Tall: /tol/ adj, long from bottom to top

The little byline of my blog title is borrowed from Frank Herbert's Dune. Absolutely love it. So succinctly describes life and our constant struggle with finding some logic to all that happens around us.

Had a similar moment of realization, last night. Had gone with a friend to the nearby Starbucks. We usually order our coffees grande, and I ever bothered to find out what the other sizes were. Until, we saw one guy order mocha, tall. I couldn't quite see what was the glass he walked off with. My friend, said that 'tall' was in fact the shortest  glass available at Starbucks. I refused to believe this, I mean, there must be someone pretty educated and sensible guy up there in the Starbucks chain of command who would have come with these names, how could tall possibly be the shortest. It would be an insult to the word. Well, I was so cocksure that the world is logical, that I placed a bet, it's not possible, the tallest glass has to be 'tall' while the shortest glass could be called something else.

Alas, i walked out of the coffee shop with a lost bet, a bruised ego and  in a very confused state of mind about the affairs of the world.

Dream on...

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master...

...Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it...

Among the many things that separate us, human beings, from animals is the ability to dream.

In each of our personal lives, we have a profession, work hard, give up the little joys to make our own dreams come true. Some do, many don't. The results though rarely seem to be commensurate with our efforts and sacrifices. A sore point for all of us.

The young man who dreams of becoming an airline pilot, and does so, sees his personal life shattered as he spends days and nights in strange countries with strange people around him.

The scientist burning the midnight oil to find that that delta improvement in that parameter might not have been worth those hours of solitude.

The lonely guy in the factory making hundreds of thousands of an article he has no personal use of, wondering whether he will ever get to buy a BMW this way.[:P]

But take heart!

We are not working without a purpose, our sacrifices are not in vain. We are in the profession of making dreams come real, not only ours but more importantly the dreams of humanity. We are the ones who make people fly, we are the ones who help people live longer, we are the ones who help lonely souls miles across share their lives. True, at times when dreams of humanity and our personal dreams run counter to each other there is dilemma and pain, but don't forget to smile at the fact that man today has made true, things he used to fantasize about centuries ago. So keep at it, your dreams are coming to life, slowly but surely and the whole world is working for it.

Enlightenment at the Food Court

Net result of a conversation each with A and Y, and shopping for Wai-Wai noodles:


One click and you can see what people at the other end of the world are doing right now, broadcast your emotions through out the world, relive any memory, order food, order entertainment, request company, catch up with friends, catch up on knowledge.

One little tap dance on the mobile phone and you can talk with whomsoever you wish, pass private messages, catch up on news, sports and what not.

One stop at a mall, and you can watch movies, have food, buy clothes, groceries and lots of stuff you never knew you needed.


We are the generation of instant gratification, but the problem is, the real stuff that life is all about come after a lot of patience, perseverance and pain. What greater proof than the fact that the beginning of life is heralded by pain.


Unfortunately, no one offers Life 101.