...and de World Within

Problema - Full Movie - Nominiert Cosmic Angel 2011

2012-01-01T14:12:00.000+04:00

Live in Linux

2011-06-09T09:32:00.000+04:00

Winxp from within Linux, using VirtualBox

Configure Grub 2 for Minix 3

2011-06-02T12:38:00.003+04:00

Hardware: Eee PC 900 HA with Intel Atom Processor
OS Installed : Multiple - on hd0 - (hd0,1) : win; (hd0, 2) : ubuntu-lucid ; (hd 0, 3) : mint 10-julia; (hd 0,4) : Minix

Task: Configure Grub 2 to boot Minix 3, installed on 4th Primary Partition ; One may install Minix 3 on any primary partition, however it should not be too far away from MBR- plz refer user manual)

1. Edit file '40_custom' at /etc/grub.d/

Add following lines, however careful not to change the 'exec tail' line in the file.

insmod part-msdos
insmod minix
set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
chainloader +1

2. Backup grub.cfg (at /boot/grub/) and verify the change with

sudo grub-mkconfig

3. Update grub.cfg

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Another Interesting Stuff

2011-03-18T14:30:00.000+04:00

The Hindu reports

>>P.J. Thomas, whose appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner was quashed by the Supreme Court, on Wednesday petitioned President Pratibha Patil to obtain the apex court’s opinion on the legality of the judgment given by the three-member bench in his case.

“We have requested the President to invoke Article 143...The reason is that three judges’ judgment on the CVC is not legally valid because Article 145(3) clearly says that the minimum number of judges required for interpretation of Constitution is 5. In effect this judgement is null and void,” his lawyer Wills Mathews said.

“Once it is null and void, it cannot be reviewed. That means there is a Constitutional crisis,” Mr. Mathews said <<

Guys in power will always find out some petty loop holes to retain it. Look at what is happening. Citing out a silly technical issue, the tainted guy wants to continue...that too as CVC...hahaha...after all rules and orders are only meant for the aam admi right?

/dr-manmohan-singhs-fall-from-grace/

2011-03-18T10:46:00.002+04:00

I never liked mms. How can he who has never won an election head the largest democracy...still he cud...still he manages to carry the tag of an honest person with impeccable integrity, howsoever a myth it is...not for long, I guess, if he is not so...the history is merciless in her dealings.

I had been thinking of giving a vent to my concerns over the way these people affect our lives. The democracy and its ideals offer not only a workable solution for governance, but also instill a sense of worth, of pride in every citizen. Anyway, while going through a post in google buzz, came across a site which has very well expressed what is going on in Indian political scenario around mms. Have a look at this http://centreright.in/2011/02/dr-manmohan-singhs-fall-from-grace/http://centreright.in/2011/02/dr-manmohan-singhs-fall-from-grace/

Absolute Nothing

2011-03-11T16:24:00.001+04:00

That day, he asked me several times whether I was serious about it, as if he had never expected me to make such a move at all, and in fact many of my friends were as surprised as he was.

Early morning gives a fresh look at it.

As the self slowly evolves, it is bound to go through different phases. The innocent, "self-less" childhood gives its way to a restless teenage. Having no means to realize that it is a marathon, he sprints for some time, and then slows down into adolescence. The society and the life within seem to be a bit chaotic, still worthy of putting in effort. Confident about setting everything straight at the end of it, he embarks on a long journey, this time a bit overcautious as not to repeat the mistakes. However, gradually, he realizes that life too silly a journey. Anybody can win over it on his/her own terms - only on his/her own terms.

Do we really achieve anything through the life?

Then what is the point in these debates.

Does it matter if it is capitalism/socialism?

Does it matter whether one lives for 10 yrs / 100 yrs?

What is the point of rewards/punishments?

Doesn't it make love as neutral as hatred?

I doubt whether this is my way to maturity for I still carry many a weakness. Nevertheless, I like the no-debate mode, and in fact I do perceive little conflicts within and without, hence the decision.

Bhopal Tragedy in NCERT Text Books

2011-01-07T08:55:00.000+04:00

Bhopal Tragedy gets space in class VIII Social Science Text Book of NCERT reports The Telegraph:
---------
...While the state and Union governments have often been indifferent to the plight of gas victims and survivors, the NCERT authors have been candid. On page 126, the book compares Union Carbide’s safety norms in its Bhopal and Virginia based factories. At Virginia (USA) computerised warning and monitoring systems were in place whereas the UC plant in Bhopal relied on manual gauges and the human senses to detect gas leak. At the Virginia plant, emergency evacuation plans were in place but those were non-existent in Bhopal.
....
At another place, it wonders why Bhopal victims received only Rs 1 lakh as compensation while a travel agency had to pay tourists Rs 8 lakh each for missing their date with Disneyland and shopping in Paris. “Why did the victims of the gas tragedy get so little for a lifetime of misery and pain,” it asks.

---------
More than the news itself, what touched me most was the comments from the author: Mr. Arvind Sardhana, who is a member of the NCERT’s textbook development committee, said the idea of including Bhopal gas came when it was decided at the policy level that subjects dealing with civics would offer critical and informed choice instead of attempting to make students “loyal citizens”.
Wow!!! That is what we need the most.
---------
Link to Telegraph

R & D spending in India: An article from economic times

2010-12-27T08:41:00.000+04:00

"....The scientific research output has increased steadily, to above 30,000 papers today, from 16,500 papers in 1998. Pharma companies, by virtue of the business they are in, lead in patent filings, but other industries are slowly catching up. According to Thomson Reuters, PSU firms BHEL (433 patents between 2007 and 2009) and SAIL (230) are setting the pace in this area. L&T, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and TVS are also in the mix (See table: The Patent Leaders)..."

Here is the link.

വര്‍ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറം: എന്തൊരു ഉദാരസുന്ദര ജനാധിപത്യം

2010-12-21T09:31:00.001+04:00

Another interesting post from workers forum:
വര്‍ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറം: എന്തൊരു ഉദാരസുന്ദര ജനാധിപത്യം: "2010 ജനുവരിയില്‍ അമേരിക്കയുടെ സ്റേറ്റ് സെക്രട്ടറി ഹിലരി ക്ളിന്റ ഇന്റര്‍നെറ്റ് നല്‍കുന്ന അനിയന്ത്രിതമായ അഭിപ്രായസ്വാതന്ത്യ്രത്തെ ഉത്തരോത്തരം ..."

വര്‍ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറം: എന്തൊരു ഉദാരസുന്ദര ജനാധിപത്യം

2010-12-21T09:31:00.000+04:00

വര്‍ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറം: Julian Assange, What is with You?

2010-12-21T09:26:00.000+04:00

An interesting post from Workers Forum:

വര്‍ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറം: Julian Assange, What is with You?: "Julian Assange, Aussie, we arraign you for taking our First Amendment to heart: “Congress shall make no law. . .abridging the freedom of ..."

QoL-1

2010-08-11T10:33:00.001+04:00

Life is about creating a world of our own. If you are lucky to spend the whole lifetime the place you are born, it is not so difficult. Your world forms, grows, matures, and dies with you. It is that simple. However, when some one is on the move, it takes resourceful effort at establishing a world, and then get connected to the existing ones. It needs a bit of perseverance, creativity, and at times lots of patience too. Networking sites, professional ties may come handy sometimes, but still better are the direct connections you create over time...in fact, such relationships graaadually evolve ! ... they have a kinda organic self and a life of their own!!!...and the QoL is greatly influenced by these relationships...

Self:

The other day, I was thinking of changing my distributor point in the bike with an electronic ignition system. It might better the timing...however, after a thought for some time, I scrapped off the idea ... let it remain simple as it is...I dont know why, at times I prefer to use a command line browser, though very rarely...that too look pretty simple, free of unnecessary complexities.

