Book Reading vs Writing

My son is about 4 years old now. So as a responsible parent we decided to increase his general knowledge by introducing him to famous people around the world and what they did. So we had compiled a ppt of famous people and started explaining their work to him.

WE: He is Mahatma Gandhi. The great freedom fighter of india.
This my son immediately recognizes as he has seen his pic in school so often.

WE: He is Abraham Lincoln. A famous president of USA.
He tries to repeat the name, but doesn't seem so interested.

He was very interested in the picture of Niel Armstrong, as he has recently read a book on moon and astronauts.

Next we went through some of the famous authors. William Shakespeare, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, Leo Tolstoy.
WE: They have written great books. You will get to read them when you grow old.
He listens to us for some time then simply corrects us by saying "We read books, we don't write them".

Now this is a very genuine question coming from him, as we have been explaining to him not to write on his books.

Phone, Facebook and a Kid

I have an Android phone. So obviously i have enabled data synch with all the popular applications like Gmail and Facebook. So all my contacts get automatically synched and linked from various sources (phone, google, facebook etc). It is a very great thing when the end user is me.

Now come into picture my 4 year old son. He of course understands that this phone is something interesting that's why dad is avoiding to give it to him. So he will always be in a lookout for a chance to grab my phone. And how many times you can deny a cute kid's plea. And further when he is just exploring his photography skills and occasionally takes few good pics of mine. So now he is getting my phone and spend some unsupervised time with my phone.

Here comes the inconvenient part. He likes the touch screen so will keep on moving from one screen to another. He will explore all the applications. He is adept at changing wallpapers (with all his recent photoshoot). So far its okay. But now he also goes to the phonebook and starts making call. And now of course he doesn't have decency to say hello, so he simply ends the call either some one answers or just after few rings. Well if its his grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt etc its okay. But sometimes he makes call to some people whom i didn't know i had the phone number (thanks to the synch feature). Worst when they call back, i have to pick up the phone and then explain to them what happened. It can be very discomforting at times, because i haven't talked to that person for so long and suddenly i am talking to him/her, not knowing what to talk about. But at least it gives me an opportunity to talk to that person, whom i should have been in touch.

Well if you are one of those persons who have been troubled by that mysterious call from me, please accept my apologies in advance.

Quotes from Shantaram (Novel)

Author : Gregory David Roberts

These days i am reading the novel "Shantaram". Wonderfully written so far. I have found some interesting conversation pieces from the characters of this novel, which have given me immense pleasure as a reader. I am quoting them here. My commentary is in italics after each quote

1. Being listened to -- really listened to -- is the second best thing in the world. (Interpretations are open about the first best thing.)
2. The only force more ruthless and cynical than the business of big politics is the politics of big business. (Not any personal experience so far but i guess it is true)
3. Civilization, after all, is defined by what we forbid, more than what we permit. (In Egyptian civilization it was norm for brother to marry sister in royal family)
4. Friendship is something that gets harder to understand, every damn year of my life. Friendship is like a kind of algebra test that nobody passes. In my worst moods, I think the best you can say is that a friend is anyone you don't despise. (Ah there goes my friend list)
5. The facts of life are very simple. In the beginning we feared everything -- animals, the weather, the trees, the night sky -- everything except each other. Now we fear each other, and almost nothing else.
6. It's good to know what's wrong with the world. But it's just as important to know that sometimes, no matter how wrong it is, you can't change it. A lot of bad stuff in the world wasn't really that bad until someone tried to change it.
7. I think wisdom is very over-rated. Wisdom is just cleverness, with all the guts kicked out of it. I'd rather be clever than wise, any day.
8. Poverty and pride are devoted blood brothers until one, always and inevitably, kills the other.
9. 
   
10. The people showed thanks, rather than saying it, and I'd come to accept that.
11. I take everything personally -- that's what being a person is all about.
12. I can't stand politicians. A politician is someone who promises you a bridge, even when there is no river.

Bhaja and Karla Caves

Last weekend we went to explore the Bhaja and Karla caves. They are near Lonavala almost 50 Km from Pune. Both are located on top of hills, so you should be ready to do a little bit of climbing up the stairs. You can read more about their history below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaja_Caves

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Caves

Both caves were made by Buddhists and are almost similar in architecture. However now Karla is more commercialized and is very crowded in comparison to Bhaja. I am posting few pics of the place.

 Me and Kundan on the way to Karla Caves

 Anshu and Kundan on the way to Bhaja Caves

 Outside Bhaja Cave

Sculpture in Karla Cave