway who cares? Her life was hers and she left us with a handful of memories. This blog is dedicated to her and all the good people who loved her.

Above is given the lyrics from songs taken from the domain of my favourite songs. One is Ozzy singing about his home coming and the second from Aamir flick expressing the painful thoughts in a boy’s heart about himself and his mother. The first song is about a changed man and is filled with remorse and regret. He is talking about an irreversible situation. He is changed and even the times are changed. His mama is no more and only he has got (maybe) is a home filled with memories.

The second song is much more in depth when it comes to the emotional side. He is helpless and he is trying to reach out to his mother who never fully understood him. The song is more like a self-reflective character sketch. He is talking about his little life. The song and its singer's heart is at the right place and Sankar is the only singer who can infuse the magic into the lyrics. Hats off to him and to the other two – Loy and Ehasan.

Before You Kick The Bucket...

The Bucket List – Movie Review
The DVD cover was so beautiful that it captured my attention. I feel that it will be a shared feeling of all those who like good actors from Hollywood. I am referring to my favs Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
I admired Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt. Through his outstanding performance as the retired and widowed Mr Schmidt, he filled me with the feeling of catharsis. The humane part of the movie, when Schmidt sends 20 dollars to help a boy in Tanzania is touchy. At the end of the movie when he returns from his daughter who gets married against his wish, he finds a letter from this boy who thanks him for the little support he provided. I think that this scene is the purple patch of the movie.
Morgan Freeman became my fav actor in the year 2001 when the movie 'Driving Miss Daisy' was used as a visual text in Loyola, Chennai to teach English. It was a humble beginning but it soon developed into a deep admiration for one of the best actors that I have seen. I would like to quote the words of Mr Rick from Casablanca here “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". Thus started my lovely screen bonding with Morgan Freeman. I like him for his voice which he has used in Million Dollar Baby and Swashank Redemption. I am yet to listen to him in the academy award winning documentary – The March of The Penguins.
So it was true cinematic moment when these two actors came on the silver screen together in this movie which tells us to close our eyes and open our hearts. This is the story of two terminally ill patients who is given 6 months of life on this planet. They decide to have a ball of a time by doing things which they only had dreamt of doing. That’s the title of the movie – The Bucket List i.e. a things to do list that you prepare before you kick the bucket. The movie is a good entertainer and makes us realize the importance of living of our life to the fullest.

Parumala Thirumeni - A Memoir

Parumala thirumeni is the patron saint of Syrian Jacobite Christians. Right from my childhood I am aware of his spiritual presence in my family.In my childhood,the plan to visit the church at Mannar was recieved with joy and anticipation. As a child I never understood the charisma of Parumala Thirumeni.

As I grew up I could see,hear and feel his presence. My close family members shared their moments of faith and belief in him. He always struck me as person who devoted much of his life to understand the teachings of Christ. He followed His footsteps and lead a simple life. He spent most of his time in prayers and he became the youngest Thirumeni in the Orthodox Church. Whenever I visit this hallowed spot I have felt that I am part of the life of a man whose message was simple but difficult to follow.

One week back I was at Mannar to become part of this space of faith. I realy felt peaceful and happy to be part of the evening prayers and I am sure that the memory of the same will keep me going for some time.

Thanks a lot Thirumeni...

Music as a Therapy

This is part of my experiment to bring together music and writing. It is a simple technique where I listen to some songs which I think are related to the theme of my writing. Today the topic I have in my mind is loss and the human way of comprehending it. It is deeply personal and it can never be a shared experience. Music, I feel will trigger some verbal vibrations in me and I just write about that.

I Made my Excuses and Left – Pet Shop Boys – Fundamental.
Sense of loss is something that grips you when you are alone. You are aware of the absence of something or somebody and your mind is filled with the thoughts. Some of your thoughts can be awkward. But they are deep and intimate. Sometimes it is difficult even to put them in words. Very often, you are drawn into these whirlpools of thoughts.

Puff the magic dragon – Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Your feeling of loss heightens when you remember the good days when you had possessed the object of affection. The word possession is too tough. It is more of a attachment which later on becomes a kind of detached feeling. There is activity and then there is inactivity. You feel as if you are struck somewhere. We feel like slipping into a cave and waiting there for a considerable amount of time.