നോക്കൂ, ഈ കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ്സുകാര്‍ നമുക്കു വേണ്ടി എന്തൊക്കെ ചെയ്യുന്നു ! | ബെര്‍ളിത്തരങ്ങള്‍

2010-06-25T12:22:00.001+04:00

Link to an interesting post...a good read
നോക്കൂ, ഈ കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ്സുകാര്‍ നമുക്കു വേണ്ടി എന്തൊക്കെ ചെയ്യുന്നു ! | ബെര്‍ളിത്തരങ്ങള്‍

The great Indian Mockery

2010-06-08T13:32:00.002+04:00

@0500, the day kicked off pretty well.

Around 2-hrs of morning exercise.

Tea @ aunties.

Met Roshni.

Later on received a call from one of my friends along with whom I planned a trip to north. We had to cancel it...hmmm...both of us had great many dreams around that... gone hmmm.

Then came the major blow: Verdict on Bhopal tragedy. Read it online today as I did not get much time last night. It is humiliating. Right from the ancient times, the judiciary has always been like that. The rules, and rituals protect and empower the rich and powerful. It is equally good at subjugating the poor. No wonder naxals thrive well in most of Indian subcontinent. To be frank, if I were born in or around that locality, AND if I had no guaranteed means to better my life at least through education, I would have taken the guns, would have joined the group whichever offered me a gun and food.

People say that judiciary is independent. In fact, if one pay a bit of attention at how public sentiments and other commercial interests of the country, by and large, affect the verdict (for eg: Jessical Lal murder case; verdicts on molestation/rape of foreign nationals), the claim of being independent can be fairly well refuted. Anyway, for an Indian, with lots of self-respect, the verdict is a kinda humiliation one has to live with...I earnestly wish the rulers of India identify with the masses, and then lead a dignified life.

Timeline of Bhopal Tragedy from The Hindu

Bhopal gas tragedy: Accused awarded only 2 yrs in jail, get bail: From Rediff

A comment written by a reader, Mr. Vijay Shenoy, at Rediff

"US is pressuring India to sign the Nuclear liability bill. The bill limits the liability of US corporations to a mere $50 million. For any nuclear disaster that is caused by a plant sold by a US nuclear corporation that kills and maims millions of Indians (just like Union Carbide) the US plant manufacturer is liable for only $50 million dollars. Where as a month ago the US congress was grilling the Toyota CEO regarding the defective accelerator pedal issue in Toyota cars. I remember a US senator lecturing the Toyota CEO that as far as American lives were concerned Toyota's liability is unlimited. Which means Americans can sue Toyota for a lot (100's of millions) in US courts. This was a minor issue with accelerator pedals and US govt was quick to summon Toyota CEO from Japan to remind him that Toyota's liability was unlimited. Here in India we want to sell the lives of millions of our citizens to US nuclear industry for a mere $50 million US dollars. Shame on the UPA and the congress govt of Manmohan Singh if they pass the nuclear liabiliy bill."

Bhopal-gas-leak-case-Light-punishment-stun-legal-experts

Veerappa Moily on Nuclear Liability Bill The Hindu

Indian Lives Cheap : IBN India

BBC Comments

Only the next-generation historians will tell us whether we still remain a Sovereign Republic or not..

2010-06-08T08:09:00.000+04:00

Taken from NDTV...
Meanwhile, speaking on the Bhopal verdict, State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley said, "It was a terrible tragedy, one of the worst industrial accidents in human history. We would hope that this particular case does not inhibit expansion of economic, cultural, and political ties between our two countries. The Indian Parliament will have to make judgment on the nuclear liabilities bill, but this case...criminal case...should have no relation to the liability legislation currently before Parliament."

Keywords are : "economic expansion" and "nuclear liability bill" ; pretty good yaar...

Down Memory Lane by Shankar Sen

2010-06-05T08:05:00.001+04:00

The poem was published in a column which Khushwant Singh writes (Read it here). The poem belongs to Shankar Sen published originally in "Down Memory Lane"...Makes a very good read.

For a few moments;

The sun hides behind
the clouds;

And the light grows hazy;

My heart sinks;

I ask myself, is this the end?

I have had my fill of the many pleasures this world had to offer;

I have suffered pain, shed tears;

Been betrayed by friends and befriended betrayers;

As the inevitable climax
draws near;

One last thought looms up;

On the few unwritten pages still left in the diary;

Let me not dwindle inch
by inch;

Like a tapering candle ending without a flicker;

Let mine be the exit of a meteor;

Swift, abrupt, one last burst
of fire;

Into the realms of unknown;

Would it please Thee;

To grant this ultimate wish?

Interesting facts about Rockets

2010-06-02T15:10:00.000+04:00

Some of the mechanical integration of the spacecraft and launcher was carried out by the light of a kerosene lantern (electrical power had been cut off because of unpaid bills).

OMG !!! This happened in Russia, and still Soyuz is the most reliable rocket ever built. Read it here

SAIL FY 2009-'10

2010-05-31T15:03:00.000+04:00

Net profit : 6754 crores
Hot Metal: 14.5 million tonnes
Crude Steel: 13.5 million tonnes
Saleable Steel: 12.6 million tonnes
Net turnover: 40551 crores.

Still many think that people don't "work" well in PSUs !!!

Note: Debt to Equity : 0.49:1

He who enjoys the flight !!!

2010-05-31T11:09:00.011+04:00

He always create a mini world around him.

I really do not know why does he do that...even not sure whether it is a conscious effort. If so, having known him for years, I can very well argue that he intends nothing but to denigrate the "despicable" world out there for being silly, trivial, and irrational and hence according to him, "too complicated"?

In fact, at times, he prefers to live alone rejecting the "silly world" outright , however, his own world often evolve gradually around him like a thick moss on a rock. It is in such an environment that he gives up conflicts, incessant internal fights over the "as is" and "should be". Notwithstanding the unrestrained gratification he allows himself during such spells, such shows last for a very short period of time. As a friend who watches him pretty closely with utmost curiosity, I can vouch that for him, such "highs" are all pretty transient...so transient that all of a sudden one might find him move out of his "kewl persona" to his "real self", and most of the time this has proved quite embarrassing to the people around him. Though, moving out of the "mess" has never been as easy as growing "moss" on the rock, he always enjoyed this kinda shuttling, kinda to and fro motion between the poles...The best part he says, is the travel...the flight from one pole to the other...never out of any kinda necessity or urgency, but more like spending vacation in a strange country.

Edgar Schein On Generative Learning

2010-05-18T15:24:00.000+04:00

An interesting article on Organizational Learning from Edgar Schein. Read it here

Life At Dgp

2010-05-18T14:16:00.000+04:00

This is to mark a milestone in ma lyf...the beginning of ma lyf@dgp...jst for me to get that nostalgic feeling when I re-read this after several years !!!

Am pretty busy these days...it's more due to my personal life, than work. In fact, in a matter of few weeks after I landed Dgp, I got in to a network of mallu families. It was easy for me to be a part of it since my uncle has been staying here since early 70s. However, when I got transferred from Ranchi to WB, not even in my wildest dreams did I expect such a wonderful social life, that too in a matter of few weeks.

Achan, Amma, Roshni virtually made a home away from home for me. Srndr was the first one to get close to me. Slp came in to life...Mtz...haaa....Then came Bju Ann & fam...then Prd Ann & fam...occasional dinners...calls for sharing kerala dishes...then Rjni Chi... kids...Sjt...NIT studz...Now ma bullz...WB is going to have a long-term influence on ma life for sure.

Nothingness of Life

2010-05-11T15:27:00.002+04:00

Life is nothing but a series of role plays. The roles vary in nature. Certain roles are clearly named and defined, others not. It may be self-imposed or forcefully imposed by some one else. Each one of us has certain hidden roles, which we never mention in facebook or orkut. Yet, all are enjoyable, if looked upon with a detachment. In fact, certain roles are truly experimental, taken up when there is little dead weight on brain, but its better not to have roles with conflicting ideals, after all, one cannot just neglect the world. There has to be a trade off between the 'world within' and the 'world out there'.

