Monthly Archive for December, 2006

Hallowed be thy name

Published on December 22, 2006 in Harry Potter and Theories. 15 Comments

I’m back to my favorite topic – Harry Potter.

Half of you might have guessed what I’ll be talking about from the title and first sentence.
Yes. It is about the disclosure of the title of the 7th book – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”

If you still don’t know, the door in www.jkrowling.com opened once again yesterday to reveal a hangman game which gave the name.

It was like Wow! Jo is bloody brilliant! That was the thought that struck me, because I was reading Order of the Phoenix for the nth time of late.

If you remember the battle at the ministry between DA and death eaters, Harry instructs others to shatter the prophecy balls so they can escape. And we hear snippets of 2 seemingly trivial prophecies…

“… at the solstice will come a new…” said the figure of an old, bearded man…
“…and none will come after…” said the figure of a young woman.

But Jo never writes trivial statements. Yesterday was December 21st – Winter solstice. At the solstice came a new (title)…Indeed.
The last one….None will come after.

Jo is so clever to put the easter eggs right inside her book. :)

Now, the name is interesting. Why “Deathly Hallows”?

Deathly
adj.

  1. Of, resembling, or characteristic of death: a deathly silence.
  2. Causing death; fatal.

adv.

  1. In the manner of death.
  2. Extremely; very: The night was deathly cold.

Hallow
noun.

  1. In pl[ural = hallows] applied to the shrines or relics of saints; the gods of the heathen or their shrines. In the phrase ‘to seek hallows’ [means] to visit the shrines or relics of saints.

verb.

  1. To make holy; sanctify; consecrate. “to hallow the name of the Lord.”
  2. To honor as holy; consider sacred; venerate. “to hallow a battlefield.”

We are pretty sure that “deathly” is an adjective and “Hallows” is a noun.
Does that mean that there are some relics of saints (or revered wizards) which are deathly/fatal?

(The following theory is Courtesy: Anu)
The Hallows across most legends are seen to represent the royal regalia carried by the King, or the objects sought by someone such as a ‘Grail Quester’.
The sacred vessels, or ‘Hallows of Ireland’ were believed to have been brought by the ‘Tuatha de Danaan’ (This is the Celtic name for Hallows).

The four hallows of the Tuatha de Danaan were developed in later traditions to be:

  1. The Pole of Combat
  2. The Sword of Light
  3. The Cauldron of Cure
  4. The Stone of Destiny

Now notice the connection.

  1. The Sword of Light – Gryffindor Sword
  2. The Cauldron of Cure – Hufflepuff cup
  3. The Stone of Destiny – Slytherin ring/locket
  4. Pole of Combat – Ravenclaw wand(?)

Deathly Hallows.. why so? Are they all Horcruxes?
A million theories erupt in my mind.
Let them erupt from you people also. Do Comment!!!

Later.

Weird things about Weirdness

Published on December 17, 2006 in Tagged and Weird things. 9 Comments

Well!
This is a long pending tag (I almost wrote “pending CR”…CR for change request. Mind still at work place :( ) from Ajith. 6 weird things about me. As several people have pointed out, I am a self proclaimed weirdo and chatterbox. So there should not be any trouble in writing 6 weird things about me. But actually, there is trouble. I see it now… Anyway here goes.

Weirdness #1
This is right at the top of my mom’s list of weird thing I’ve done in my life.

My mom was cleaning my room one day (not at all a mammoth effort as you may think. You’ll know why in this post itself) when she saw a list of endless names. At first she thought she had misplaced a marksheet of the students in her class. But actually that was a statistical study by yours truly. I was trying to study how many different people I can distinctly remember, i.e. relate the names to faces. So I had listed down the names of all people, friends, family, film actresses and so on. Anyway, this project was shortlived as I found out that the number people I knew was way too much that it crossed the limits of my hands endurance.

Weirdness #2
I am not afraid of snakes at all, unlike most people. I keep a distance, but I’m not afraid. I once was taking a shortcut which went behind my hostel block. I accidentally stepped on a snake. My friend who was with me was freaked out all day. I shoved it off as a trifle.
I don’t know why I’m not afraid of snakes when I’m afraid of lesser animals like frogs, mice, cockroaches etc.

Weirdness #3
I have a serious doubt that I have small amounts of short term memory loss. I sometimes forget things which I remembered about 30 seconds ago. Then I will have to come to my starting place (where I originally thought of that) and pull my hair for a minute to remember what I had thought of. This is a tested protocol. I almost never remember it if I don’t come to the starting place.