You are beautiful by James Blunt.
The most important thing which can help you to fight this feeling is to have some hope. That the world is still there with you in it. The saga of life will continue and you have to find some way to make sense out of it. It is good that you slip into a state of hibernation for sometime, provided that you come out of it ASAP. The time will come when you have to face the truth. To put the whole in a simple way – after each bye there is a hi.
With prayers

Language Excercise - Role Models

Role models can be divided into two – personal and impersonal
Personal role models are people who are related to you – by blood
Whereas impersonal role models are people who are outside your circle of relatives
It can be a film star or a successful business man. They inspire you and you feel like imitating them
The exercise is based on impersonal role models – each learner is asked to name their impersonal role models and a list is created for the whole class. The next task is to gets some details regarding the respective role models from the internet or some other source.This step involves research. Learners are exposed to two of the basic steps in a research that is note takin and note making. A brief bio-sketch is made on them and then they are made to prepare a biography on them. The biography is used for role-playing where each and every learner is expected to present their role models in the first person POV using the personal pronoun I. This is an interesting exercise which combines writing and speaking with a sizeable amount of research thrown in.

Manichitrathazhu and the mediocre remakes…

I had been toying with the idea of preparing a movie review of Aamir Khan’s Taare Zammen Par. Anyway I never got the oomph… to do that. So I decided to wait for the next inspiring thing to happen and it materialized last night. Some local cable network was telecasting the Kannada version of the Malayalam landmark movie Manichitrathazhu. Being a so called Malayali I should feel emotional and should feel the rush of blood in my veins. Surprisingly I did not have any emotional outburst. Malayalis themselves are so fragmented in their cultural identities that they least bothered about the word ‘culture’. The ‘Nair tea shop’ has become a universal illustration of this fact. Let me conclude my describing my cultural identity as an ‘assimilated one’.

Manichitrathazhu was a landmark in Malayalam cinema. It is also a significant movie in my life because that was the last movie we as a family watched together. The movie had a powerful script and a team of directors – who were the best from the Malayalam industry. The script was penned by Madhu Muttam. The directors were – Fazil, Priyadarshan, Siddiq Lal, and Sibi Malayil. The actors in the lead were Mohanlal and Shobana.

The same movie was made into three other languages first it was the Kannada version starring Vishnuvardhan and Soundraya. The title of the movie was Apta Mitra

Then there was the Tamil version titled Chandramukhi starring Rajani and Jothika.

The latest version of the movie was Bhool Bhuliya starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan. I do not know whether they have attempted the same in Telugu.

The point I would like to make is that all these three versions of the same movie has failed to do capture the charm and exquisiteness of the original. They are all a foiled attempt to do something. The creative seriousness that was there in the original is lost somewhere. I feel there were unpardonable compromises made on the casting and the special effects. They are all examples for future film makers on how not to make a movie. the remakes have failed in their attempt. They all became money spinning mechanisms rather than artistic attempts.

Anything For You, Ma'am

1 ½ months back I was in Chennai. Apart from haunting the usual places I took some to browse the latest stock of books at Landmark in Gemini Circle. I was surprised to know that there were many new books writing about India. Maybe they can be called as cross-cultural writers. Interestingly I encountered books by many young authors who wrote about their day-to-day experiences. One such author who got my attention was Tushar Raheja and his book - Anything for you, ma’am. There are two reasons why I was tempted to buy this book. The first reason was the price – just 100 bucks and the second reason was that the book dealt with IIT experience. Me, as a person who is still under the Chetan Baghat effect thought that the book will offer something new and fascinating.

Anyway as soon as I reached my home in Bangalore I started reading this second IIT tale. The first two to three pages were uninteresting and I found that I have to push myself through the book. There was nothing new and even the scene where he impersonates Sherya’s father was too deceptive. I felt as if the character has lots its innocence. I never felt that bad financially coz I had spend only 100 bucks. Anyway I thought that I will finish the book however boring it is coz it was the first book that I took up for reading in 2008.

My impression of the book changed as the characters and story evolved. I really started liking the book. The way Tejas proposes to the girl and the candle light dinner with his guitar tunes was really good. But towards the end… it became messy again with the deus ex machina failing terribly and it appears highly improbable.

The Joy of Invigilation

There is storm before and after the calmness. The same can be said of academic atmosphere which prevails in our campus. Before the exams there is the roar and ‘shor’ of students. The voice of the lecturer from the classrooms and the noisy corridors after the class. I have experienced this kind of atmosphere from 2001. Now looking back at these seven years I feel that I enjoy both. Both are essential and integral to any college lecturer.