At times I get a feel of existence beyond these roles - fleeting moments of vague realization, momentary confusion and helplessness. I really don't know whether this is just a construct of the brain, which flexes its muscles to circumvent the perplexing reality of life just like what the schizophrenic patients do. These exercises are really tiresome. Anyway, it is kewl to be a part of the play...the whole business is fun...Yet, what if there is something beyond this seemingly silly world? What if the momentary realizations of the brain are leads to a Real World? What should I do so as to keep myself good there also? Should I drive over-cautiously taking away the sheer joy of ride?...No way, I won't... am not going to bribe the Master either (if He is there !!!) ... or read those Godly wisdom for dummies to reserve a seat up in the heaven...!!!

What if the whole world is based no 'real' stuff...just Maya !!!. What if life, ideology, morality, ambitious plans, power, status, wealth, relationships, love, sex and everything that we live for are merely earth-bound, and meaningless in a different frame of reference?. Just like a dream, which leaves no long-term effect on the external world, what if each living being fades into absolute nothing? If it is so, life sounds pretty simple to deal with, the death is no more enigmatic. Brain is happy..no more introspection, or deductions out of it. May be when one prefers to live, it might need to work a li'l bit to avoid life-threatening situations. Kewl !!! and there is no point in holding back one self from enjoying the utter nothingness of this life. After all, everything enjoyable makes us feel better, though transitory.

Ma own

2010-04-29T16:04:00.004+04:00

came across this pencil drawing in one of ma old diaries...today I gimp-ed it a bit ;-) ...

The Earth Plus 5%

2010-04-01T14:14:00.000+04:00

ഇന്നുച്ചയ്ക് ഉറക്കം കണ്ണുകളില്‍ ഊഞ്ഞാലുകെട്ടിയപ്പോള്‍ എങ്ങനെയോ ഈ പേജില്‍ വന്നു പെട്ടു... സമയമുണ്ടെങ്കില്‍ വെറുതെ വായിക്കാം... http://www.larryhannigan.com/EarthPlus.htm

From Science to God

2010-03-20T13:19:00.002+04:00

#include<0300-horlckz-amlya-amma-hmm>
I have very rarely written a review except in my diary. Often I forget the characters, places, sometimes the plot as such and even the name of the book and the author; yet, I do realize a kinda assimilation into the self - the ideas, the insights - to integrate naturally into my own thinking. This might happen while reading itself, however, it blossoms as a reality, spontaneously, while interactin with someone, more often with silent introspection. For this very reason I skip even making notes, writing reviews nowadays even in my diary.

However, certain pages of Peter Russel give an answer to many of my obsessions; rather clarify my own priorities, perception of what might be my way through the life. It shows with the elegance of a mathematical expression the gradual evolution of self, consciousness; at the extremes it links modern physics with spirituality; age-old wisdom. Explains with great lucidity how the human mind, rather the nature has evolved collectively to fulfill its higher levels of need, as in Maslow's, I suppose. Given the fact that the author is an expert in multiple disciplines, the integrity and comprehensive approach is really striking. He has quoted from variety of sources including indian spiritual text books. A few are listed below...

Matter has reached the point of beginning to know itself...[Man is] a star's way of knowing about stars. George Wald

The paradigm shift.

Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized, In the first it is ridiculed. In the second, it is opposed. In the third, it is regarded as self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer

All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allen Poe

Every man's world picture is and always remains a construct of his mind, and cannot be proved to have any other existence. Erwin Schrodinger

What is this 'I'?...You will on close introspection, find that what you really mean by I is the ground-stuff upon which [experiences and memories ]are collected. Erwin Schrodinger

The core identity has none of the uniqueness of the individual self...

Those wise ones who see that the consciousness within themselves is the same consciousness within all conscious beings, attain eternal peace. Katha Upanishad

People are not disturbed not by things, but the view they take of them. Epictetus

Zarathustra: Monotheistic traditions.

Courtesy: mitz...

Questionz

2010-03-15T15:34:00.000+04:00

എന്നെ ഇത്തിരി കൂടി സ്നേഹിക്കല്ലോ?...she asks, in her usual childish tone !!!
Stupid...you are doomed to repeat the history !!!
What for ?

Lazy hrs...

2010-03-15T15:15:00.000+04:00

The climate is changing, getting harsher day by day; Back home, Kerala too is experiencing the worst summer...is it due to global warming...or is it that the earth is moving closer to the Sun? I dunno!!! haaa... These days, ispend most of the day within the office itself, get in as early as I can, at times at 6 itself, and leave usually by 6-7, evening. These voluntary OTs are mostly spent on browsing...certain stuff, after a great deal of censorship...haaa...(he wil come back after a few yrs ...)

Interesting quote from Einstein, from a letter to his friend on significance and educational value of history and philosophy of science..

So many people today -- and even professional scientists -- seem to me like somebody who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is -- in my opinion -- the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth. (Einstein to Thornton, 7 December 1944, EA 61-574)

Tracking back a series of thoughts and actions is interesting at times. How/Why did it happen?...as there is only one life I am aware of that belongs to me, I cant ever get a proper answer for this...haaaa...digressed

Been reading Peter Russel, Science to God; talks the same language as Frijtoff Capra does in Tao of Physics. I got both the books through the same channel...she z one of ma bestest friends!!!...anyway, the links went through somewhat like this ...

Peter Russels -> Shoppenhauffer -> Nietzsche -> Deridda -> Einstein...

Really dunno whether it understands them well enough...still it is a kinda tympass haaa...

Telegraph->IPL->Salma Heyk-> Sania Mirza haaa...another active thread.

Amma called early morning 630-> sis -> idli ->4got mob->aunty asks abt headache, whichz 4gotten ... another kewl thread.

GM->early to office->Admn-help on printer-> to PRO on prev days fn->discussion permblty (nonsense)->meeting ->another help on comp->2 MM for discussion ->idle...no good smiley.

tryin to silence it...shut up you chatterbox; works 5ne!!!

its perception in early years of development: The more it seperates itself from the surroundings, the better; on layer 1, controling the concentration through a selective barrier...haaa...

now its trying the reverse...identify withthe surroundings...feel the rhythm, if there is any...and peace...

Nice weekend...; ma bike too lost it...hmmm...

West Bengal amar bhalo lagechey

2010-02-22T12:04:00.003+04:00

On 20th Jan, we celebrated Saraswati Pooja with much fanfare. Those days, my morning walks invariably included a brief visit to the makeshift sheds that make idols of goddess saraswati. I would observe with much interest her 'organic evolution' from a mere skeleton of hay and ropes to a beauty queen. In fact the idols gradually evolve as sexy naked ladies. Their faces are usually perfected with moulds, which adds to the finish and look; however, reduces the scope of artistic creativity to a great extent and makes them all look like batch products. Anyway, the sculpturer can show his artistic prowess on rest of the body. The naked Saraswati maa reminded me of MF Hussain and agitation by activists of hindutwa wing . Are those guys that ignorant about the Indian culture...? In fact these idols celebrate the essense of womanhood ... quite sensual with artistic curves into the minutest details of the body, even parts which would be later covered with ornamental motifs and jewellery...I would later on gradually watch the saraswati maa get dressed up for the grand occassion. She is given a painted blouse...an expensive saree...mostly silk/paper silk kinda fabric...then minor details...down to even nail polish...and there she is ...beautiful, graceful, the mythological incarnation of arts, music, knowledge, and wisdom...In fact, to help her pose better than an average bengali beauty, the sculpturer has to work really really hard...(Bengalis gals are the most beautiful lot I have come across so far ... hvnt yet visited kashmir hahaha; god seems to have implemented 6 sigma in this region...one seldom come across a defective piece ;-) no offence meant ...hahaha)

In fact Bengalis in general show great aesthetic sense, and a sense of attachment to their past, their tradition. They might be labeled slow-goers, and anti-modernists in a fast-moving globalized world. Somehow, I have acquired a perception that they are less greedy, and more egalitarian in general as compared several other regions in India. As for their nostalgic stuff, in no other plant out of several plants we own have I seen the first billet, first bloom, and even the first ingot being preserved and exhibited with labels !!! ...and not many localites would ever enjoy attaching international figures to avenues and junctions. In certain parts of of India, any attempt in this direction would create much furore and may even bring the city to a grinding halt (thatz what they claim !!! no one dares to test it hahaha). However, here in and around Durgapur one find not just indian heroes, but also international names like Marconi, Edison, Einstein, Micheal Faraday etc attached to shops, avenues, and junctions. It is quite natural that this looked quite interesting to a person who once had a weird experience of taking a bus ticket from a Shivaji Chowk to another Shivaji Chowk; Was n't from Nerul to Vashi, in Mumbai?.

