22 January 2012

Parallel Universe

How can you even begin to describe a person whose writing you admire immensely? I can’t. But what I CAN do is refer to 2 of my all time favorite posts on his blog: A Tragic Art and Mystic Meander to give you an idea of how beautifully he writes.


Presenting to you the third guest post on Conversations: Parallel Universe by Rajagopalan Ratnaraj whose blog name is A Beautiful Mind. Read on!


Almost every one of us has a thing for legacy! We dream of seeing our names in tabloids & billboards; our heart pulses up on every mention of our name. We all like to outlive our time in this world in some philosophical form unless your idea of mortality is to store a few of your skin cells in a Petri dish inside a robot programmed to live forever. But half way through our lives, we are smart (or foolish) enough to realize that greatness is destined to a select few who go on to change this world for good (or bad) & thrust their legacy into history books & their neighbors alike. Then we watch our favorite movie star who starts out as a son of a farmer, goes to the best college in the nation, romances the most beautiful girl, fights 20 baddies while smoking a cigarette, turns a millionaire in the course of a 5 minute song & lives happily ever after in the hearts of his people. And then we watch him do just about the same thing in his next movie: this time as a factory laborer’s son. I see one difference between him & me: he has me in his audience & I've me as my audience. Well, heck, who cares! A parallel universe is thus born!

We might or might not learn about the concept of a parallel universe in the inter-twined realms of physics and philosophy but we are certainly introduced to its more conceivable form by the various larger-than-life characters we see around us. Our parallel universe, when formed is a very crude one. It starts out as an inner world where we rehearse our future without the risk of failure. We start out longing to be someone famous, notorious, strong or intelligent. Our thoughts are someone else’s opinions and our passions are borrowed quotations. But slowly literature, science, philosophy, music: all make their way into our universe & we cease to be someone else’s shadow. We create a world that is magical & has the potential to create, give & most importantly make us truly immortal!


A parallel universe has no rules & no bounds. And certainly endless possibilities! A child might dream of being like his father one day while the father might be ready to give anything to be a child once again. Almost every one of us who read Ayn Rand in college would have dreamt of stopping the motor of this world, living out of the fantasy pages of Atlas Shrugged’s Objectivism. Columbus might have used a sextant to find his way through but could've dreamt of a GPS application on a cell-phone. Your mom might be buying a few nautical acres of land in the Indian Ocean to build a vacation home while you might be considering a skiing trip with penguins inAntarctica. Einstein could've travelled faster than the speed of light & thus achieved infinite mass. And all this could one day turn real!


But alas at some point, we are battered so much in our real lives that we resign & seek solace in our parallel world. It ceases to be that missile destined to launch you to glory & ends up as a luxury vehicle that takes you on an exotic holiday. It fuels your ambition no more; it just feeds your hurt ego. We come home, play the guitar, solve the Global Economic Crisis in an hour, write a book & get it published in the meantime. By the way, you do all this while you're partying in Hawaii. Then it is time to go to bed & wait until the next evening for another adventure. We give up reality & embrace an illusion. The parallel universe helps you live a hero’s life; it helps you dream about realizing your dreams without making any sacrifices; it is an effect without a cause. It helps you leave a legacy: at least (only) to yourself! It ends up as just a life within a life to make you feel that your life is actually good!


Parallel universe means different things to different people. It is eventually up to you to decide what you want to do with it. You can look at it as your book of enlightenment or as your evening entertainment channel. To me, it is an incredible philosophical paradox. If you work on it as a dream, it eventually becomes a reality. And if you imagine it as a reality, it stays as a dream. Well, If Beethoven could compose music without hearing; we can try to live a dream without dreaming!


Imagine you just painted your best work of art! You can sell it for a fortune. You can hang it above your bed & keep gazing at it for the rest of your life. You can gift it to the person you love the most. You can burn it down so that no one else ever has the single moment of ecstasy. The choice is yours. But don’t just imagine it: paint it! It would be a shame to imagine but not feel such a precious moment. Go ahead and create your own parallel universe. Who knows one day you might actually get to live in it! A parallel universe exists in the realms of every human mind. The question is: Do you want to be materialistic or not? Do you want it to work wonders for the world or just for yourself? The choice is yours!