The exams are here, once again and there is a lull in the campus. Classrooms are transformed into exam halls. Bags are replaced by sheets of class notes. Conversation has become more subject oriented and library is the hot spot...not the cafe.

Normally for a lecturer/teacher, this is supposed to a time for the lengthy, monotonous invigilation. Walking up and down the exam halls, keeping a watchful eye on the candidates who has specialized in the art of malpractice. As usual I tend to think in a different way. I find the exam hall quite interesting and would like to compare it to a prayer hall. It is silent except for the feeble sound of the student’s pen caressing the surface of the answer sheet. The room is filled with numerous thought waves and is best suited for some mental exercise. I like this scenario and if have co-invigilators have I will withdraw into a vantage point to write something on a piece of paper. At MCC, I remember writing pages after pages on life and maybe that’s the place where I came to know that act of writing is therapeutic.

Aristotle on Theater and Climate Change

Aristotle is one of the greatest of the ancient Greek philosophers. He was a student of Plato and he was the teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote ‘Poetics’ which is regarded as the seminal work on Arts, especially Drama (Theater). The book contains detailed information about the various elements of theater like story, charcter, plot, and the three unities. (Unity of Place, Unity of Time and Unity of Action). Aristotle’s views on Theater were strictly followed by the classical Greek theater tradition. Tragedy writers who were known as the trinities of classical Greek drama (Sophocles - 496-406 BC, Aeschylus - 525-456 BC and Euripides -480-406 BC) practiced Aristotelian theories in their art. Theater for the Greeks was not just a form of entertainment. They saw it as means to understand the problems of life. Hence the genre of Tragedy was popular. Aristotle defined tragedy as the fall of a hero because of a tragic flaw in his charcter, which he described as ‘Hamartia’. It is very clear from this that the character of a person is responsible for his destiny. Oedipus never shied away from truth – he accepted it with courage and was ready to face the consequences. According to Aristotle plot is an important element of Theater.

Aristotle observation on theater also was necessarily his thoughts on Communication. For Aristotle Theater was a form of communication and he regarded theater as a universal concept. Maybe Shakespeare was influenced by this when he said that the world is a stage. Plot was of primary importance to him and he defined it as the arrangement of events on a cause effect way. This idea to certain extent has influenced both Newton and the basic communication paradigm. Newton in his third law of motion defines action as something which has got a equal and opposite reaction. In the communication paradigm the sender receives a feedback for the message he has conveyed.

Noble peace prize for 2007 was divided equally between an institution and an individual i.e. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore. Their pioneering work in the field of climate change was commended and the Nobel peace foundation said that was for ‘for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change’.
Al Gore is the leading public advocate of the need to take immediate action to reduce anthropogenic climate change. His campaigning takes many forms, including the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth and a book of the same name.
The IPCC was established by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide policymakers with neutral summaries of the latest information related to human-induced (or anthropogenic) climate change.

Aristotle’s concept of communication which is based on his cause effect pattern helps us to understand the fact that every human being is accountable for the climate change. There is no point in kick starting a blame game. Like a tragic Greek character, each one of us should take the responsibility and find an amicable solution for this global phenomenon. It is better to see the scenario from the point of view of the butterfly effect which also illustrates chaos theory. The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or prevent a tornado from appearing).

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
http://nobelprize.org/
Microsoft Encarta 2006

Christmas Mood In Malaysia

The following snaps shows the christmas celeberation at Malaysia

My friend and well-wisher Dr Vallabhai forwarded it to me...

Thank you sir...this is something special...

Love Objectified

Oh yes, I have known love and again love,
And many other kinds of love
But of that tenderness I felt then,
Is there nothing I can say?
- Andre Gide, Fruits Of Earth

Love- this ‘four-lettered’ word ignites everything in this world. Hearts, bodies, and souls. As you read this, it has ignited my brain too (not my heart, dear reader). I am aware of one quality about love. It is a very positive emotion, which can save this planet. (from hatred, enmity, falsehood). Love is something that has many faces and phases: It is also an emotion/energy that is always focussed on someone or something. In order to love we need an ‘Other’. It can be our mother, father, next-door girl, our own body, street car, ice cream, first birthday gift, your Barbie doll, your GI toy, bicycle, laptop, sports icon… (I will leave the task of completing the inventory to you).Everybody is born with this innate quality. If you see an old man begging and if you feel sad - then you are exercising some part of this human capability. For me the so-called boy-girl relationship is nothing but the culmination of the all the ‘so-called’ love exchanges that is scattered in one’s life. Let me end with a quote from - The Monk who sold his Ferrari. ‘Unless you love yourself, you cannot love your friend’.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
And if I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?
Hillel (Ancient Hebrew Sage)

New Year Resolutions...