Weirdness #4
My mom says I’m far too outspoken.
My brother says I talk continously about unrelated things. (Called “Incoherent speech”)
My grandma says that my spirituality exceeds my age.
My friends say that I am a studious moron.

My dad says…well…nothing. He just enjoys all the fun from a safe distance.

Weirdness #5
I had problem of sleepwalking when I was a child. Later it reduced to talking while in sleep. Now it is almost gone. Some of the weirdest monologues which I uttered while I was asleep were:

  • Respected teachers, elders and my dear friends.
  • This is the plane and the force is applied perpendicular to it.
  • You really cannot understand my friend, but I know he is a jerk.

My mom has told me that I never spoke in language other than English while I was asleep.

Weirdness #6
I am kind of obsessed with cleanliness of some things. You can call it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I don’t like my room in any condition other than spick-and-span. I don’t buy used books from roadside, because they look dirty. I ask my friends to wash their hands before touching my books, because they may make it dirty. I don’t like utensils thrown around in the kitchen sink and will wash them myself sometimes. I don’t allow my friends to put any non-vegetarian (which I consider unclean) item in my utensils even if they offer to clean it themselves later. They have to use paper plates. I even fool around when they bring some food item, because I suspect if they will take my plates for their food and the food will be non-vegetarian.

Open tag.. Anybody can take it (I’m lazy to propose names). Just remember that you have to comment in my blog after you wrote about your weirdness. ;)

Who said I couldn’t write verse?

Published on December 7, 2006 in Wacky Humor. 6 Comments

Well. I did!
But looking back, I have to take it back. I see I can write. (Some people don’t like it because it’s not poetry in the right sense. But what the heck! That’s the maximum I can do!)

Here’s a snippet of one of my old posts. You’ll see the complete post here.

…The panda, as if reading my mind, started…

Why worry about the name of the dame,
When you still don’t know the name of the game,
You are lame coz you can’t take aim,
The guns, you can’t blame, it will be a big shame,
Why go after the dame who came,
When I am there, who’s so tame,
You’ll get it all the same,
And ‘t will be your claim to fame.

Then, without warning, he jumped on me. He clutched me tight however I tried to get rid of him. Even now he’s clutching me from my side. I say, “You’re not a Koala, you’re a Panda, Goddamnit!!”
Oh dear!!!

What happened to the quest of the stone??

Away went broken, the dame
And as she went, she proclaimed,
I will avenge you, O my flame!
The stone she found is now critically acclaimed!!
I lost the stone and the fame and the dame,
And I got an idiot who says he’s tame.

Friends Forever?

Published on December 4, 2006 in Just Rambling and Life etc.. 2 Comments

I had never seen the last season of “Friends” completely, albeit being a big fan of the series. The stupid jokes of Chandler, the I-want-a-girl-on-a-bread ideal of Joey, mental-case Monica, kinky Phoebe, confused Ross and “daddy’s girl” Rachel. All were so unique and so together.

I saw the entire last season on DVD last weekend. And now I wish I hadn’t seen that. Not because it didn’t make me laugh, but because it made me cry. It turned out to be a “sitcry” for me rather than a sitcom.
I just couldn’t bear the six energetic friends separating, because they were running after their own lives. I couldn’t bear to see the helplessness of Joey towards the few last episodes. Reminded me of the scene in “Dil Chahta Hai” where Saif Ali Khan looks helpless when his friends part their ways.
I broke down into tears. (And I’m not embarrassed to say that!)

There are some things in this world which are very important. Friendship, bravery, courage to face any obstacles in life. Family and friends are very important for me. Perhaps, that’s why I cried.

I’ve had lots of “friends” (My mom reckons its a truckload), ‘had’ with emphasis, because I’m not in touch with several of them.
Why did this happen?
Was something wrong with me?
I contemplated. I asked my own mind.
Was there a problem with me?
I didn’t think so. There wasn’t. The problem was with everybody.

I would do most things for my friends. “Anything” would a hyperbole. I am yet to find a human being who is 0% self-centered.
That was the problem!
The answer was already known. There are no unassuming people in this world. At least, none that I’ve met. (Of course you have to exclude your immediate family; they may be unassuming towards you, but not to an outsider.) People (including me) consider their own benefits before even thinking about anything else.

I am not trying to preach here; but I keep on thinking about these things every now and then. Maybe a tad of selfishness is necessary in today’s world. I’m not here to debate that. But I think we are missing something in the rat race for a better career and caring about self.

Can I live without friends? Answer is an absolute NO.