Santhosh's ramblings

Here is a morbid but potentially life giving blog on death!  Life and death aren’t enemies - they’re dance partners. They move together, not just in the grand scheme of existence but inside us, in every cell. It might sound grim to start with death, but stick with me - because understanding how cells die can teach us how to live with more purpose. We’ve always believed birth and death are life’s only certainties. But science is rewriting that story. Today, technology lets us choose genetic traits, surrogates, and even debate when life should end. These choices confuses our old ideas about beginnings and endings. There is more in the pipeline of technology too! But these two certainties still remain.  We are not talking about that here - something else. Death that preserves, protects and gives life.  I have been facing it every day. Every day one fish in my fish tank dies (guppies), but then I see many baby fish, swimming around. Did the mother give birth and die? (Any one...

I watched a movie this week: "14 Peaks, Nothing is Impossible." You can watch the trailer here. Yes, you guessed right, the soul is still taking time to return. But this blog is not about that.  Watching the movie was challenging. What all will humans do to find relevance and significance?  The main character of this documentary (real-life documentary) says he is not climbing 14 peaks for his significance, but as a message to the world that Sherpas of Nepal, who support all the Western climbers, should get their due acknowledgment and not just a casual mention. Because they are more proficient than all these mountaineers.   A significant and relevant movie. This movie was well appreciated by many because of the message: if you have a significant and relevant contribution to make, even if it seems impossible, you can do it if you do not give up and persevere. An excellent message.   But watching that movie led to a chain of thoughts. Life today is all about significan...

Though I had come back from the mountains, and I had supposedly carried the “soul” back with me I seemed lost for a few days. https://santhoshsramblings.blogspot.com/2025/11/am-i-crazy.html Here is an old story of an American on safari. "He had the natives marching almost day and night to reach his hunting destination in the African bush. On the fourth morning, the Bushmen refused to move. Instead, they relaxed in the shade of a tree and stayed there long into the morning. The American hunter was incredulous and exasperated. He grew angrier as the minutes ticked by on his watch, and he finally exploded. "This is an absolute waste of my valuable time. Can someone tell me what's going on here?" The translator looked at him with surprise and replied, "Well, they are just waiting for their soul to catch up with their body.” The problem seemed to be that my mind (or even my soul?) was still somewhere up there, until one day it dawned on me that I was not living in th...

This blog is a travel blog. Annapurna Base Camp trek. At the outset itself, I invite you on a journey. Rather, two journeys: one diagnostic, another experiential. (It is a bit long too – you can skip the reading for the pictures if you are too busy – but I advise you to stop, sip, savour, and move on.) Diagnostic one – to decide if the author is crazy or normal. The author was almost convinced by the middle of the journey that he was crazy. This was acknowledged by close family members and a few observers. You too can come to your own conclusions.   Experiential one – I have tried to give as many pictures as possible (a photo blog) so that you can experience some of it. (To try to instil a bit of infectious craziness in you too.) There are multiple reasons why people go on challenging journeys. The most likely one is to prove that he/she can do it – an adventurous spirit. But at the outset itself, I had mostly given up that spirit, knowing very well that I may not reach the end po...