The year 2008 began with a spate of traveling which saw me sleeping for two consecutive nights in a bus. It was a painful ride especially for my posterior. It still hurts and today,even, the sight of a bus petrifies me. I have taken a vow that I will never board a bus at least for the next one week. This is the first time that I am driven by an experience to make a New Year resolution. I am filled with enough wisdom that I have decided to make short term resolution this year just to satisfy the whim of making a New Year resolution.

When I asked my students about their New Year resolutions I received many full of zest and energy:

I want to fall in love this year
I am going to visit my friend with whom I had a bitter fight in the past
I am going to learn how to cook
I plan to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca
I want to open a ban account and will deposit my first salary in it
I will go abroad to do higher studies

I felt really inspired by all these words which hopefully will be transformed into solid action. I sometimes feel that people make these b*&^@y resolutions just for the heck of it. Anyway there are some people who stick to their words and my heart goes out to them.

My contention regarding is that I do not want any change to happen to me or my little life. I will be really happy if things go like this for the rest of my life. Changes will happen as they should happen. I believe in the power of destiny which can affect a permanent change in our lives. All others wo/man made changes are temporary. I have gone through the thick but passable walls of experience and I have re-emerged on the other side with a changed outlook and these cross-overs in life are full with meaning and purpose. So I wish, that all my students experience this change and become wise, wiser and the wisest.

The Last Blog of the Year...

It is difficult for me to remember January 1st 2007. I do remember that I was in Libya. If my memory is accurate on 31st night I and sabari watched Don in my laptop. The print was so bad but anyway we watched it because we didn’t have anything else to do in that ‘desertified’ land. Exactly 3 months later my laptop was stolen. Ah...The first prominent loss after the loss of that Chennai entity in 2005. It was bad, I mean the way these two incidents affected my life. it was terrible and the funniest part is that I remember every thing about these two events in my life. Wow…

I am back in India now; if everything happens in the right direction I will be flying again this year to a new country. Not so sure about the destination. I am also concerned about the dwindling health of my mom and the ageing factor of my father. I think these are all affects of passage of time – inevitable and undeniable…

So one full year awaits me and all those who are alive…what is in store for me and others who knows…

The Day After Christmas…

Picture courstey - Deb Seeger -Fiber Artist

The lull that follows a storm, as experienced by wise men.
Before my tongue curled up to a pause after saying the word amen
An electrified and unplanned wrath from the clouds above befell
The silent weeping of the heart staring at the distant shores of hell.

A refined and uncluttered mind is like a pretty flower that will bloom inside
Straight from Truth’s mouth, reluctant and inhibited came the verbal landslide
Shots aimed in darkness, forceful and sharp, body convulsed in agony.
Pain liberates the soul; it edges and reaches out to the zone of ecstasy.

Turning round and round, the stable rock invites me to have the permanent grip
I may stumble but may not fall, slippery; the surface will never let me slip
The strength that comes to me from the unwavering light of hope, spectacular
More than the human spirit of fickle-mindedness and jocular vagaries.

Knowing Me, Knowing You

No more carefree laughter.
Silence ever after.

Walking through an empty house, tears in my eyes
Here is where the story ends, this is goodbye
We just have to face it, this time were throug.

Memories (memories), good days (good days), bad days (bad days)
They’ll be (they’ll be), with me (with me) always (always)
In these old familiar rooms children would play
Now there’s only emptiness, nothing to say
Breaking up is never easy, I know but I have to go

(I have to go this timeI have to go, this time I know)
Knowing me, knowing you
It’s the best I can do.

Song Trivia (Courtesy – Wikipedia).

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" is a hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. The song was written by Stig Anderson, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lead vocal sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" is also featured in the Mamma Mia! Musical.

