Amazing video of ingenious cartooning

Well, below is the video of a person drawing cartoons quite ingeniously. He starts by drawing a "dick" or "vagina" and then transforming them to comic figures or persons, very thoroughly done so that you will not even see the dick or vagina later in the drawing. The idea is just awesome, after all we have a lot of fuss going on about those organs. Everybody have them and they are just organs. See it to believe!!!

Public display of affection of gay people

I don't think there is any difference in love between homosexual  and heterosexual people, there is no homo-love and hetero-love, just love. There is an ingrained belief in the society that gay people love differently. In Western countries, Public display of affection (PDA) between hetero-couples is very common but not so in the orthodox streets of India. It will definitely turn heads if a man and a woman kiss in public or hug in front of a crowd in India. Indian men won't even sit close to a women in transport buses and so did Indian women. But the situation is different when it comes to their own sex. Men can hug or hold hands in India without the ire of onlookers unlike a hetero-couple. Women also act very close in their group which will easily confuse a Western audience. That is the only relief for gay people in India. They can easily disguise their love in the garb of prevalent homo-social environment. Kerala men are definitely more homo-social (Ah, I wish it was more homosexual) than anywhere in India. They hold hands, hug each other, pat shoulders, laugh together, a fairly good amount of bodily intimacy exists which can even extend to sleeping together and bathing together (Well, there are many situations for sexual tension!!!). Not all such intimacy are gay but some definitely are. Moral policing is on the rise in Kerala. Some extremist groups are rallying against love displays in public saying that it is against Indian culture. They cannot even tolerate hetero-sexual bonding let alone homo-sexual affection. Here are some photographs of gay men and women in public setting in this era of moral policing.

Source
http://justsomething.co/all-love-is-equal-gay-couples-series-braden-summers/

Another Valentines Day - Sighs!!!!

Another valentines day passes by......

It is an irony that we celebrate a special day for love while all days should be like this very day.........embracing the very happiness and pain love inflict. When we talk about love, it is all about happiness, it is a kind of delirium, but love is also about pain, the longing, loss of a loved one, the lingering memories and "the pain" it gives is a kind of sweet one, weirdly sweet. Just check out this Leona Lewis song, "Bleeding Love" which says it all. Dear folks, keep bleeding in love.......................

Check out the lyrics of the song,

"Closed off from love
I didn't need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it was all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you're frozen
But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melts into the ground
Found something true
And everyone's looking round
Thinking I'm going crazy
But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that the goal
Is to keep me from falling
But nothing's greater than the rush that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinks that I'm going crazy, maybe, maybe
But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
And it's draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I'll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see
I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love"

The goat and the horse story

I stumbled upon this story accidentally on face book, but it is very relevant in this world. Everybody is competing with others for power, food, money, fame and at times, the whole game turns dirty. Ethics is a vanishing term and the deserving people usually get deserted. This story depicts such a situation heart-wrenchingly.

 

The goat and the horse

There was a farmer who had a horse and a goat.One day the horse became ill and he called the veterinarian who said "well, your horse is infected with a virus. He must take this medicine for three days. I'll come back on the 3rd day and if he's not better, we will be forced to put him down".

Nearby, the goat listened closely to their conversation.

The next day, they gave him the medicine and left. The goat approached the horse and said, "Be strong, my friend. Get up or else they're going to put you to sleep!"

On the second day also, they gave him the medicine and left. The goat came back and said, " Come on buddy, get up or else you are going to die. Come on, I'll help you get up. Let's go! One, two, three....", but to no avail.

On the third day, they came to give him the medicine and the vet said "Unfortunately, we're going to have to put him down tomorrow. Otherwise, the virus might spread and infect the other horses. After they left, the goat approached the horse and said " Listen pal, it's now or never! Get up, come on, have courage. come on! Get up! Get up! That's it, slowly, Great! 

All of a sudden, the owner came back and saw the horse running in the field and began shouting. "It's  a miracle! My horse is cured! We must have a grand grand party. Let us "kill the goat" !!!!!

Sad story. This often happens in almost all workplaces. Nobody truly knows who worked harder and deserve the real recognition or credit for the success or who is actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen. Bosses gain while the real people who worked hard will be sidelined. Good bosses will give the credit to their teams, but mostly, they take all the credit which is totally unethical.

Learning to live without recognition is actually a skill but considered a weakness by most professionals. If anyone tells you that your work is un-professional, remember: Amateurs built the Ark which saved all the species while the professionals built the titanic which lead to death of people tragically.

On a brighter note, this story also pins the effect of inspiration upon somebody's life. Some good words, a simple hug, a hearty smile, lending your ears, spending a few moments can do wonders. Join hands, live and let live,  grow together. We all have the power to touch somebody else's life.