98 comments:

  1. Nice piece on a parallel universe.
    Would instantly connect with it.
    From being a superhero while I was kid to a brave army officer in teens. From being scholar enough to out stand the teachers I hated till thrashing out the bullies. And now finally being a successful man in future...have lived every single possibility in the parallel universe which makes me happy. :)

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    1. Thank you so much Vinay. Yes.. our parallel universe is indeed very beautiful and keeps us happy by presenting endless possibilities. :) And your parallel universe seems very fascinating!

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  2. we become what we think about....

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    1. Beautifully said. We indeed become what we think about. :)

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  3. Every one is creative in spinning a web of his own parallel universe.Add a little determination and practicality and most of it can turn to reality .very true..enjoyed reading.

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    1. Thank you very much Sharmila. Very well said. Our creativity finds the path and our determination shows us the way. :)

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  4. This was an amazing post. I loved reading it.
    Will surely check out the blog :)

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    1. Thank you so much PhilO. I am really glad you liked it. :)

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  5. Amazing post raj... you have touched and covered wonderful things, if parallel universe exists, which is scientifically not proven(as of now)
    i will be happy to see someone similar to me doing similar things, who knows someone would have posted a similar guest post too :P
    Dee..

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    1. Thank you so much Deepak. :) wow.. it might be creepy and fun at the same time to see someone who exactly does the same things as you. Who knows at this very moment, your alter ego blogger in the parallel universe might either use a photon pen or writing on an "olai-chuvadi". :)

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  6. Book of enlightenment or evening entertainment channel, the parallel universe is still the playground for actualizing our truest infinite potential. A very encouraging post for all of us whose dreams seem to large, too distant, and too difficult. Nothing is impossible in the realm of the mystic. Thanks, Raj, thanks, Sujatha, for a peppy start to the week!!

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    1. Thank you so much Subho. You said it perfectly. Nothing is impossible in the realm of the mystic. :) It is upto us how much we want to realize. :)

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  7. Interesting and thought-provoking post. This would keep coming to my mind for sometime now. :)

    My parallel universe is very fascinating too. :)

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    1. Thank you so much Bharathiraja. I am glad you found it thought-provoking. Yeah.. I am sure your parallel universe would be really fascinating and filled with lots of wonderful moments. It is a nice feeling to live out those moments. :)

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  8. The fascination factor induced by having a parallel universe depends on how much we are daunted by situations in real life. More we are daunted, more exciting our parallel universe is! Its not an accident that behind every great work, there is a tragedy.

    Destination Infinity

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    1. That is a very interesting and profound thought Rajesh. I totally agree. Pain is indeed a great motivator to achieving great heights. :)

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  9. Certainly very interesting the way you've put the entire concept across.

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    1. Thank you so much Rachna. :) I am really glad you liked it and found it interesting.

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  10. Very nice description of parallel universe......

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    1. Thank you so much Amrit. Very happy that you liked it. :)

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  11. Actions speak louder than the voices of your dreams. Obviously, this idea brings u closer to the state of parallel universe.

    From: www.sriramnivas.com

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    1. Very well said Sriram. Actions indeed speak louder than your dreams. :)

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  12. A beautiful post! I believe the parallel universe coexists with the real one! What we visualize on our visual boards becomes a reality! BTW Sujatha , your new pic on the profile is very nice:)

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    1. Thank you so much Rahul. Glad you liked it. You are right. A parallel universe does coexist with our real worlds and impacts a lot of what we eventually do in our real lives too. :)

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  13. We actually all need a parallel universe where we arent judged and evrything we want to be,w e are.If not for this,life would have become more of a hated affair.Nice post,a beautiful mind indeed.

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    1. Thank you very much Suzy. So happy you liked my mind. :) Yeah.. the parallel universe is indeed a beautiful place to be without prejudices, worries and fears.