My Analysis of the Song (lyrics):

A simple song with a complex idea. It talks about a break up and it’s after effects. In the first stanza – the singer is accompanied with minimal music and it sets the tone for the song. Her voice may sound as if she is filled with repentance and second thoughts but as she sings the last two lines of the first stanza –

Walking through an empty house, tears in my eyes
Here is where the story ends, this is goodbye

It gathers momentum and force from this point. She is sealing her decision to leave her so called lover for reasons known best to her and her love. She is emotional and reluctant at the beginning of the song. Later on she becomes more resolute and strong. She even spurns the idea of living with her love.

Breaking up is never easy, I know but I have to go.

I feel that the song is all about decision making and enforcing it in a proper way. With the lyrics like – I have to go, this time I know – the song talks about separation and the final good bye. It involves memories which are good and bad. In brief, the song is like a sawn song of a relationship. it may have relation to what the band members themselves experienced in their lives.
That’s all I have to say about this lovely song from ABBA.

ABBA - Sweet Voice from my Musical Yesterday...

In the first blog post on Abba, I described how the music of abba is intertwined with my childhood life. It indeed brings in a flood of memories. I think every time when I listen to this Swedish band I experience what Longinus describes as – Transportation. I think if I apply some thought to this intensely emotional area of my life, I can observe two qualities in the music of ABBA. The first one is their – lyrical quality and the second one is their power of music. I plan to select some songs for re-discovering ABBA.

ABBA was a Swedish pop group active from 1972 until 1982. The quartet was formed through the friendship of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and their respective girlfriends Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog, and together they topped charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an acronym formed from the first letters of each group member's given name.
Courtesy – Wikipedia

In my journey to discover the magic of ABBA I intend to analyze the following songs based on two parameters - LQ (Lyrical Quality) and MQ (Musical Quality)

Knowing me Knowing You – (LQ)
Eagles – (MQ)
When all is said and Done – (LQ)
Dance – While the music still goes on - (LQ) and (MQ)
One of Us – (LQ)
Honey Honey - (LQ) and (MQ)
Our Last Summer – (LQ)

I am attracted to the lyrical quality of their songs because of two reasons. One, I am a word warrior (English Teacher) and second, i am a lover of words (Writer)

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Conversation with God (Part Two)

There are times in human life when one acutely needs the presence of God. The question is how to get it? Some are of the opinion that we should read some books related to spirituality or even get hold of the Holy book. May be they are right. I am interested in a much more closer approach - Where you shut yourself away from the world and talk to him in a cloistered environment. It’s just you and Him. This suggestion is not because of any animosity or allergy towards reading holy books. I strongly believe that reading a book is more like a ritual. It is an act where your thoughts are directed towards the book and the words in it. When you are undergoing a kind of ‘spiritual hibernation’ your mind is prepared for the act of conversation. The word of conversation also means much more than its literal meaning. It is an activity where informal thoughts are exchanged with your God in a casual way. He is your friend and he is listening to you. On a higher plain it becomes a kind of free-wheeling session. It is meditative and at the same time it becomes explosive. You can shout at the God not in anger but you want to show Him that you are really frustrated and fatigued. Like a man and a woman who really understand each other and cares for each other the relationship with God should be something open and honest.

Stay blessed in your words and deeds to Him.
Its good always to sing a personal hymn.
to unburden, to unleash the fatigued mind
There He is - a listener who is kind.

Conversation with God (Part One)

What makes the human reach out to the heaven and yearn for the divine touch. In this fast paced life one is constantly subjected to the pressures of life (where the pleasures are few). Personally I have felt the need to escape from all the madness that is around me and sit in a serene place to converse with my creator and protector. I used to do that in MCC when I was over-burdened with the business of life. In some way the habit was so constructive and productive and I used to emerge from this divine meetings feeling refreshed and energized. I do miss this now…

It is only after talking to my spiritual mentor (a true believer) that I realized that there is the possibility of doing the same wherever I am. Whenever I feel like talking to a person whom I like and If that person is kind of busy and pre-occupied I think that it is possible to do the same with God. He becomes that person and he is there to listen to you. This also led me to the conclusion that there is no point in running after the so called worldly things. It is futile and frivlous…

The Best, the Most and the Award goes to……

It is a good thing to appreciate something of high-quality. It is a kind of positive act which shares with the world the good news that something beautiful exists in this world. But is it always good to go for the best???? Especially when we celebrate beauty and waste time tracing the richest people of this world.

