Summer's out !

I think we can officially say this, Victoria's summer's out, until December this year. Just checked the accuweather forecast , and the temperature is not expected to cross over 27 for the next 3 months. And I still don't know they can do it this accurately ( they are pretty much spot on), but they usually able to predict temperatures months ahead, with a variance of 3 degrees ! So that's it, we never had a summer last year. We sort of just drifted the low 30s for about 5 days in all of Feb, and off we go to a wonderful autumn !

Which just brings back the old realization: how  time flies ! This time last year, the world was just starting to realize that 2020 won't be the fun and games everyone expected it to be. Australia was still a month away from its first official lockdown. At this point, we were still getting our morning runs and noon beach trips. Australians were still planning their international holidays, and international students were still coming into the country. 

And by all means, the worst may be over here, but it has definitely not ended. Australia officially rolled out their first vaccine shots this week, and best estimates say it will be till October until a sizeable chunk of us get them. And just like in every cucumber country, there are fierce anti-vaxxers here as well; who would rather get the disease over sacrificing their irrational beliefs.

Technically, it is better for our species to let these people by. You know, evolutionwise.

Victoria has just voted to extend its state of emergency till December this year, to have that level of caution. Hopefully this will rein in the more adventurous folk, by levying heavy fines for rule breakers. 

The La-nina is still around, and it is expected to bring gloomy weather, with overcast , cloudy skies and long rains. Friendly reminder, rain is always good. Yes, you need to carry an umbrella, but at least you will have water round the year to grow those avocados. But the chilly, cloudy skies is a bummer, and a reminder that harsh winters are just around the corner.

Times up. Time to go find that missing glove and raincoat. Have a chilly good day !

Soul purpose

 Pixar's SOUL.

What a year ! What a wonderful year ! And it has only been 3 weeks now. A democratically elected wannabe-dictator walks out of office today, and vaccine shots are being administered around the world. National economies are all trying to get back to shape, to make up for the lost income in the last year. I have been busy too, but found the time to invest in probably the most soul-touching movie of last year. Pixar's Soul. See what I did there ?

Funny enough, I didn't even know Pixar was working on such a movie in the first place. I haven't yet watched Onward, their other movie from last year. I hear it is a bummer.

But anyway, with Soul, the writers there have chosen to tackle a rather difficult subject to explain to kids  : death. What happens after we die ? That has to be the oldest questions man has every asked, just after "Where am I?". Various cultures and later religions have come up with the warm hearted idea of an after life, and the idea of the soul; the essence of ones personality. After death, the soul moves on . But where ? And can it get back ? What if it is not ready to go ?

Pixar's Soul tells this story in a comical, and soft fun centered way, of there being a place were souls are born, then send to earth to live  and after death, the souls go to the great beyond. Already I have so many questions; like why only earth ? Is there no life anywhere else ? What about the animals and plants ? And how come every thing there speaks English ?

If you really want to enjoy this movie, you have to leave those questions behind, and join in on the ride. The purpose of life, it seems, is to live. It is to take something we have and turn it better. Or so I get the drift. Joe Gardner, our protagonist, is not ready to die. He just got this big break, his chance of a lifetime. So he conspires to steal the earth pass of another soul, and use that to get back to his body on earth.

Only problem is, the soul he tries to steal from, is somebody who does not care about life on earth. So he has to first convince the soul, named 22, to go there, and then use its pass for himself.

When he does get back, he realizes that that chance of a lifetime he was waiting for , it was not fulfilling enough. He thought he would have a special experience, but it was just another day. And realizes that what he truly misses is his everyday life. The small things he took for granted, and all the different people in his life.

I can relate to this. Its something I have believed in, that the small things in life matter more than the huge, hard to get ones. We are all so focused on winning and invisible rat race, that we all take our life and times for granted. 

The big truth is this: until science can one day logically explain it, we are all very fortunate to experience a conscious life like ours own. To live.  Everything around us were created by us humans. By the time people realize the foolishness of their pursuits, its mostly too late. But not for all, for those who value their present time, and the people around, every minute is worth living.

There is this particular montage sequence in the movie, where Joe's life flashes before his eyes, but he is not dying. He remembers his childhood, his parents, his students, and a few times of his life in the city. There is this beautiful musical master piece playing in the back. It is simply beautiful; and eye opener which makes you close your eyes and cry out of sheer joy. I guess every Pixar movie has such a scene, when it stops being a computer animated movie and becomes something much more personal. I have been playing back that song for days now.

