Lies Are Important

I am learning French. Today in class, we learnt the verb: to lie - mentir. Each student was asked to give an example about when we told a lie. During this exercise, a general discussion came about how lying is wrong and should be avoided, etc. I said something to the effect of - lying is very important in life. People were surprised and thought for a while that I misunderstood the meaning of the verb (because we were all speaking in our broken French. No english allowed in class). I was surprised more people don't think that ...

I then gave the example of how we lie to children to protect them from the truths of life. And that's just one type of lie that's necessary in our social contract.

• We lie to our parents to protect them from certain aspects of our personal lives. They may find it too shocking.
• As mentors, we lie to our pupils when we advocate our principles. They may not listen to hypocrites.
• We lie to our close friends and loved ones when they ask us to be honest about some aspect of their life. Their ego may be too fragile.
• We lie to powers of authority. Their judgement may be too heavy to bear.
• We lie as a strategy in a simple game of poker or during an act of war. They may hold an upper hand.
• We lie to ourselves every day. We may not acknowledge our dark side.
• We lie to seduce a convenience. Truth is sometimes insufficient.
• We lie to avoid a confrontation. Truth is sometimes uncomfortable.
• We lie because we can. Or we have excuses like "all is fair in love and war".

I'm pretty sure there are quite a few more reasons than these. Just as the 'pursuit of truth' adds value to our life, I think the proliferation of lies preserves what we hold dear.

No, I haven't been drinking while writing this post. ;)

Text Conversations

K: Wat type of a girl r u really looking for .... be honest!
Me: It's a little late in the game for such a basic question. Hehe. Besides i don't believe in that. I think this is one of the first things we talked about when we first met online and started chatting before phone calls. I believe in meeting someone and then wanting her rather than the other way round.
K: I want u to really think and give me an honest answer
Me: I am. I have no preconceived image of my soul mate or whatever. I really think wanting to be with someone after meeting her is more important. How i feel about someone is what matters. Not that she has to be a certain way about her for me to want her.
K: That doesn't work .... think again
Me: Hehe. Why does it not work? You are crazy. It works.
K: How many times did it work for u sweets?
Me: Depending on how we define 'works', it worked every time. If it has to work out all the way, then it only has to work once. Waiting for that. I'm a believer of chemistry. Physical, emotional, intellectual. As long as there are these, there is hope.
K: U can go out w/ somebody ... but u usually always end up w/ the same or similar type of ppl
Me: True. So if i have to find something common in all my exes, 'she' is skinny, average height, south asian, independent, fashionable, assertive, unconventional with alternative tastes, ambitious, liberal, not very religious, somewhat disconnected from previous generations (parents), western cultured, passionate about work, and busy. That's all i can think of. May be there's more.
K: :-) ok

Ripple

I made this in Illustrator CS4 as part of a tutorial. Fun! Which level of happiness does Creation fall into?

Wars are an everyday discussion on the radio. Not that it bothers me anyway. I live here sheltered. Still it's nice to stare into the simplicity and serenity of an artificial ripple of water.

25 (Negative) Things About Me

1. I'm more interested in meeting new people and making new friends than keep my existing friends or staying in touch with old friends.
2. I can never remember if I locked my apartment. It's almost a daily routine for me to walk to my car and walk back to my apartment to check the lock again. Going on a vacation can be painful since I have to do this multiple times (yes, all the way to my car and back. I'm not kidding). I can only be glad I live on the second floor and not any higher.
3. I'm agnostic. Not just about God. About other things as well that require faith and trust in an abstract quality of the human enterprise. True love. Loyal friendships. Unforgettable moments. They may be. They may be not.
   