Ever read a EULA...

2010-01-22T14:37:00.000+04:00

During my lazy hours, while downloading a stuff, I thought of reading the EULA-like stuff which popped up. To my surprise, it had very interesting paragraphs...It goes like this.

......................

EXPORT CONTROLS ON THE PROGRAMS
Selecting the "I Agree" button is a confirmation of your agreement that you comply, now and during your use of the product, with each of the following statements:

-You are not a citizen, national, or resident of, and are not under control of, the government of Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria, nor any country to which the United States has prohibited export.

-You will not download or otherwise export or re-export the Programs, directly or indirectly, to the above mentioned countries nor to citizens, nationals or residents of those countries.

-You are not listed on the United States Department of Treasury lists of Specially Designated Nationals, Specially Designated Terrorists, and Specially Designated Narcotic Traffickers, nor are you listed on the United States Department of Commerce Table of Denial Orders.

You will not download or otherwise export or re-export the Programs, directly or indirectly, to persons on the above mentioned lists.

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......................

Parallel Universe : Economists' Version

2010-01-16T11:55:00.003+04:00

I don't know when did I start reading economics seriously. Economics, by Paul Samuelson was one of the first books that attracted me...Nowadays, I just google and browse for radical ideas and alternatives in this field. There are many, quite a few interesting and worth reading. The fact is that though economics has an intrinsic connection with most of the activities we undertake in our lives, most of us are quite unaware of its importance, or the harmful effects certain bad practices, and conspiracies can have on our lives. To grasp its huge potential, you just need to contemplate on the Butterfly effect that even an infinitesimal change in CRR, Repo rates bring into the lives of millions, and hence the possibility of a few powerful, ultra-rich guys taking control of the economy to their advantage.

The following site offers a few original thoughts on the alternatives. It is worth reading: www.xat.org

Loksabha TV

2010-01-13T13:19:00.004+04:00

I like watching the Lok Sabha TV. I like the way its anchors especially Pranjoy Takurta, and young ladies like Munmun, intelligent and beautiful, handle issues of great importance to the country , at the same time sidelined by mainstream media and the business men due to lack of commercial viability. Recently, there was a discussion on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development...lively and very informative...and I was quite surprised to learn that around 40 million households are still not electrified in India. As it is the official figure, the reality might be much worse. MyGod...Can you believe that? The fact is that the rural India still lack even the basic necessities of life. This divide between urban and rural population is still widening with authorities and business men channelizing more and more resources to the urban rich eying more and more returns in terms of profits and political mileage. In a market economy, where each and every move is driven by certain selfish goals, no one will ever put up a conscious effort to improve the rural population in the remote interiors of India. However, we are lucky that there a few organizations, NGOs, which are stakeholders in improving the lives of the rural poor. With more and more stakeholders and business men taking interest in this untapped potential of India, which hitherto is completely neglected... I would like to remain optimistic.

We, The Gods of Our Own Kingdoms

2010-01-13T13:18:00.001+04:00

Life is a pretty interesting game. Everybody is concerned about what is going to happen next. Certain people with this aspiration reduce their world of concern to minuscule scale - like a Bubble Chamber where they observe, experiment, and predict and hence pose themselves the Gods of their own small Kingdoms.

In fact most of us do that, not just scientists or people of great intellect. Recently one of my friends told me about what he expects from his partner. Before his marriage itself he had made his mind not to go for a "high profile" girl. He elaborated further. "If she is independent (economically, I suppose..) she might be adamant in her arguments, however, if not so... she would compromise at an earlier stage itself." I could somehow get him right. Yes it is true. It makes him the King, the God of his small kingdom....like an autocratic leader, an efficient manager, he would be able to plan, organize, coordinate, and control her, and expects to do so with their children too. Yes, it is true, the basic element which glues a family is dependence, need not necessarily a balanced symbiotic relationship. In fact, there is absolute symmetry in this asymmetric relationship - the family benefits even if the man is completely dependent on the woman, for something or the other.

Then he asked me about my ideal. I told him I like my partner to be independent, absolutely. Let her have a goal of her own, than just to please me (which is a cheap survival technique!!!). I would be much happy if she is a feminist. OMG...I could very well appreciate my friend and his views, I really doubt whether I have understood myself well enough !!!

Prophetic Leaders

2010-01-13T13:16:00.001+04:00

Majority of us still consider leftist ideology as radical, which appears quite strange

to me !!! May be because of that reason alone I do watch it closely. People like Che, Castro, Chomsky, our Vijayan Mash, VR Krishnaiyyer etc. always provide me some kinda brain roughage to chew upon, and many a time one finds them prophetic, playing the role of whistle blowers.

Read what Noam Chomsky commented way back in 1991 (The following paragraph is taken from Frontline, 1991, march 15, volume 08; The talk is on international issues and its macroeconomic implications)

"...There is a joke going around the Wall Street now that more or less captures the story, and it goes like this. Question: Whay do Kuwait and US need each other? Answer: Kuwait is a banking system wihtout a country and the United States is a country without a banking system. Like a lot of jokes, it is not a joke. The Savings and Loan crisis is probably going to run over a trillion dollars (savings and Loans institutions in the US lend money to local people to buy homes.) The banks are beginning to go, and that is much more serious business."

Quite prophetic right? Atleast guyz like Lehman bros, Fannie mae, Freddie Mac should have taken note of this comment seriously ;-)

Striking a similar note, I still remember having read Fidel Castro, in Mathrubhoomi newspaper, a few years back may be in 2005 or so in which he exactly predicted the food grain crisis which would be triggered by subsidised biofuel production in the US. I felt at that time it was being blown out of proportion and that human ingenuity and the market would itself bring in a correction to avoid such a pitfall, however, it turned out to be not so either.

*The photo is taken from http://www.chomsky.info/

Kovalan's Questions on Microprocessor

2009-12-15T16:32:00.001+04:00

Some times Kovalan act very weirdly.
The following incident happened a few years ago.

Kovalan was returning from the vegetable market. In his modest dress, he blended well with the pleasant countryside. At the river, he found the boat with no one to row it across. So, he tucked up his dhoti, and pushed the boat out in to the stream. As he was about to start, he saw a girl running towards him. As with most of the boys, a sense of being helpful to a girl overpowered Kovalan. Within a few minutes he found himself with the girl on the boat, rowing across the river.

The girl was beautiful, mebbe average. Kovalan exaggerates it. Kovalan did not look at the girl for he was busy watching the ladies bathing on either side of the river. When they reached the other side of the river, the girl offered him few pennies. What an insult, Kovalan thought. Do I look like an uneducated boat rower? OMG, Kovalan was doing his BTech in those days.

Kovalan walked along with the girl. The girl was all sorry for mistaking him for a boat rower. Then she asked more about him. She sounded dominating, authoritative, for she was pretty sure that this guy was less educated than her. Kovalan too enjoyed it partly, playing a role which he might never accept in his life thanks to his ultra male chauvinist outlook !!!

