India's campaign got off to dismal start as expected! Anjali Bhagwat, Avneet Kaur Sidhu and Samresh Jung who were being considered (on what basis?) as India's best bets for medals - did not even qualify! Now, that tells you one of two things: - the entire Indian shooting team got hit by a BIG psychological barrier simulatenously! - those who considered them as a "bet for medal" were probably using some Indian National Games benchmarks!! How can we keep doing this again and again? Also Tombi Khumujam Devi lost in Judo in a match that lasted only Two and a Half minutes! She lost to Ana Hormigo of Portugal in 48kg category. Read more

A mind that gives an opinion about a fact is a narrow, limited, destructive mind. …You can translate the fact in one way, and I can translate it in another way. The translation of the fact is a curse which prevents us from seeing the actual fact and doing something about the fact. When you and I discuss our opinions about the fact, nothing is done about the fact; you can add perhaps more to the fact, see more nuances, implications, significance about the fact, and I may see less significance in the facts. But the fact cannot be interpreted; I cannot offer an opinion about the fact. Read more

From all accounts, ···Beijing Olympics was a grand occasion! Many people have praised its absolute brilliance. Steven Spielberg was to direct it earlier but he opted out of it because of the Human Rights record of China. Ultimately it were Chinese directors and pyrotechnicians: Chinese film directors like Zhang Yimou (Hero) and artists like Chai Guo (pyrotechnician). I did not watch the ceremony, but looking from the pictures - the colors and the motifs.. it is clear that it was something that only Chinese themselves could have done. No outsider, however brilliant, could have matched the centuries old creative brilliance of that culture.. which they thanfully went ahead with!! Despite the many disputes, protests, and environmental problems and the natural disasters that China has seen recently, the country bounced back with finesse. 91,000 people were packed together in the National Stadium to watch the spectacle! The entry of the national Chinese team was of course, special! The centerpiece was the parade of athletes, climaxing with the entry of the 639-strong Chinese team. Its flag-bearer was basketball idol Yao Ming, accompanied by 9-year-old schoolboy Lin Hao, a survivor of May's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province. Here is a very interesting review by Shekhar Kapur Read more

It is really not complex, though it may be arduous. You see, we don't start with the actual, with the fact, with what we are thinking, doing, desiring; we start with assumptions, or with ideals, which are not actualities, and so we are led astray. To start with facts, and not with assumptions, we need close attention; and every form of thinking not originating from the actual is a distraction. That's why it is so important to understand what is actually taking place both within and around one. Read more

Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life. Read more