And yes there is also jazz. Lot of jazz.

Like I said, we are fortunate to be alive. So lets not waste what we have, and cherish the little things in life. Enjoy the ride, we will get to the destination eventually. 

No hurry.

Post Vacation Blues

I am going through a weird withdrawal phase right now. Having serious holiday blues. I think the clinical term is post-vacation blues. After spending more than a month in vacation, I am now strangely detached from work life. I have no idea what I was working on the last day of work. No idea where I start again, and whom I owe. 

2020 was a particularly tiring year, which I why I decided to take such a long holiday. But maybe I overdid it. Enjoyed Melbourne's , what third winter , this year. A very cold and rainy December, just like back home. Saw dark blue seas and shallow beaches.  Walked through woodlands and around tall trees. Breathed in the eucalyptus laden fresh air. Saw more animals and birds than humans. Completely went off the diet. Pretty sure gained a few kilos. 

But now when I suit up, I realize how fortunate I have been, to be able to take time off work. To be able to say I still have a job, in this troubled economy. To spend more money in a month than what I usually spend in six months. And to easily forget what a horrible year the last one was.

The good news is already starting to come in. Australians will be given the Astrazeneca vaccine, it is being reported. By March. Splendid. And twitter has banned its biggest cyberbully !

This is going to be a good year. I can tell. Only thing is, my mind is still somewhere lost in holiday.

Time to get back to work. Theres lots of to be done.

Here's hoping for a totally normal year.

Finally , its almost over ! And entire year of pain, suffering and staying indoors. Centuries from now, historians are going to compare every doomsday year with the year 2020; a year which was supposed to be of hope , fun and all things good, but ended up killing more people than any natural calamity. This is a bar set too high.

For those of us who survived this year, it is easy to forget who scared we ourselves were at various points in time. The first few cases reported where all in Wuhan, China. It began with the hush-hush announcement of the pandemic, followed by the over confident response of world governments that we can easily survive this, and took a while for the reality to set in. That despite our world-class health systems and preparedness, we had no idea how to contain COVID-19. 

And that is when the fear set in;  when it was reported that there are now cases in our neighborhood, in the adjacent street, or in our office space. It was as if the whole world had gone to war, first with an invisible enemy, but then with each other. It was one thing to watch from safety as a distant country tore itself, totally another thing when the killer is next door.

As I write this, more than 1.7 million people have died world over due to the Corona virus. No amount of consolation can help the survivors of these deaths.

The virus is still out there, but 2021 now brings hope of its end. More than one vaccine has been shortlisted, and the world will eagerly wait for these life-saving drugs. We saw how at various points, ignorance and petty religious views infected more people. But science has won, as science has always won through the centuries.

For once, lets hope nothing great or worse happens this year. Lets hope for a totally normal year, a boring year where we can all go back to living our lives outdoors.

To clear your mind, here is a picture of a totally normal day somewhere in Switzerland.

Wish you a truly Happy New Year !

2020 finally delivers some good news !!

Finally ! Some good news. And about time too. 2020 has been horrible to all of us. But now, just around the tail end of this horrendous, monstrous year, there is something to celebrate. On the other side of this definitely-round earth, the Fragmented States of America have elected the lesser evil of their white candidates. Something they should have done four years ago !

Congratulations !!

Better late than never. And with this, the longest running reality show on the planet comes to its end...right ?

Oh...Wumpy Lumpy has announced that he is not going to give up his presidency. 

So the show goes on, a bit more, and hopefully everything will end in Jan next year. About 12 whole months after the world first woke up the Coronavirus. America will have plenty to catching up to do.

But this event is something definitely worth celebrating. Even if you are not in America. It shows how a imperfect system of electoral colleges can still work, if people put their minds to it. Instead of sitting back and complaining about how the system is rigged against them, people can get out there and play the game by its rules. Democracy takes time, and is imperfect, but still works.

But it is also a stark reminder that the country is more divided than it ever was. More people voted for Wumpy Lumpy than in 2016 ! Are you kidding me ? After everything that the nation has been through, after all those blatant lies and cover ups, there are still people willing to trust him with another 4 years ? Unbelievable. It is clear that those votes were for the institution and party behind him, and not explicitly for him. They might have lost, but they got their message out; there will always be racists and white supremacists in the leader of the free world. It is something they have to live with.

But the flip side is also true. All that needs for bad things to happen , is good people to do nothing. Here is hoping that the country has learnt this lesson, and that we will never have to see another president like Trump.