He asked her about job prospects for a 10-pass guy like him. She looked at him with a mixed air of surprise and sympathy and said, "You need to be at least a BSc graduate to get a job."...is it so? Kovalan frowned Then Kovalan noticed that the girl was carrying a book on Microprocessors by Mr. Gaonkar, which he has already read in the previous semester. Looking at the book, Kovalan asked, what is this microprocessor? Is is something like microscope? Do you have microbiology in the college? etc. He asked so many stupid questions, like whether a microprocessor can be seen with naked eyes etc for which the girl gave a patient hearing and wherever possible explained everything in a layman's language. She felt so good for having found someone less knowledgeable.

Kovalan says he will never ever forget that episode, the way he enjoyed it. Actually, he orchestrated several such episodes later in his life, each worth remembering. However, I still wonder what motivates him to project himself like that. The fact is that he has done this mischief only with ladies, who according to him were more dominating, authoritative, cunning, in spite of their sheer lack of real experience and knowledge who later on leave the scene with a bloated ego (only to crash head on with some real stuff later on). However, I still remain clueless of Mr. Kovalan's real motives.

Commonsense might be a misnomer

2009-12-15T12:17:00.003+04:00

Management is an art. Only people with right kind of attitude will be able to excel in that field.

I wrote this years ago.

My HOD Mr. Amol was recently replaced by a new fellow who is very senior to him. Amol had to hand over entire documents and even his cabin to the newcomer. He had an inherent flare for administration as well as a very systematic approach. He devised a method to keep the files in a very orderly manner. He even had an index file so that he could figure out what kind of documents are there in each of the files kept in his shelf that too in alphabetic order. However, within a few days after the new one took charge of the office, I saw the shelf in which Amol had kept the files orderly empty. Then the following conversation took place.

PA: Sir, where are all those files?

New HOD: I have clubbed all those files into a box file.

PA: (surprised) Why so sir?

NH : You know...in the earlier system whenever someone ask me for a particular document, I needed to figure out which file it belongs and then had to take it from that particular file, but if all those documents are kept in a single box file, I need to check that only (that is quite an easy task with a few hundred papers in it lol.)

Toughest Language

2009-12-15T11:35:00.002+04:00

I read this in an article in a popular newspaper, in the editorial page.

"Germans are the most intelligent people. Theirs is the most difficult language, even their children speak it"

What a frivolous argument !!!

Salute, Bolivarian Revolution

2009-12-15T10:12:00.000+04:00

The world today has only very few charismatic leaders in the International politics. Hugo Chavez who was voted by his people overwhelmingly in a referendum in Feb 2009 in favor of him running for office again in 2012, has been attracting millions across the borders for his ideological stand on several issues of international concern. Today, he is there in the news for another bold and sincere step in favor of the masses.

Venezuela too had its own share of global financial turmoil. About 7 banks which were facing insolvency are shutdown and the failed bankers are being brought to justice; a series of processes aimed at protecting the interest of ordinary depositors. The people who were arrested include politico-business magnates, who are known to be close to Bolivarian Revolution including Arne Checon, President of the failed Banco Real, and brother of Jesse Checon-Science and Tech minister of Venezuela. (Can you imagine anything of this sort happen smoothly in India?) I cant help but admiring Chavez for his comment on accepting the resignation of Jesse Checon. He said, "We are demostrating that there are no untouchables here." However, this is not the case with other countries, including India. We generously pump in taxpayers money, purportedly to revive the economy, at the same time provide a comfort zone to people who created all these havoc. No one tries to take stock of why this happened? What are the basic reasons behind such a set back? At least one should consider, how Maynard Keynes could foresee this problem in a market-driven model of economy centuries ago.

Ironically, "double speak" is the word which aptly describe what the proponents of open market mechanism do these days. During the prosperous days of great fortune, they preach, "the government which governs the least is the best" and when they dive into the downward spiral, a backlash of unregulated production, greed, and crooked use of economic tools and mechanisms, they devour upon public funds. I wonder, what on earth keep them shameless of their deeds? Why are the authorities least interested in bringing the culprits to justice? Why do they speak abstract on these issues? Where is the invisible hand Adam Smith talked about? Why do they need a visible hand to help them when they are in trouble? Why cant they sit back and accept what the free market offers them at the end of the day?

I wrote this much yesterday. However, during my morning walk today, I realized that I missed something altogether. If the governments too act prudently during recessionary crunch, increase their stake in market resources, just like any one else who is interested in making profit, things might improve. In order to do that, let the governments increase their stake in private companies during business crunch, and then book the profit during well off times. This may, as Keynesian model suggest, counteract the effects of business cycles. However, I wonder, whether such an economy be considered open and free.

Ta ta 2009

2009-12-05T10:52:00.000+04:00

One more year-ending is at the door steps. Specifically, it has no meaning !!!. However, it is compels one to take stock of what he has been doing, in what direction he has been moving, and then to gear up for the future.

Certainly, I consider 2009 as one of the most fabulous years I have had so far. On the personal front, I got back to my usual self; and on the professional front, I got in to a career which I always dreamed of.

However, in both of these aspects, I really don't know how much the environment contributed to. Mebbe, my subconscious has been pursuing the goal, and took advantage of the opportunities that came across. So, there is a bit of luck factor too. Most of my friends tell me, "You are pretty lucky, sure a favorite of Gods !!!"; but, I never asked God for anything, never approached him with some vested interest so as to say. God, if he exists, is a thing which is very personal for me. For me he is omnipresent, not necessarily omnipotent. He knows everything, even my inner motives. He does not scorn at me for being skeptic about him, for he knows why I am doubtful. However, in spite of all these doubts, I have a fantasy. I wish, after my death, he replay my life including all my inner motives, in front of everyone who has a stake in my life. It would be truly enjoyable experience. I would like to be there for the screening of several other lives too... Just to watch how people react, the moment they realize that what they believed in through out their lives was totally baseless.

Mental Pain and Depression

2009-11-27T14:07:00.001+04:00

One of my senior colleagues mentioned about an extraordinary mental pain. He said that if he visit the plant the morning and get a feel of having worked for the company, the mental pain of what he gives back to the company who pays him so well and gives him all sorts of comforts, gets a bit reduced. OMG, the selection board has done a great job identifying such people who are self-motivated, who gets and are able to recognize that wonderful 'mental pain'.

I too wanna do many many things. I too dream of a day, when my brain silently struggle with some "real" problems...am very eager to feel the brain gasping lolz!!!... so that it gets wild and brings out brand new solutions no other brain has ever thought of ...However, as long as the meaning of life remains mysterious, I don't think I have to look around too much for a latent load for my brain if I do not find many at my workplace for the time being. The fact is that I always need something to think about, to make some sense to the life.

I need problems....haaa

2009-11-27T12:59:00.002+04:00

I always admire and stick to simple life. A life without unnecessary distractions and complexities, like a straight line. So far, with the exception of a few years in the recent past and another spell in the distant past, I could stick on to this principle. However, problems, obstacles, deadlocks are a bit beneficial to the brain; especially if it do not involve any critical issues of one's survival or life. So, I decided a few days back that I will find at least 1 puzzle to solve every day.

Also, along with that I have decided to skip my usual dinner for some time. There are 2 reasons,

1. I feel I may become over-weight soon; even now am about 59 kg. I want to stabilize it at 57 itself.

2. There are a billion people out there who do not have enough to eat. Many people including Ban Ki Moon, the current secretary general of UN too fasted for a day on this issue.

Heroism

2009-11-26T15:12:00.000+04:00

In this world, there are only very few people I give respect to. The percentage of ladies in that group is alarmingly low. The fact is that the number of ladies into that group increased very very slowly. About 5-6 years back I used to proclaim, sitting like a Krishna surrounded by so many gals (OMG, nostalgic lolz), "all the women are to be lined up and shot down with a single bullet, not to waste too much for eliminating them !!!" This usually ensues a complex moral/ethical debate, which never ends.