Well, goats and horses seem to be good friends. Here is the real life story of a "compassionate goat" virtually baby sitting a helpless blind horse for years.But the owner too was compassionate and well appreciated the goat's efforts. So did the horse.

The amazing Japanese gay manga paintings - a picture post

The Japanese manga features hyper-masculine men for gay male readers and is widely referred to as “bara”. Incidentally,  “bara” is actually an obsolete slang for homosexual men in Japan. Presenting some of them below. They even form part of fashion in Japan. Great indeed.

Some are smoking hot, at least for me!!!

 

 

 

 

The fundoshi wearing cuddly cuties are worth a look and quite lovable. Hope you liked them too.

Celebrity coming outs in 2014 - a welcome change.

I always love the "coming out" of celebrities. That gives more visibility to the gay community and gives more confidence to the gay youth. So thought of compiling the famous personalities who "came out" in 2014. Check them out.

Sam Smith: the man with that gorgeous voice and hits like "stay with me" and "I am not the only one"  in his kitty. Worthy addition to the community.

Sports is one area where you won't find much candidates belonging to gay community. There may be enough gay men among sport stars, but no body comes out. Oops, this year we had many. Derrick Gordon (basketball player), Tom Luchsinger (Olympic hopeful, swimmer), Liam Davis, (pro soccer), Matt Llano (professional long distance runner), Thomas Hitzlsperger (pro soccer) Well done!

Well, the biggest sport star was Ian Thorpe, Olympic swimmer. Ah, I just love him!!

Then came some from business and politics -  Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvia's foreign minister. Not bad at all.  Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, came out with a very relevant coming out commentary. Loved it.

 

He said, “While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now,” Cook wrote in an essay for Bloomberg BusinessWeek. “So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

Others from show business...Lee Ryan (boy band member of the band Blue), Vicky Beeching (singer-songwriter), Andreja Pejic (Model), Patricia Yurena (Miss Spain 2008 and 2013), Ellen Page (Actress, X-Men: Days of Future Past)

Ellen page

Courtesy: Advocate.com
For more please read the detailed report in Advocate.com

Johnny gone down - book review

It was a long hiatus since I have written anything for my blog. So why not a little about a little book called “Johnny gone down” by Indian-English writer Karan Bajaj. The previous “Indish” writer I read was Chetan Bhagat (One night at call centre) and liked the book just for its lucid style and simple plot. Well, this one was entirely different with a complex plot. The story takes place in many countries starting from America, then to Cambodia, Brazil, back to America and finally settling in India. The protagonist dons various roles of an MIT graduate, a Buddhist monk, accountant of a local goon/mafia don, software wizard and eventually a loving father/husband. The journey is tumultuous, thrilling and racy. The author didn’t give over emphasis on the geographical descriptions which I liked, as the novel is not a travelogue. He successfully narrates the story with all the necessary details as the “Brazilian favela”, “Buddhist monastery” and the “corporate world”. Obviously the author is interested in philosophy as the book is replete with Buddhist doctrines (another turn-on for me) and dwells upon the impermanence of life in general. The protagonist is not at all interested in money and almost anything mundane other than love, which I found quite amusing. Is it possible to be such a man impervious to pain, emotions, money, fame and virtually everything human. He touches the lives of everyone he meets, but never demands anything from the people around him (unbelievable so). Besides he is so dark and so angelic at the same time which I could not comprehend. I know that we all have shades of grey, but a person who knowingly chooses a difficult path is beyond my logic.