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  14. a very intresting and motivational post..loved reading it,and the effect it has on my mind..

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    1. Thank you so much Alka. Glad that the post has an effect on your mind. :) That means a lot to me.

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  15. A very interesting post. Makes an instant connect to our parallel universe. takes a lot to convert it to reality.

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    1. Thank you very much Krupaa. Am so glad that you were able to make a connect. :) I totally agree.. it does take a lot to convert it to reality. And even if we don't manage to convert all of it to reality, we get the joy of living it out in the parallel univers.

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  16. What is real, what is fake?..What we think is real, is it real?..maybe the parallel universe itself is real..I've read about a coma patient who couldn't move for some 10 years, but created a parallel life in her mind where she had a happy family, and that helped her survive..

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    1. Very true Ana. There is a very thin line between real and fake and it is all in our mind. :)

      That is so moving. I cannot even imagine how the coma patient would have done that. Really inspirational.

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  17. I read his story Tragic art.A touching story beautifully written.He writes well though I must confess I could not follow much the parallel universe due to my inadequacy.

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    1. Thank you so much Partha. Glad you liked my story. :) Sorry for being so abstract in this post. I tend to do that sometimes.

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  18. What a great write up! It kicked me into gear and made me think about what I should be doing- rather than just imagining what to do- I NEED TO DO IT!!! I need to bring my two universes together- and combine the parallels- to create reality in a tangible way...write that book...paint that picture...do what needs to be done!

    Great read!

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    1. Thank you so much Anjuli. Am so happy you liked it and it had an impact on you. :) Means a lot. And I am sure you will be able to write that book, paint that picture and do everything in your wishlist soon. :)

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  19. Btw, thank you for reading my first post :P

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  20. Great Post Raj. Parallel universe is sometimes our savior, sometimes our refuge from Brutal reality and sometimes our living dream. It serves a different purpose for everyone. Last para is very inspiring. Painting our parallel universe is important. What we use it for is another choice altogether.

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    1. Thank you so much Kunal. Am so happy you liked it. You are so right. Parallel universe is indeed our savior many times and helps us forget tough times and spend some happy hours in complete oblivion. :)

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  21. Very interesting read. Thought-provoking and insightful. :)

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    1. Thank you so Akshay. Am very happy you liked it and found it insightful. Means a lot to me. :)

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  22. I reallt liked the concept of parallel universe here. It has been nicely opined without being too didactic about it. I like the commenrary here. It also encompasses some amoung if inspiration and that push that screams out to you and urges you to dare o dream.

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    1. Thank you so much Stuti. :) Am so happy you liked it. "That push that screams out to you and urges you to dare a dream" - Beautifully said.

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  23. parallel universe
    very thoughtful

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    1. Thank you so much SM. Am very glad you liked it. :)

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  24. That was a great post. Now day dreams need not be just that and can actually become a parallel world which is within our reach. But there has to be some measure of reality even in a parallel world, or else, it would be like buying nautical miles in the Indian Ocean, right? :)

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    1. Thank you so much zephyr. :) So happy you liked it. I agree.. some of our dreams are pure fantasy while others have an element of reality which motivates us to chase and realize our dreams. :)

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  25. Loved it entirely and liked the concept of parallel universe:)

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    1. Thank you so much Mithilash. Am thrilled you found it an interesting read. :)

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  26. Amazing post!!!

    In our thoughts we create a world where we are free from all our shortcomings.All our hidden desires,wishes are fulfilled in that world..This give us a sense of temporary happiness...Parallel Universe or alternate reality is nothing but a buffer zone created by our mind between harsh reality and our elusive dreams;Like the word parallel suggests both worlds will always run together but will never meet.

    Last week Discovery Channel carried a documentary on concept of Parallel Universe.Parallel Universe or alternate reality or counter earth may not be just figment of our imagination-they may be real.

    Had great time reading this post..

