Hmm... Looks like I've got the hang of it now. I have resolved not to leave those wide open chasms between my blog post periods.

The reason for this particular post is that today, much against my wishes, I was sucked into a rather lively argument on the case of the "Holy Books". Normally I am the kind of person who does not give a damn about any of the "religions" that the people in this universe, or any other universes follow. But I did feel strongly that I had to contribute my share to the meaningless trash that passes today for discussion on "religion".

Well, the discussion was about the role of the "Holy Books" that the different religions and cultures follow. As you might have expected, any discussion about anything on religion is a livewire topic, and rightfully so, the atmosphere became really heated. People had a wide range of opinions on the "Holy Books", right from the ones who said that we should follow what it says, then only our lives would be meaningful, to the ones who were of the view that , especially in this time and place, the "Holy Books" are of little consequence. Then there were the people who leaned toward their "Book" of choice. All in all, I had a different opinion as to the relevance of the "Books" in daily life.

I personally feel that the Holy Books, of whatever faith it may be, hold a good deal of value, especially in this day and age. All the Books advocate healthy living, adherence to holding good values and morality, and living a full, satisfying life. That being said, I must say that, for all the value and power that the "Books" hold, they are only that. They are books, that is all they are. And what should we do with books ? We read them, try to understand what is written, and in some cases, relevantly apply what was explained. That is all there is to them. Nothing more, nothing less.

For all the regard/importance/power/fear that people hold them in,

THEY ARE NOT THE WORDS OF GOD.

Everything that was ever written in every one of those books, was not written or passed down by GOD. Whatever was written, was written by the HANDS OF MAN. Men wrote them, and they wrote what they believed in. Man alone wrote them, and Man alone is responsible for the consequences arising as a result of actions carried out on that information. They are not "RULES" that we should strictly follow, rather they are a set of guidelines that we should relevantly apply to lead a life that holds meaning.

Relating to the Heading of this post, do you think that the "Holy Books" should be Banned ? Given that the vast majority of the world's populace does not have the capacity to correctly decipher their meaning, given that the general populace blindly follow their supposedly "Religious Leaders", and given the fact that, throughout the history of mankind, religion has done more harm than any sort of good, do you think that the "Holy Books" of all faiths should be subject to a universal ban. I know it is not possible, and I am not sure whether it is wholly advisable, but still, what do you think ?

yours truly,
Ar'Nath

Nothing of that sort happened, the heading was just to grab your attention - everybody loves an overreaction.

Well, it goes like this.
Some of you may know that I am currently writing a novel. Or rather, trying to for the past 3 years. It so happens that, a loooong time back, 10 days ago, I came across a sub-editor for a major book publisher, at a 3Ds Max conference. He was one of the guest lecturers and yours truly, most obviously, just tagged along with one of the invitees. After the usual round of welcome speeches, speaker felicitation, product launches.......you know the sequence, there was the Gladiator spectacle (Q&A session).

It was the most lively part of the entire event.

Anyway, after that, I joined him at cocktails and was introducing myself - in short, giving the personal sales pitch. I told him that I was in the process of writing my own novel, and had completed a couple of chapters. I was kind of surprised when he asked to see a draft, and naturally I replied in the positive ( guess he was too drunk that time ).
After a couple of days, I got a callback saying he wanted to meet me in his office. I was a bit apprehensive, cos' my novel is somewhat over-the-top and rightly so, that was the opinion he had of the story, or at least what he had of it. To cut a long story short, he told me that they would consider my novel if I would tone it down, heh! as if I would.

Basically, it was a take it or leave it situation...................from me.

Now i am back to writing it, the way I intend it to be - Epic, Dark, Fast, Swashbuckling, Outrageous and totally Over the top.

Watch out. Watch for it.

yours truly,
91

Long time since the last post, huh ?

Well, nothing really exciting is happening....at least to my standards. Anyway, I got the payment for my first real project (PixelKast dMedia) only yesterday, and I got the urge to splurge a little, obviously. I got myself some things and was just window shopping at Spencer's Mall, when I slipped into the Landmark store. I remembered that I had to get a gift for a B'day party later that I was supposed to go later that evening. So, I was browsing and wondering just what I have to get this gal when my glance fell on a very tacky looking book. It was another book on Marketing principles and how to do great marketing....you get the idea.

Just as well, I thought I should gift this book to her, as she was really into Marketing, Sales etc. I was going through the contents when I realised what a treasure i held in my hand. I mean, this wasn't just another book on how to be a great marketer - whole with bullet points, charts, case studies, acronyms and catch phrases. This was completely against the norm. I like it so much that I bought an extra copy for myself, and needless to say.... she was absolutely delighted too.

Now, the book is called "FREE GIFT INSIDE" by Stephen Brown. This is one book worth treasuring. The ideas are not revolutionary, just so obvious and "right in front of you" that you tend to wonder how you could have missed it. Well, I guess it is human nature to completely miss what is obvious. Anyway, I would say that this book is a goldmine for anybody who is interested in marketing, and who is really meaning to "mark his presence", to borrow a tagline. The material is top notch and you cannot help but laugh at Mr.Brown's style of writing. The front cover was definitely keeping in with the book's ideas, it was so tacky that I has to pick it up and see what was inside. I mean can you imagine any self-respecting author titling his book "FREE GIFT INSIDE" ? Well, the name alone would ensure that people would at least pick it up.
But I should warn you though, you will need a good thesaurus by the side when you read this book.

I am really taken in by "FREE GIFT INSIDE", guess it will help a lot with my marketing stint.

yours truly,
Ar'Nath