Guru Das Srinagesh

Uktam

(Sanskrit) that which is uttered.

I try to derive inspiration in life from aphorisms and expressive bits of poetry.

Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. This quote from The Shawshank Redemption can be interpreted in a couple of ways:
  1. As a powerful wake-up call to be fully mentally present and alive to the possibilities of the moment amidst the maelstrom of daily mundane life - are we really living or just existing, going through the motions?
  2. As a tacit injunction to not waste time half-assing being alive but to really whole-ass it, mustering up verve and vigour to "once more unto the breach" that sucker.
അനേകശാസ്ത്രം ബഹു വേദിതവ്യം അല്പശ്ച കാലോ ബഹവശ്ച വിഘ്നാഃ യത് സാരഭൂതം തദുപാസിതവ്യം ഹംസോ യഥാ ക്ഷീരമിവാമ്പുമധ്യാത്
Many are the shastras (bodies of knowledge), there is so much to be learnt;
Scarce runs Time and obstacles (to learning) abound;
(Only) that (shastra) which is essential is what one should devote oneself to,
just as the Swan (discerningly devotes itself to/drinks) milk from a water-dilution.
This motif of the milk-drinking swan is canon in the Vedic corpus.
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman. After painting the starkest and direst images of quotidian drudgery and institutional failure, Walt breaks the fourth wall of Dickensian smog and invitingly extends towards us an open palm bearing a wee sapling of promise and responsibility.
Success leads to complacency; complacency to failure; failure to humility; and humility, back to success. Found this useful when I was going through the interviewing grind for software development roles. I felt like I got complacent in a previous role and decided that I would learn something on the side in my next role to keep things fresh. Been successful in this endeavour so far.