Yet, in those days it self I had set aside a few ladies out of "Line of Death", including my mom, which I justified as "to me, she is not a woman, she is only my mother !!!" Today, am going to post certain excerpts from a person whom I excluded from the 'Line Of Death' even in the early days of our friendship. She has a very interesting personality, not seen in many girls of her age; I wish she pass it on to her next generation too. Last week, I received a mail, in response to one of my posts in this blog...an account of her experience of a truly heroic deed...

"A few days before, for about 2 days I had to be at a hospital with my child. The hospital had quite average facilities. But, being a private hospital sure the staff were not well-payed well; not the nurses, and sure not the servants. The nurses did show that in their service, silently they seemed to tell us "this is more than what we can do for you." During the whole 2 nights and 2 days, none of the nurses showed what we might call a "nursing service".

No complaining in our society, that is not for common man. He just take what he is given. I too just took whatever service I was provided, mebbe a bit I did more is to make sure they did not give unnecessary medicines.

I am a person who is more than keen on hygiene. I usually clean my bathroom and toilet on my own. Even at the hostel I attempted that. You cannot imagine how untidy women can be. You just need to be go into a girl's hostel...see the bathrooms. ... and i was forced to give up. I thought the bathrooms were kept okay at the hospital...the servants did clean it everyday... i had not seen them... i was told they came everyday...i had to work so i was not there during the day when they came...okay...as many of us do...i thought i must give that woman who cleaned the toilet something...as money... because...u know...she was cleaning up what we had made untidy.... don't know ......i felt so....

So, on the day of discharge.. i waited for her...to my surprise...the person who cleaned the bathroom was a man...mebbe...in his late 30s....quite healthy....i am used to seeing men in my house in other houses not even picking up their own used "kaupinam" (undergarments)..... n here was a quite healthy man who is cleaning up toilets.... he could have opted some other job.... I started a conversation.... i wanted to talk to this person... i asked him a layman question..."what was all those parcel preparation?",....to my surprice... he gave me a detailed explanation...on the seminar that was going on and that the parcels were for that ... What he gave was not a layman answer....I WAS IMPRESSED.

Anyway...SERVANT...give him something.....i thought...ego...wouldn't give up, will it? After his work...there he came out of the bathroom with the brush and all in a bucket, in one hand ....soap solution in other ...sweat beads on his forehead......hands all wet...his lungi (dhoti) tucked up... and then i handed a currency note that i had folded out for him.... He just smiled...n said , "No i do not take from anyone, venda"...... ok...he
wants me to force him to take it....i forced.... He made his way out....giving a stern no.....still smiling....

I remembered all the time i had raised my voice when the bathroom n toilet were made untidy at home or at hostel...now God has forgiven me for that.....i was put in this scene so he could forgive me...

Those sweat on the hero's forehead had burned down something in me....for good...

Of course major portion of the bill that i got was consultation fee and nursing charges... In a society where even the king is looting his "khajanavu" (treasury) ....where u have people pawning their homes to BRIBE THE JUDICIARY.... have some solace that God will not doom this world because there are still people like "THIS HERO."

---The End ---

The Hero, truly deserves accolade, so is my friend for noticing his heroism. Today while most of the people consider riding an SUV, or very expensive (and very inefficient) bike, or earning billions no matter how you make it, as macho, here is a lady who admires the heroic deeds of a toilet cleaner. It reminds me some how of Ayn Rand. Though I do not buy her philosophy in its entirety, there is something Ayn Rand would have appreciated.

May God Bless them all...my Friend and her Hero...They deserve it ...Don't You think so My God?.

Movie 2012

2009-11-26T08:23:00.001+04:00

The other day, chicks told me that the movie 2012 is a crap, and not to waste money and time on it. Therefore, yesterday evening we watched it at 89 !!!

I liked the movie: the technical extravaganza, the creativity, the way it romanticizes certain soft feelings. The movie, clearly futuristic in every sense, including a changed geopolitics where in India and China play a no-so-silly role, with an Afro-American president at Washington, who voluntarily face the end along with his people who resembles more of a tribal leader who lives and dies for his clan. The movie glorifies innate humane traits like empathy and compassion which cut across all the barriers. True is the fact that people unite usually to fight a common enemy. However, many of the audience miss these points as the brain gets overloaded with visual effects.

I feel it lives up to the high standards of Hollywood. The CG is truly amazing, a feast to the eyes. The method of story telling has the tone of Da Vinci Code, with its base seemingly firm on history, and a very astonishing and creative extrapolation to the future with intelligent use of myth, science, and intuition (Only thing is that one should stop thinking too much !!!) John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Amanda Peet deserve accolades for their acting skills.

On the personal level: It ignited my 'fatherly instincts' lolzzz

Global warming rigged?

2009-11-25T13:12:00.000+04:00

Today's 'Hindu' came with a few interesting articles.

1. The global warming rigged...: The article, originally published in the Guardian newspaper, is quite interesting especially due to its "shocking value." One who believe this world is more than what is obvious can find a lot of things to ruminate on in that article. It reminds me of the secret society Dan Brown talks about in his masterpiece novel, "The Da Vinci Code."

You may read the article: Global warming rigged?

You silly !!!

2009-11-25T09:00:00.002+04:00

------------------------------------------------------
"...you are also eccentric..."
A very senior person in my department observed about me.

I keep what he said just before and after this comment as a secret !!!. I wish it all come true. Anyway, this is one of the few compliments I like to keep in my memory.
------------------------------------------------------
"...you know much better than me..."
A guy in stat. dept. commented.

;-)
He was talking about metallurgical properties of steel, its testing, inferences. hahaha
------------------------------------------------------
Mrs. Shainee Mohan: "I dont have much guarantee (bharosa, hindi) over myself, but I am damn sure about him (Mr. Mohan, her hubby)...that he will not"
The comment was on extra-marital relationships, mainly addressed to her daughter...

Another day.
Mr. Mohan: "Dignity exists only in books,"
The comment was on general mentality and life, mainly addressed to his daughter...
;-)
hahaha
------------------------------------------------------

Billionnaires of India

2009-11-21T16:54:00.000+04:00

The forbe's list of Indian billionaires is out. The Hindu reports that the combined net worth of India’s 100 richest people, at $276 billion, is almost a quarter of the country’s GDP.

Another noteworthy aspect is that India’s billionaires have done better than their global counterparts in accumulating their wealth. For instance, the 100 richest Indians are worth $276 billion, while their Chinese counterparts have a net worth of $170 billion only. The three richest Indians are worth $79.5 billion, while it takes 24 Chinese billionaires to make the $80-billion figure.

This is very much credit-worthy for a nation which constitutionally advocates socialism and is vowed to prevent accumulation of wealth in few hands. As a matter of fact, the world bank reports (on the basis of 2005 data) 456 million people in India earn less than $1.25 a day. Modern India seems to be incubating a few islands of immense luxury to thrive upon the vast sea of utter destitution. Forget about the euphoric picture of a tide taking us all up into the heavens, one should be really lucky if ever manage to get in to a boat !!!

One must realize that being born in to a society, he/she owes it a lot. Though, individualism, concepts of heroic man etc romanticize human ingenuity and industry, the current over-crowded, over-exploited world need to adopt cooperation based on empathy and compassion, not competition. Even the archetypal man fighting against the nature to win over it, is no longer valid. Whomsoever we deal with, claiming more than one's share is, to say the least, not fair; in the long run it undermines the very essence of the deal itself.

Certain countries, especially the US with the then Bush administration (evidently under the pressure of business magnates ) opposed Kyoto protocol. The idea was to cut emissions for the betterment of all, like a traffic signal which regulate each individual so that the entire group may reach its destination faster. This should be the nature of all societal rules and regulations. Let each individual gives up a little bit of selfish motives so that the entire society benefits in the long run.