    Thanks

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    1. Thank you so much Vinod. "Parallel Universe or alternate reality is nothing but a buffer zone created by our mind between harsh reality and our elusive dreams" - Loved this line. Oh yeah.. I agree that a parallel universe may be just existing somewhere even at this moment. :)

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  27. Hi Sujatha,

    I have presented The Versatile Blogger Award to you
    http://intertwinedthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/01/versatile-blogger-award.html

    Hope you enjoy it!

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  28. well...i was expecting something of quantum physics etc :( lolz

    yes we all think of this thing so ..if it was like a movie we would all be millionaires or maybe we would all be beaten up by the hero :P :) nice guest post...liked it...

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    1. Thank you so much Muhammad. :) Glad you liked it. ha ha.. quantum physics is not quite my forte. ;) But yeah.. I agree.. if life was a movie, then it will bear our script. :)

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  29. I quote W.B. Yeats here to say that "In dreams, lie our realities."

    Great post, Sujatha.

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    1. Thank you so much Sudha. :) Am very happy you liked it. And that was a lovely Yeats quote.

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  30. Interesting. I agree with "We are battered in real life that we seek solace in parallel world" Blogging, for me, at times amounts to a parallel world, if I have understood the concept correctly.

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    1. Thank you so much Hariharan. :) Am happy you found it an interesting read. You nailed it on the head. Blogging is a beautiful parallel universe; to me as well. I create what I want and I sit back and relish it. :)

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  31. Yet another thought provoking read. First, I love this line, speaks volume to me -

    " He has me in his audience & I've me as my audience"

    I think if we think about and around these few words, it would sound a universe to us or in your words 'Parallel Universe.' Last paragraph you wrote with great intensity. Our choice...Our lives...Our destiny is interwoven.

    Great writing and again Sujatha picked masterpieces from your blog.

    Thanks to both of you for collaborating and giving us a profound post...:)

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    1. Thank you so much Saru for those lovely compliments. Made my day. :) Very true indeed. "Our choice...Our lives...Our destiny is interwoven" - Beautifully said. :)

      And the posts you and Sujatha like are the my top favorites too. :)

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  32. Sujatha, shift your profile somewhere up on the blog. :)

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    1. okie :) if u say so :) doing it right away

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    2. Thanks for doing that. We like it where you are more visible to us:) :) :)

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  33. a lovely post and yeah something to ponder about ..
    and thanks to sujatha we get to read an awesome piece ..

    veyr well written
    I hope i have a parallel universe where What i want happens , wont that be just beautfiul
    Bikram's

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    1. Thank you so much Bikramjit. :) Am really happy you loved it. Yeah.. a parallel universe lets you do what you want wherein lies its beauty. :) It is like a world inside your mind.

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  34. i never understood parallel universe till i watched Donnie Darko movie :P

    i sometimes feel to be somewhere else but reality is somewhat different from what i think .. i like when i get this intuition ..

    very well written ..

    thanks Sujatha for sharing this !

    rahul

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    1. Thank you so much Rahul. Glad you liked it. :) That sounds like an interesting movie. :) And that is a very intriguing intuition where your mind lingers somewhere else. I have had that too many a times. :)

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    2. welcome here Rahul :) and thanks for your comment.

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  35. wow! that was an amazing post. Well, blogging has kinda become a parallel universe for me.
    Great job Rajagopalan and Sujatha.

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    1. Thank you so much Leo Paw. :) So glad you like it. Yes indeed. Blogging certainly is a lovely parallel universe. :)

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  36. oh the parallel universe... where either Karan Johar is having coffee with me or TOI has published my pic on the front page :D :D :D...

    was a pleasure meeting this guest of yours :) :)

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    1. Thank you so much Sunita. :) Am so glad you liked it. Yours sounds like a lovely parallel universe. It could even be a pic of you having coffee with Karan on the front page of TOI. :)

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  37. Amazing thoughts on how we lead our lives within the parallel universe. We live in a dream land to make it a reality and yes almost everybody crave to do something and make some diffference. But at the end of the day without their knowledge they just copy others and live their dreams. Its a beautifully composed writing putting so many wonderful thoughts in it.

