Mind of my Stroked Brain

In the past decade more than anytime earlier, our media (print, traditional tv, internet, social media, OTT, etc) they have all evolved and become more and more complex with more choices. While these categories of content have existed in the past also, they have increasingly got merged (amalgamated) making it hard to distinguish them with hard boundaries. There might be many more, but I broadly bucket them into 3 categories: 1. Entertainment 2. Information 3. Noise/ Disinformation 4. Purposeful time  Even news, which is supposed to be only information, depending on the channel, has various percentages of disinformation and entertainment. Of them #3 is the hardest thing to identify. Usually it is very difficult to identify it in isolation. We can Only recognise that it is mostly noise and disinformation when we consume similar content from different sources for a period of time and are able to recognise the patterns in them and be able to contrast them. The first two categories however

When I started working, the first time I can remember having surplus money was sometime in early 1999. Most of the time earlier I didn't have money or barely lasted till month end. In late 1998, I was sent to another country on work for a few months. Since it was not a long term posting, we were not getting salary there but a daily allowance (referred to as per diem).  It was the first time I received money money in a stronger currency and better purchasing power and realised the potential of saving it.  So, I did not live there mostly. Everything was converted to my home currency and my eyes would bulge. At the same time, if the same amount was saved, it was a big deal of money to bring back to my home country and live with it later. Almost everything was seen through this lens and either not bought, not spent, not experienced. Everything including the food I allowed myself to eat, the condition of places we chose to live, the groceries I bought etc. Basically tightened the belt t

I was seeing something on TV today. Something very simple. What is "time" 🙂 Apart from the physics of scientists which I completely understood 🙂, I started thinking. How does the body keep time? Not the short term duration - that is probably a complex mechanism of sun, moon, planets etc (both optical influence and gravitational). I wonder about the long term. How does it know that it should start to let go at some time? Yes, there are theories and scientific information about cells dying, the organs becoming weak etc. But all of them have to know it is time right? They are all probably chemical messages and hormones, but what tells the glands that it is time? Not just us, every single creature comes with this timer. Might not be the same for everyone in the species, but a range nevertheless for everyone. How does it know it is time?

Many folks have said (blessed me) and predicted that I will be able to swallow / eat soon. I am actually terrified of the idea. Very very terrified... Don't get me wrong, I would love it if I started eating. But there is no fairy  godperson who will swoosh their wand and I will start eating after. I get up at 8:00am. I could wake up sooner, but that is when I am brought up from the sleeping position. It takes about 10 mins to remove the afo braces , the knee brace (need both in the night to stop the leg from doing it's own thing at night and make it uncomfortable), then remove the socks. Pull me up the bed (I will have slid down in the night. Remove the sweater (which is no easy job to do with a limp body). After that is feed. Then is wipe the face with warm water, comb the hair, apply lip balm, etc.  Basically make me presentable.  All this takes about 20 minutes. My physiotherapist comes anytime between 8:30 and 8:45am. Sometimes even becomes 9:00am. The physiotherapy session

Today was (is) my daughter's birthday. Had a good time this evening. Was on the wheelchair for a long time, but it didn't feel like much and I hardly remembered the time. Thinking of it, what is time? Ya I know it's supposed to be relative, there is a scientific model, there is probably a mathematical formula describing it and so on.. But what is it really? How does one imagine it? When I think of it, I can only imagine it coming back to the clock or calendar. The earth rotates once, it is 24hrs. The moon goes around once, it's a fortnight. The earth goes around once, the calendar turns a year. Basically all cyclical events. Only a reference really. Not time itself. Both the clock and calender are very recently man made. What did we think before that. What do all other species think even now? They don't know clocks and calendars... I fall asleep and live a half day's worth of living, but it's only 5 minutes of REM by the clock when I sleep. I get knocked ou