4. I'm an impulsive shopper. Electronic toys and gadgets hypnotize me. I never wait for deals. If I want something, I spend first and think later.
5. I buy more books than I read. I have two cabinets in my living room. One for the books I have read. The other has books that I haven't yet opened. It even has a few books with bookmarks because I left them unread halfway. I'm running out of room in this cabinet.
6. I judge people based on how skinny or overweight they are. I do get over it once I get to know them. I think. I'm not always sure. I was once told that I'm only attracted to skinny women. I was surprised by that. I only realized it then.
7. I love driving in the rain without the windshield wipers on. But I always wear my seat belt. My favorite weather is when it's cloudy, dark and gloomy. Chilly, drizzling, slightly windy but not cold. It makes the day slightly better than ordinary.
8. I become obsessive about TV shows (amongst plenty of other things). I stupidly try to idolize them or identify with them. I think House M.D. is a role model. I watch almost every repeat episode so much so that I actually dreamt last night that I helped him on a medical case. Oh, and I have a huge crush on Jessie XX. I root for her every time she is blunt or plays with a knife.
   
9. I daydream about action scenes from sci-fi movies and tv shows. Yes, I have super powers in them. I'm waiting to outgrow this habit, but I've had it for a while now.
   
10. I avoid calling my parents because I feel I argue with them more than I talk to them.
11. I cannot recite a single phone number from my address book. The only number I had memorized was my sister's home number. She recently told me she was getting it disconnected.
    
12. I am very patronizing and sarcastic in arguments or friendly debates. I feel I have learned more from my life than others have from theirs. If I'm not saying anything, then I'm probably mocking the other person(s) in my head.
13. I constantly make multiple to-do lists and put them in multiple places or computers. I probably can make a list of where all my lists are and what their status is.
    
14. I'd rather take on too many projects than too few. Feeling purposeful and thereby important feeds my self-esteem.
15. I clean my apartment in long intervals. I wait for it to become really messy and dirty before I clean it all the way instead of on an ongoing basis.
16. I have imaginary conversations with people from the past over unresolved baggage, regrets and lost arguments over otherwise silly things. I would willingly invest in any research of time travel.
    
17. I keep all the wedding invitations I receive. Lately I have stopped opening them. They go straight into a shoe box.
    
18. I prefer staying indoors by myself than go out with friends. Except hiking. I'm always up for hiking.
19. I haven't visited home in India since 2002. I have plenty of excuses. Mostly I think it's because I prefer to spend the time and money to travel to a new place instead.
20. I cannot function at work without a Coke in the afternoon. I'm addicted.
21. I killed a plant. I'm thinking of getting some fish but probably won't. I'm afraid I'm too negligent for any pets.
22. I have selective memory. I completely forget conversations and dates randomly, some of which are rather important. If it wasn't written down, there are no guarantees.
    
23. I don't get angry. I believe in passive-aggression. I will hold a grudge for as long as it takes.
24. I take lots of pictures. I share only a few of them. This annoys a lot of people.
    
25. I am self-absorbed (obviously). It took me about a couple of hours to write this list. Now I'm pondering if that's too short or too long. I'm writing this list partly because I want to acknowledge my negative tendencies. But mostly I'm curious to see if putting this list out there for the world to see, makes any difference to me. Either I will resolve to work on some of them to become a better individual. Or not.

Warm Lines

© 2008 Chaitan Bandela. All Rights Reserved.
Available in 1920x1280.

I have been recently very interested in abstract and vector illustrations. This is a product of a tutorial. Graphic illustrations feel like an alternative and sometimes an extension to creative photography. I want to learn the tools better to create more.

Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Flash have piqued my interest. And I'm trying to justify splurging an insane amount of money to expand my hobby. How bored am I?

Battles

I lost a battle today. But I'm glad. Because I was honest. I wasn't petty. I was fair. Despite what I was up against. I was greedy too. I didn't hesitate revealing this. And yet, I submitted to a rational argument. Which may not have been all that rational. I really don't know. And I honored the presumptions and interpretations set forth. Without understanding. With no explicit trust. Because it's not always about winning.

Integrity. It matters.

The Truth Will Set You Free

What Truth? Going by the evidence, the truth will scare you. Going by what I have seen, the truth will depress you. They also say, Perspective is everything. And going by that, the truth will humble you. Optimism is supposed to be healthy. So then, the truth will only be a betrayal. Forget about it. Denial works. Embrace it. Live in it.

"Truth begins in lies." - House, M. D.