I have heard about many instances where the best things in the world are celebrated. For example there are hundreds of reports on the richest man on this planet. Rarely will you find an article talking about the poorest man on this planet. I am really worried about this act of singling out a man or a woman and placing them in a pedestal. This is most common when it comes to deciding on the most beautiful face or body. We have seen Indians being crowned the world beauty queens depending on their so called physical and intellectual abilities.

I would like to quote an article by R.K Narayan – The creator of the literary space called Malgudi. In his book – ‘The Writerly Life’ he talks about the concept of the Beauty and the Beast. How we create these two socio-cultural identities through the act of classification of the best and the most. He strongly suggests that if we can conduct beauty programs for the selecting the most beautiful face then naturally we can find some way of promoting the ugliest face on earth. Even they can appear in ads and they also will have some USP associated with them.

To take a literary leap into the French classic by Victor Hugo –The Hunchback of Notre Dame contains a scene where Quasimodo is elected as the ugliest man of the town

.

I am also tempted to appreciate the efforts of the New York Times Chief Media Critic – A.O Scott’s to create a list of the worst movies in the year 2006. Interestingly the worst movie of that year is the visual version of Dan Brown’s best seller – Da Vinci Code.

So Let us check out the list of the Best and the Most
MTV most wanted – MTV least wanted
World’s Famous – World’s Infamous
The best B-schools in India – The worst B-schools
The richest – The poorest

ABBA – a tribute - part one

I believe that at the end of our lives, before we close our eyes for the last and final sleep there will be a slideshow that will happen in our minds. A slideshow which will bring in the best and the worst of our lives. I am reminded of the movie American beauty where the character (Lester Burnham) played by Kevin Spacey mouths this exact belief of mine.

I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die.

I don’t know how I will die. My friends and others who love me will it is such a self-destructive idea. Yes, they are right. But I am certain of something – that I will hear the voice of ABBA resonating in my ears before I close my eyes. They are so close to my personal life that by just listening to them I am taken for a pleasant walk down the memory lane. The effect is more when I see that it is not just me who is there for this walk but also my family. Abba is fact that runs through our family. Thanks to the musical sensibilities of my dad who nurtured a deep desire and love for sane music. I remember him recalling that the first ‘household item’ that he bought off his first salary was a HMV gramophone or the LP disc player. I would like to conclude this episode of my verbal tribute by quoting few lines from the poem piano by D.H Lawrence. The spirit of music that is embedded in these lines is something that is closer to what we had at ‘Shelter’ my home at Calicut.

The glamour
Of childish days is upon me..
My manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance

(To be continued….)

The Exciting world of Podcasts and RSS feeds

One of the reasons why I did not write in my blog for the past two or three days is because I was delving deeper and deeper into the world of Podcasts and RSS feeds. These two words were Greek and Latin to me earlier…but not anymore… I can call myself a Podcaster and RSS feed buff.

The first word is a portmanteau word like – infotainment (information and entertainment). The word is a combination of – I pod and Broadcast. They were originally designed for Apple Ipods and later on were made available for mass consumption.

The next word means Really Simple Syndication which is a kind of update that is made available from a website. For example Times of India website gives you the option of subscribing to its RSS feeds on a regular basis.

The kind of subjects that are available in Podcasts will leave you baffled and wonder struck. Almost all the leading media houses own a podcast directory. BBC, Newyork Times, and CNN have wonderful topics in their podcast archive. Other prominent podcast directories can be subscribed from NGC, Discovery, NASA, and M TV.

The best part of the whole thing is that most of these podcasts are free of cost..

So if you are listening – get I tunes software downloaded from the Apple website and enter the world of Podcasts.

Best wishes for a happy and fruitful podcasting…

The Art of Smiling...

Everybody loves a good smile. It’s kind of therapeutic. The quality of smile can be compared to that of Mercy as explained by Portia in Merchant of Venice.

It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes…

A Smile should be spontaneous. It should really spruce and spice up life. In these days of plastic smiles and elastic smiles I sometimes feel that the original meaning and purpose of smile is lost somewhere. One of the reasons for this artificiality can be attributed to academic and religious conditioning. A child who smiles at others is given constant reminders that it is a bad thing to do. He/she is warned that this habit may invite troubles.

I feel that a good smile will always fetch rich dividends. As teacher I have felt that there is some charisma when we walk into the class with a smile. A smile can act as a good ice breaker. Learners feel that the tutor is emotionally balanced and is approachable. Even in the work place I have felt that a smile and a handshake will create a positive ambience.

