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

Disclaimer: this is all my observations, thoughts and hypothesis. No medical grounds backing it. Please ignore if you don't agree _________ It's the onset of the south western monsoon in India/ Bangalore. The weather changes drastically and rapidly (from hot and dry to wet and cold). In absolute terms, it's not really a lot compared to what we see as extremes in the upper of lower hemispheres, but very much felt because of the rapidity in change. In my opinion (in my case atleast), it is probably the worst time of the year for folks having some sort of bronchial allergy tendancy. I know I am very prone and affected by it every year. The the entire breathing path (nasal cavity, trachea & lungs get clogged because of secretions (phlem) and usually some relief is got by using a spray/ nebulisation of broncho dialators, bronchial steroids and expectorants. As I mentioned, it is that time of the year. Yesterday was a struggle. My nasal cavity was clogged and I could feel the

Disclaimer: 1. None of these are my original thoughts. I have watched, listened to and seen a lot of useful and useless content. Based on all these inputs, it is processed junk from my mind. Since I can't remember the source, I cite the internet and Google Maharaj. Crudely speaking, I have been consuming all kinds of junk and out of indigestion, I am vomiting out part of the partly digested junk 🙂. 2. I have used some terms loosely. These are terms based on only my informational knowledge and not experiential knowledge with conviction. Please take it with a pinch of salt and chill if not aligned with you beliefs. __________________ One of the things that baffles me is how limited our ability is to think beyond what we are physically in human form. Ex , in almost all alien movies I have seen, the aliens are  depicted in some crude way looking like humans (and smaller mostly) sometimes geen in colour, sometimes distorted but human like faces , different types of fingers but same two

I have not written in a while. No particular reason. Just didn't feel like it one day and stopped. Many may call it a "writer's block". I don't know if that is what it is. I understand writer's block as struggling to get substance to put down. I was not struggling with that. Vague thoughts come and go all the time. Some in my opinion, might be interesting or amusing to share. However I was not getting the will for it. I don't know what happened. There is nothing specific I can attribute it to. It's not like I am depressed or have lost general interest etc - I have been doing stuff and keeping myself occupied. Yet, somehow this was not happening. Anyway, what was I upto generally. Watching a lot of podcasts (videocasts I guess) on YouTube. I realised it is a treasure trove for information. I used to struggle earlier for informative and reliable content. In this day of diverse information, over information, misinformation, disinformation etc. Anything I

I am part of my apartment complex's residents group on WhatsApp. I am sure everyone who is residing in an apartment or colony or gated community will have something similar. There are many things put in it - relevant stuff from the apartment MC to absolutely irrelevant forwards to appreciation messages to issues. The most frequent thing is "rants" - various things - significant issues to insignificant ones. It is the favourite subject as well - it gets most responses with more rants added to it. I wonder 2 things everytime when I see them. 1. As a society/ social community - have we become more negative than earlier times? 2. Most issues need a phone call to the concerned person/ manager/ security etc to resolve. Yet there will be 2 dozen messages in 2 minutes. I always wonder how many made that actual phone call to resolve. Have we become a society where everything is someone else's job to resolve? -- and we are hoping for social action for really big things like s

There are many things defined in various country's constitutions as fundamental rights. I frankly don't know what the fundamental in them stand for. In my opinion, the 1 and only fundamental and birthright we are all born with is to die. It was a thought I was comfortable with for a long time. I felt denied my fundamental birthright after my stroke. In all honesty, I am being propped up to live in many many ways. * If nobody realised and my wife and friends did not act quickly, 6th feb 2019 early morning would have been the end. * If there was no MRI facilities in the hospital to identify the clot in my brain, it would have been the end. * If my wife's cousin - the neurosurgeon hadn't acted swiftly on his feet, probably 9am would have been the end. * If there were no life saving medicines and ability to intubate with tracheostomy, probably another day . * If there was no ability to put a tube into my stomach (ryles initially and PEG later) to put water and nutrients to

" EVERYDAY IN EVERY WAY I AM GETTING BETTER AND BETTER " those words are on a cardboard board in front of me in my room.  It's actually not even cardboard. It Was made using a stiff paper shopping bag with white paper stapled to it and the handle was used for hanging to the TV stand in the hospital in front of me. It was made by my good friend and my wife as a positive reinforcement to me very early in the hospital. After I came home, it has been hanging in front of me in the room ever since.  Except for 3-4 months inbetween when I have spent back at hospitals it is the first thing I see in the morning and last thing I see at night. I am quite surprised at its condition after 4+ years now . It has survived well inspite of the abuse it has been through across all weathers. I am a skeptic with such things. It takes a lot for my mind to give up its skeptical position and accept such things. Any such matters. So, when they put it up - I was like what difference can it possibl