I am going to give some spoilers here, but not all.  The synopsis is as follows; the protagonist is an extremely intelligent man (no wonder he got to MIT), with enormous physical prowess (he survived genocide) and later a broke insomniac who don’t care for anything. A harmless vacation to Cambodia along with his bosom friend turns into a disaster where he got entangled in the Cambodian bloodshed revolution of “Khmer Rouge” instigated by the greatest of Asian dictators, Pol Pot. He somehow survives it (many unbelievable elements are there in the Cambodian episode though) and ends up in a Buddhist monastery at Thailand, deep meditation follows for years. Despite the meditation, his mind continues to be restless and haunted by the past experiences (in fact he is haunted by past experiences almost until the end which not over-the-board, considering the degree of traumatic experiences he had gone through in Cambodia). He then helps his Buddhist guru to set an off-shoot of their monastery in Brazil where he meets a beautiful Brazilian model during the air travel and instantaneously feels an attraction for her. Well, it ends there but her image gets imprinted in his mind which we will read in later chapters. He gets more and more restless at Brazil and finally he gets out of the monastery with all the support from his guru who had already understood his inner struggles. Accidentally, he then joins a local ‘favella’ as an accountant, succumbs to the Brazilian underworld life abound in sex and violence, helps the ‘donos’ (name for Brazilian underworld don) gain significant amount of money and he achieves nothing other than his own contentment in helping others. During this time he marries the prior mentioned Brazilian model and embarks on a successful married life. On the eve of the arrival of his bundle of joy, he was forced to get out of Brazil as the Columbian drug mafia puts a price on his head. He migrates to America and befriends a broke software developer who also happens to be an MIT graduate. He wittingly and painstakingly helps him in fulfilling his ideas; in fact he develops a website (a virtual reality chat site) with the aim to rekindle with his own wife and son thousands of kilometers away in Brazil and finally gets addicted to the game he developed. His addiction proved lethal as he avoided food and started obsessively searching for his wife. One would wonder about the existence of telephone and email, but protagonist cannot use the traditional systems of communication due to the fear of tracking by the dreaded Columbian drug cartels. He then gets emaciated and weak due to his addiction and finally ends up in hospital. Out of regret, he escapes again leaving all the fruits of his work to his protector and heads to India for a duel where one person gets shoot to death for the amusement of the viewers. Yes, a game of death. Many stories unveil after that which you can read from the book.  Don’t worry, it is not a black story at all, the end all is all well and his ultimate realization of truth comes. More like an enlightenment. He finally finds happiness and peace. The plot was racy and a little complex but the characters are well structured.

The story is all about the “Faustian journey” of an ordinary man, impermanence of almost everything in life and his ultimate self realization. There are many beautiful passages in the book some of which I would like to present here. Try this one out: Our protagonist is traveling to India via train and he meets two random strangers, the conversation moves out in the direction of one’s choice to go abroad or stay in India.

“The deer wandered restlessly from forest to forest, searching for the divine fragrance, not knowing that the musk rest in his own belly”

More such philosophical quotes are there which I found extremely impressive for a man of such young age as that of Karan Bajaj. In author's personal website it is clearly mentioned that he is a "thriving yogi". So no wonder.  Another quote from a random stranger,

“Jesus always creates a pattern. When you are close you only you see unraveled threads, but with time and distance, it reveals itself as a mosaic. Just wait and watch. Everything was meant to be exactly the way it is”. Such quotes are really liberating.

Try this wonderful conversation between protagonist’s wife and him about him being overprotective to his son due to his unreasonable fear of an impending attack from the drug cartels on his family.

“Did I tell you about the misguided botanist mentioned in the book I am reading? The gentle botanist saw a butterfly struggling in her cocoon and felt so bad that he pulled her out so she wouldn’t have to suffer. Of course she shriveled up and died instead. The botanist didn’t realize that struggling in the cocoon, fighting and stretching, is what makes the ugly fat moth a butterfly. Like the botanist, you want to make sure he doesn’t suffer, but you will end up smothering him instead. You don’t realize that your struggles were essential to make you what you are. You can’t deny him his own”.

The protagonist amasses lot of money in his various avatars, but losses everything he makes, every time, but he is not wary of that loss of money which is hard to digest. But that is where his Buddhist upbringing comes to play. He is a monk in all respects even though he out rightly falls for temptations in many occasions. He had survived unspeakable savagery, but had not lost the belief in humanity simply because of the enormous kindness offered by random strangers he met during the various facades of his life. Yes, the random acts of kindness and their enormous impact on human life - for both the giver and the taker.

Protagonist had all the resources for leading a comfortable corporate life, but he chooses a different path. Chance and destiny played their parts, but mostly it was his decision. He had choices; a reckless life that knows no boundaries or a comfortable restricted life. He chose the former. He had regrets on all the decisions he made, he had nightmares and sleepless nights, his soul wandered aimlessly, until he realizes the truth/his "own self" at the end.

See this introspection of the protagonist while attending an alumni meeting of Indian MIT graduates, “I was turning my son into them by denying him the very things that made life worth living – friendship and loyalty, openness and vulnerability, love and loss, complexities and contradictions, falling, picking up the pieces, rising and falling again, a world that has no boundaries, a life that knows no limits”.

There are many things unbelievable in this book, many incongruous and anachronistic elements are also there. Definitely Karan Bajaj needs to do some more research before writing his next book. But his language is fairly good and the writing is quite lucid. The plot resembles a Bollywood film and the protagonist is too hard to believe as I said before. He is not that human. I would not have felt surprised if he was Jesus or any other heavenly creature. It would have been more believable if the protagonist showed a bit more vulnerability and sensitivity and above all he should have expressed the basic human emotions.

This book will make you see life in a different perspective. The book is all about a personal journey which we all will feel, at one point of time in our life. In that way, it touches every one of us. Johnny gone down is not an outstanding work, but it is readable because of the excellent writing and perspectives, even though the plot is quite filmy and unbelievable.  My verdict:  "a decent read".