Attack on CNN-IBN

2009-11-21T14:58:00.000+04:00

I really doubt whether Mumbai is a part of India !!! The so called politicians of Mumbai are show casing their muscle power dangerously playing with the social fabric of the city; the thakerays can roam around scot free inspite of the seditious speech and vandalism they openly promulgate. I dont see why Mumbai should not be again targetted by pro-islam terrorists. If Indian democracy is broad enough to accommodate such criminals as political leaders, people like Dawood Ibrahim, JnK 'terrorists', the naxalites, all should be given immunity from legal action, and if possible directly nominated to RS. Let it be a country with no government; let it be a government which governs the least (and best, as the adage goes).

Attacking the media is by no means a credit to any party. I still wonder why is it that people dont react? Why is it that the central government does not interfere?

Shiv Sena And Narayan Rane

2009-11-20T16:12:00.000+04:00

Food for thought for all the shiv sainiks. Read it here.

Colleagues

2009-11-19T14:36:00.000+04:00

Today, after noon, GM called a meeting. The discussion was on the recent hospitalization of one of our colleagues who is to undergo a coronary bypass surgery tomorrow. It has been decided to have at least 2 officers to be there at the hospital premises to give a kind of support to his family. It is also decided to have an office car parked there for their use. The paper works for the medical expenses are already completed.

I have come across similar incidents during my association with private companies. They don't usually take pain to do much. Whenever an employee face a serious health problem, he is more or less on his own; the situation is worse in metros in this regard. In a world with cut-throat competition, one cannot blame them too.

A beautiful poem

2009-11-18T08:28:00.000+04:00

Here is a beautiful poem from Lord Alfred Tennyson...

"Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower -but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is."

It all lingered on for quite some time...

PLEDGE

2009-11-10T13:37:00.002+04:00

"We, the public servants of India, do hereby solemnly pledge that we shall continuously strive to bring about integrity and transparency in all spheres of our activities. We also pledge that we shall work unstintingly for eradication of corruption in all spheres of life. We shall remain vigilant and work towards the growth and reputation of our organization. Through our collective efforts, we shall bring pride to our organizations and provide value-based service to our countrymen. We shall do our duty conscientiously and act without fear or favor."

This is the pledge we had taken during the Vigilance Awareness Week (Nov 3 to Nov 7, 2009), observed in accordance with the guidelines of CVC.

The above paragraph encouraged me further to restructure my strategic plans !!!

9/11 strikes Mumbai

2009-11-10T11:11:00.002+04:00

MNS and its thackeray has always played on the extremes. The most recent one being an attack on Abu Azmi in the Legislative Assembly. It seems that this regional party has no objective other than to gratify its leader's parochial sentiments. I wonder whether such an outfit should be ever allowed to enjoy the freedom and rights the legitimate political parties are conferred with under the Constitution of India.

The basic reason behind the growth of such an outfit is the lack of awareness among the masses. Even when a small group of people ransack the city on frivolous issues, the masses, the intellectuals, and the administration do not react at all. Not a single educated Marathi will ever support such criminal deeds. Mumbai is not an independent country, and it does not represent the entire Maharashtra too. A true lover of Marathis can find a number of other issues in Mumbai, and more in the other regions of Maharashtra, to achieve legitimate political mileage.

Anyway, this seems like a repetition of history. Through a simiar illegitimate means Shiv Sena rose to the current position. The collective consciousness of Mumbai is so weak, mebbe due to high influx of migrants or due to the hectic life, so that it does not find anything wrong with the repetition of its history. In that sense Mumbai deserves such politicians, that is the beauty of a democratic setup.

The Ouroboros

2009-11-06T13:37:00.002+04:00

There are problems when one is obsessed about his own psyche. He starts doubting his own thought process, mental status,...in fact everything associated with it. It is like a snake trying to swallow itself. The end result might be quite weird.

Recently, I visited a Mental Hospital along with a friend who is currently doing research there. It had nothing much of a hospital. The patients roamed around freely inside the campus. Many of them looked pretty normal. One guy described in detail a spiritual experience he had earlier in his life. If he had interacted with me somewhere else in a public place, I would have never sensed anything abnormal.

On my return, I was obsessed about the mind and its pathology. I wondered how does my friend remain calm and cool in her personal life in spite of the 'toxic' environment she is exposed to.

At times awareness creates great turmoil. A person who is well aware of numerous psychiatric syndromes, symptoms, triggering factors, treatment, prognosis etc needs to have ultimate control over his/her own thought process so as to remain mentally healthy. It might be a bit difficult to draw parallels between a contagious diseases like Leprosy and a psychiatric disorder like Schizophrenia in terms of mode of transmission. However, I feel the mental health workers are also prone to 'infection' through close contact with their patients. The unseen 'pathogens' often create great troubles in their lives too. In fact, my friend told me about several cases of borderline psychiatric ailments in the nearby quarters where she stays...These problems arise not from complete ignorance, but from the awareness that the mind can go really crazy at times.

Add on: Even my friend exhibit slight problems. She has already conferreed several labels on herself, all related to psycholgoical disorders. At times, I feel that her personality has multiple layers, like an onion one beneath the other (A better analogy for computer engineers is a neural network). It is quite interesting to watch her peel off layer after layer, and then pack them all back to normal.

Drive Selection

2009-10-23T07:40:00.001+04:00

Recently, one of my friends asked me, "Which one is better: AC or DC drives?"...This made me think a little bit about drives.

In the beginning we have problems!!!
Problems exist before the design stage. The design connects a particular problem to its corresponding solution. The basic question like, what kind of motor/drive, is to be addressed on the basis of the type of problem for which the solution is sought. Typically, loads fall in one of 3 categories.
1. Constant Torque: The load is essentially the same throughout the speed range. Eg: Belt conveyors.
2. Variable Torque: The load increases as speed increases. Eg: Pumps and fans.
3. Constant Horsepower: The load decreases as speed increases. Eg: Lathe

So, when applying a motor and drive to an application, it is necessary to know the horsepower, torque, and load characteristics of the load. This is the crucial aspect in determining the suitability of drives.

Consider a typical application like rolling mills. Long product rolling mills are one of the most demanding applications for motor drives. It usually consists of 12-20 stands with big rolls, and around 200 or so electric motors at the finishing line. The rolling process consists of passing a hot billet through multiple rolling stands arranged in an in-line fashion. Each rolling stand consists of two or more rolls (the two which are in touch with the billet are called working rolls) with a groove machined on them so as to shape and reduce the hot billet. The moment the billet enters the roll in a stand, the impact load is so high that it might result in about 150% of rated current to flow through the drive. Also the drives in the stands are to be tuned such that the tension remains optimum at the load, otherwise, it might affect the shape of the product. In order to meet the latter requirement, the motor speed must be controlled to 0.01%. Most of the AC and DC drives meet this static accuracy testing, however, what is more important is the dynamic performance rating of the drive, which is necessary to reduce the momentary speed drop when the bar enters each stand.

Historically, rolling mills use DC drives due to their superior performance. DC motors are highly suitable for low speed, high torque applications, like the initial stands in the mill. However, with improved electronically-controlled devices, AC drives are at par with DC drives for certain areas of application. Typically, AC motors need to be run above 800 rpm to be cost-effective. Also, the higher efficiency of AC motors is sometimes negated by the wasteful braking methods employed in such machines.

In an industrial setup, more often that not, it is not the efficiency or effectiveness, that dictates the rules. Other techno-economic parameters like cost-effectiveness play a major role in such contexts. For example, even if its is advisable to replace an existing dc motor with an ac motor as it requires less maintenance and is more efficient, one needs to consider other factors like cost of changing mounting pattern, replacement of powercables, gearboxes etc.