Literature, art and cinema have used the art of smiling as a motif or theme. One reference which I can think about is from the poem – My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.
Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whenever I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together.

I also would like to re-phrase the famous lines from Faustus by Marlowe where he describes the ethereal beauty of Helen

Was this the smile/ face that launched a thousand ships?
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
My contention is if the face of Helen is so beautiful then what will be her smile like???

From the world of painting we have the famous smile of Mona Lisa. Is it really a smile or is it a smirk? Historians and art connoisseurs are still debating on that issue.

From the reel zone it is a movie titled Mona Lisa that grabs my attention. Julia Roberts plays an art teacher who inspires her students to think laterally. The tag line for the movie was – ‘In a world that told them how to think, she showed them how to live’. And it goes without saying that the smile of Julia Roberts is a treat by itself.

So in this world of conditioned smiles. It is always good to sport a natural smile and I am sure that it will make you and others feel better. The art of smiling will and should complement the art of living.

We cannot be like Albert Einstein who when requested for a smiling photograph gave this pose.

How long can a dreamer live????

Being a dreamer is not an easy thing. He/she lives in a different plain all together. A world removed from what the senses can perceive. Beings in the so called real world most of the times fail to recognise the world of a dreamer. They are all bitten by the reality bug. The only dream that they may believe in will be that of APJ Abdul Kalam's ignited dreams. I call myself a dreamer because that's the only identity that makes me complete. Dreams are very much related to risk taking and adversities. I believe that – to dream is to think off the beaten track. To be a path finder and also a path finder. I am reminded of the vision statement of the Jesuits when they started India's first management institute. If I remember correctly it was – 'renewing the face of the earth'. A dream nurtured by one Jesuit father has become a success story called XLRI. To have a dream for me is like having hope – something to which I can cling on. What is life if don't have dreams. I am talking about dreams which are unbridled and spontaneous. I also would like to make it very clear that dreams for me are not materialistic – like buying an Audi car or owning a posh flat in Indira Nagar, Bangalore. My dreams are more 'down to earth'.

Interestingly I also have asked my friends and colleagues about their dreams and they came out with some lovely dreams

One of my Tamilian friends wants to get married to a girl from Kerala.
One of my Andhra friends wants to get married to a fair girl because he is afraid that getting married to an Indian may turn his progeny into dark skinned beings.

Now talking about my dreams...

The first one is related to a person with whom I had spent a considerable amount of time – it is not just ordinary time I would like to call it 'quality time'. The person was my dream and still is.

The second dream is to do with my higher studies. As usual I got a dream topic. Everybody seems to criticise the very thought of it, but not me and the ones who love me.

The third is an extension of the third dream – a kind of fulfilling the practical side of the theory.

As I write this blog – I declare that I am born into this world only to accomplish these three dreams. I don't have any other dreams because I don't have any other life –

ONE LIFE / THREE DREAMS.

Learning English from a Newspaper

E from the title section – The details given next to the title of the paper can be used to prepare a short description of the paper. (Number of pages, price of the paper, place of publication, type of edition, date, one line description of the paper, the logo ( explanation), website address, etc) You can either prepare a document or you can ask questions based on the details given there.


E from The main stories -Headlines are given in the first sheet. Learner using the data prepares a document which will be later compared to the real news. Words are discussed and even an attempt is made to create a new and a personal headline.


E from the picture given in the main sheet -Learner is asked to describe the picture in his or her words. The individual descriptions are pooled in to create a group and finalized verbal picture of the picture.


E from the main headlines – a mock news reading session where the learner will play the role of a TV/ radio newsreader and reads out the headlines following the norms of a real news presentation. The same exercise is used to conduct a listening exercise where other learners will listen to the newsreader and make notes. There is also a possibility here i.e. after listening to the headlines they can share the news to their team members.


E from the news chunks – Each learner takes up a part of the news item given and reads it aloud to the class. As they read the hard words, spelling and linguistic details are discussed.


E from the main page - Creating a word list from the first sheet which will be later used for a word memory game.

Don - The Movie

Don is a flick done in perfection. Every frame is well-crafted and well-planned. Even though Lakshya was a disappointment after DCH, director Farhan Akthar presents a neat act as a director. All the ingredients of a good movie it is there. The script is powerful with the necessary twists and neat action sequences that spruce it up. Music by Sankar, Ehassan and Loy has got the power, especially the theme song ‘Main Hoon Don’ and the track labeled – ‘Aaj Ki Raat’.