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    1. Thank you so much Elvirah. I am so glad you liked the writing. :) We certainly live in a dream land within our parallel universe.

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  38. I think everybody does have a parallel universe for him/herself. And its fair enough to have one! Like you mentioned, that it means different things to different people. For me it is something where I would have rather existed and would have lived in a different way, perhaps, not particularly bound by the forces like destiny!

    Lovely post and very very well written!
    @Sujatha: Thanks for this lovely treat!

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    1. Thank you so much. I am so happy you loved it. :) Beautifully said. To live unbound by the forces of destiny. :)

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  39. Thank you so much Aswini for those wonderful words. :) It really made my day. Means a lot to me. I am so glad you loved the post.

    Very true indeed. There is nothing more happier than feeling good about ourselves. And again it is up to us whether we just want to relish those dreams or make them real. :)

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  40. Its a wonderful read Raj... Completely enjoyed it.. I must say! Your thoughts and words has a great flow. I loved this line "If you work on it as a dream, it eventually becomes a reality. And if you imagine it as a reality, it stays as a dream."

    I couldn't agree anymore on the parallel universe. It's the inner gratification which will make us create a universe in our mind, longing to be true someday. Great read :)

    Cheers
    Anand
    Life's like that

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    1. Thank you so much Anand for the lovely compliment. :) So glad you enjoyed it. :) Yes indeed, the inner gratification - it is wonderful feeling. :)

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  41. wow ! very good point to be discussed :)
    enjoy reading :)
    this is my first visit and i am impressed :) shall return to read lots of incredibly written entries here :)

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    1. Thank you so much Inspector Saahab. :) Am so glad you liked the article. :)

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  42. There's something waiting for you on my blog :)

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  43. A very interesting take on Parallel universe Raj!! I liked the part when you mention - "A child might dream of being like his father one day while the father might be ready to give anything to be a child once again." - A case of grass being greener on the other side!!

    @Sujatha - For some reason, I got 10 "Parallel Universe" update from your side.. Though I agree, it worth 10 reads :D, but I guess there was some rss problem..

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    1. So sorry about that Binu.
      Actually a white patch appeared behind the text making the text invisible & as i kept trying over & over again to publish it properly, it kept bombarding your dashboard!
      sorry

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    2. Thank you so much Binu. Am so glad you liked it. :) We all dream of different things differently I guess. :)

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  44. there is a blind link "Online friends & Me" to your blog at indiblogger. just letting you know in case you didn't notice.

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    1. yeah sorry about that :( realized it later as soon as the first voter informed me !
      but thanks Leo

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  45. well penned and while reading i thought that anyone going through this particular post can easily connect himself with the subject and the image of parralel universe created by you bcoz at some point of life each n every individual have that thought into his/her mind....

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    1. Thank you so much Irfanuddin. Am so glad you liked the post. yeah.. it is a thought that resides in our subconscious mind somewhere sometime and comes out in different ways and forms. :)

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  46. This is one amazing post!!! You have touched so many aspects... the title itself is a catchy one; not to speak about the content.
    The last paragraph is the highlight for me, as that involves my parallel universe!

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    1. Thank you so much Deepa. :) Am so glad you liked it. :)

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  47. Hi, I was googling about Parallel Universes and came across this blog.
    As an example... there are many different versions or theories about Jesus crucifixtion. Some believe he died, some believe he did not, some believe he was married, some not etc etc. Many people believe they are Mary Magdalene reincarnated. Getting back to Parallel Universes. Are they all true in a Parallel Universe because that's what they have created as their own Parallel Universe?

    I found this paragraph on a site....
    There are many theories about parallel universes. The most prominent one, at the time, proposes that, everytime there is more than one possible outcome for an action, the universe splits up, so that ALL outcomes happen, each in a slightly different universe.
    This means that there are many duplicates of yourself in the multiverse, but none of them is EXACTLY like you, in terms of experiences.

    Another example many women believe they are Marilyn Monroe reincarnated and many people have been told by mediums that they were her. Again is this an example of a Parallel Universe?

    Kiwi Girl...

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