With SRK delivering the best as the titular hero – Don, there are no complaints about this remake of the 1978 flick where ‘the long legged’ Amitabh Bachchan donned the role of Don. SRK is wonderful in the scene where he inspects the new recruit Roma played by Priyanka Chopra. The body chemistry between the two is too good. With the movie shot in Malaysia – Truly Asia – the scenic beauty is awesome. With neat and mature performances from Boman Irani and Arjun Rampal the movie is a good sample for the posterity to appreciate Bollywood. I think Om Puri is wasted in the film as the Interpol officer.

Management Lessons from a Circus Camp

What is Circus?

A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, trapeze acts, hula hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists. The word also describes the performance that they give, which is usually a series of acts that are choreographed to music (Courtesy – Wikepedia).

The need to learn management lessons from circus:

Education should be made experiential. Circus mania has gripped the town of Tumkur. Students get a chance to see the performance and connect it to their academic topics. Management students can use the concept of circus as learning tool. This exercise is an extended activity that is beyond the classroom and aims to make MBA degree program more life and people oriented.

Marketing:
Brand sponsorship – Candyman.
Banners and Posters, Mouth Publicity.
Music through speakers, reachable 2-3 kms
Devotional songs to start with followed by film songs.
Market study – the sell-ability of the product.

The Art of Negotiation:
Internal Negotiation – Management and the members of the Circus Team.
External Negotiation – Management and Government Officials and the public.

A lesson in Team work:
Acrobatic performances – Co-ordination, Concentration, Trust.

The Message of Hard work:
Labourious hours spend in training the mind and the body.
Strict work pattern – three shows a day and day practice.
Exemplifies the axiom – Practice makes the act perfect.

Planning:
Transportation and Camping in a particular area.
Financial planning and programme planning – to keep the sustained interest of the
audience.

Laughter Therapy
A clown makes you laugh and this is good to remove stress.
Entertainment factor.

Time management:
Time is the real ring master.
Timing of acts especially acrobatic acts is very crucial
The start time and the end time are very important. If exceeded it may affect the next show.
Time/ being punctual is important factor for a manager/leader.

Well Within the Limits

What is this vacuum that seems to envelop me.
There is something waiting to break free.
The pain swells up and searches for a vent.
It is deep within and will burst my insides out

Sense of loss, meaningless and futile buried in the sands of time.
Entangled in the mental webbing of memories, within a frame.
Laughter and mirth is not a distant dream, it is near.
Waves of happiness beckon me to the future.

Satisfied, defeated and out smarted - the world puffs and spurts.
Make way, make way… The emperor of deception has landed.
Well-chiseled and well- crafted.

Intruding into the well being of the world.
Words lose their sound, meaning - their linguistic identity.

The Process of Writing

This is an attempt to describe the process of writing and the stages involved in it.



Scene or object:

The first stage refers to the external world of sights and sounds. A writer gets fascinated by this reality and is captivated by it. The external object can be a beautiful natural scenario or a flower. The writer in this first stage dons the role of an observer. He observes his fellow human beings and the world around him. Subjectivity plays a great part in this act of observation.

Senses:

The scene or the object of fascination can enter a writer’s mind through the five senses – hearing/smell/taste/touch and vision. These senses make the external reality to become an internal reality. There are varying degrees in which this senses can function. For example if a person is hungry, his olfactory organs will be in a state of high alert. If the same person is spending time in a silent environment then his/her auditory faculty will be sharper.

Impression or Perception:

The dictionary meaning of the word impression is something that stays in the mind, or a mental image of something or somebody. Some of the external realties that get transferred to the mind will leave a lasting impression on our minds. It will be imprinted in the inner recess of our minds. In my opinion this is an unconscious process. These impressions to a certain extent shape our perception about life.

Thoughts:

The impressions lie dormant in the mind. They find their way to the conscious level and become thoughts which to certain extent guide the writer.

Writing:

The thoughts appear in the form of writings either in a piece of paper or in a word processor. The writing can take any shape – it can be short story or a poem or even an essay.

Rewriting: The act of correcting, polishing, and sharpening the first draft.

To summarize the process of writing in a line -
(Scene/Object – Senses – Impression – Thoughts – Writing-Rewriting)