As mentioned above, in DC drives, regeneration systems are less expensive. During braking, the power is returned through an armature bridge. Modern DC drive modules can go up to about 5000 A with only 6 thyristors. Also, new Bidirectional controlled thyristors (only 6 are necessary) can also be used for 4 quadrant operation. However, in AC drives, regeneration is not so effective, in both financial and technological terms. With a standard rectifier diode and pulsed resistor combination, during braking a portion of the energy above a specific voltage level is dumped into the resistor and is wasted. Another alternative is to use a thyristor resistor. This combination also has certain technical problems. However modern systems which use IGBT inverter unit, with flux vector control give superior performance comparable to DC drives, but this is very costly. Another solution to the problem of regeneration is to have common DC bus. Any of the inverters that are braking regenerate to the common DC bus, and this power is then used by th other inverters which are motoring. The beauty of this solution is that we can eliminate IGBTs and replace them with simple diode rectifiers. This system provides very cost-effective solution to problems which involve a number of motors.

References:
1. The Iron and Steel Magazine
2. STEP Online Course of Siemens

The change we need

2009-10-19T17:32:00.001+04:00

The climate is changing slowly at Durgapur. Winter is knocking at the door. The nature is in a mood to celebrate its onset. My morning walk has become all the more pleasing.

The change is the order of nature. We are also bound to change, we too celebrate the onset of changes in our lives, so do the democracies. Ours is a moderately stable democracy, evolving, and yet to mature in many fields. We still find most of the elections ride on religious sentiments, narrow ethnic divisions, and senseless rhetoric rather than on any real achievements. This pitiable plight makes many of find solace in GBShaw's definition of democracy as a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. This is a kinda existential justification to all ailing democracies !!!

However, in the recent past, we have made long strides in accumulating wealth. Foreign exchange reserves (excluding Gold, SDRs and Reserve Tranche Position in the IMF) stood at US $ 264.6 billion at the end of September 2009 as per the report published by Ministry of Finance (It was just US $ 35.06 billion in 2000)

Now, we need is to leverage this advantage to bring about sustainable and all-inclusive growth, while maintaining the same momentum. Otherwise, the country will nose-dive into serious socio-economic problems which stem out of the imbalances and disparities between urban and rural areas, prosperous and lagging states, and skilled and low-skilled workers. As a matter of fact India’s richest states now have incomes that are five times higher than those of the poorest states – a gap that is higher than in most other democratic countries.

We achieved fast growth looking west-ward. However, to 'naturalize' this growth we need not go anywhere than to our own constitution. The framers of our constitution have given due importance to various sensitive long-standing socio-economic issues through the adoption of Directive Principles of State Policy. Though not enforceable through courts, they are aimed at serving larger interest of the society. They do address many a problem that a young democracy is bound to go through. It ranges from reduction in inequalities (social, economic, opportunities etc), adoption of uniform civil code, free medical and legal aid to the poor, several Gandhian concepts on economy, etc. In general, they aim to create social and economic conditions under which the citizens can lead a good life.

What changes do we need to adopt for achieving this goal? We need dedicated, self-motivated people in public services, people who have great sense of integrity, to aid and backup our political framework. They can do real wonders for the country providing proactive measures and timely advices to its democratic leaders (who may not show enough mettle to bring in the change we need.)...Otherwise, we will have to wait for a loong time for the day on which the majority of our people rise to a higher level of thinking and get what they truly deserve!!!.

Cap On Executive Compensation

2009-10-19T13:46:00.001+04:00

There was a huge hue and cry when the political leaders of our country suggested a cap on executive compensation (in tune with US administration). Most of us received several emails scornfully depicting the burden these politicians impose on the exchequer. However, no one, not even the HR managers thoughtfully considered the ethos and values such a move could have brought in into India Inc., where currently exists a huge disparity between the salary paid to the top officials and the average salary of the employees. Nobody considered the intangible benefits of having high morale and sense of belongingness that could be brought about by reducing this divide. As a matter of fact it sounds very difficult to stick on to such ideologies in an open market that eulogizes cut-throat competition. Still there are companies which survive, rather flourish, without diluting the principles and philosophy they stand for - The Whole Foods Market is suh a company.

The Whole Foods Market, HQ Austin, is an $8 billion company, selling natural and organic foods. Call in new management tactics or whatever you like, The Whole Foods is set to change the way we think about management. There are certain interesting facts about this company.

1. They have a self-imposed limit on executive compensation to the tune of 19 times the average salary of all full-time employees. (In developed countries, the disparity is approx. 260 times; For India no official data is available, but sure to be in this range)
2. Every three years, they hold a company-wide vote for team members to choose the health and benefits package they want the company to offer.
3. Over 90% of stock options awarded go to non-executives.
4. Co-founder and CEO John Mackey recently reduced his annual salary to $1, with future compensation from his personal stock options going to our two not-for-profit foundations. (Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page too take salary of $1 a year)
5. Their financial books are open to employees, including annual individual compensation report listing gross pay for all employees — including executives.
6. They have established a Global Team Member Emergency Fund for the benefit of employees throughout the company who become affected by major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
7. They regularly donate food and other products to support organizations such as homeless shelters, food banks, schools and others.
8. They are in the process of converting their distribution fleets to bio-diesel.
9. They purchase renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset 100% of the electricity used in all of their locations (retail and non-retail) in North America.

They do what seems to be impossible in today's world without huge finanacial support from the government. How do they manage it, what makes them tread this complex path? I found the answer on their website...it says,..."We know we’ve always been a little out of the ordinary. Those 19 people who started our first store were quite an idealistic bunch!"

A note on Intellectual Pain

2009-10-19T11:25:00.000+04:00

There is an interesting article which talks about the painful side of creative intellects...its very much worth reading.

The author of this article is Jeanette Winterson who lives in England. She has written nine novels as well as fiction for young readers. Her most recent novel is “The Stone Gods.” The original was posted on wall street journal, available at the livemint site.

A sample para:
"The existential depression that is becoming a condition of humankind, experienced as loss of meaning, a kind of empty bafflement, is different from the situational depression we all go through from time to time. Job loss, bereavement and catastrophe will throw us into situational depression, but existential depression is different. When life loses all meaning, we cannot live. The German novelist Hermann Hesse wrote of suicide as a state of mind—that many people who are nominally alive have in fact already committed suicide."

Read the complete article here

Wake up Bollywood

2009-10-19T07:11:00.001+04:00

"If excellent acting skills and exceptional voice quality had been the criteria for success in Bollywood, Om Puri would have been rubbing shoulders with superstars...but, alas, bollywood has its own mantras for success."

This is what Rana Siddiqui Zaman wrote in Friday Review of Hindu on 16 October, 2009. Even when I was at Mumbai, frequently visiting theaters screening stupid movies (along with one of my friends ... for some obvious reasons ;-) ), I could not appreciate what bollywood stood for. There are certain big names, which with in me create nothing but a dully imagery of emptiness, worthlessness, with a strong tint of contempt.

I wonder why we people invariably make to do with some kind of girl-boy relationship on screen, and that too made as flamboyant and superficial as it could be. Recently, while watching "Wake Up Sid," I felt, "after all the bollywood is slowly waking up"...This thought easily gave in to frustration as the story again slipped in to the beaten tracks.

However, compared to the recent past, the industry is improving on its mettle to experiment with serious stuff...A Wednesday, Dhoop are fine examples in that direction...

What is the solution to this problem?
Back to Om Puri...He suggests, "...we should learn from out past....why cant we go back to the literature?"...and of course, the majority of the market, the countless headless chickens which contribute lions share to the film fraternity will take a longer time in India to accept such movies.

However, the regional languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali etc show much more courage in producing better films which in effect provide a mirror to the individuals, their emotions, relationships, and the society in general. Such films might not bring in great profit to the producer (many of them do not intend to do so!!!), but they do ovbiously serve a greater purpose to the society, giving a platform for the masses to do a kinda review/introspection on what is happening around them.

As such this problem exists in almost everywhere. People are not usually assessed for what they do or what they stand for, rather they are viewed and evaluated with lots of prejudice and misconceptions, driven by no logical basis. Just read on what Mr. Suresh Kamath, founder and MD of Lasersoft Infosystems, a Chennai-based financial technology company says..."Big is the name of the modern game. Most banks - be it public sector ones or private entities - have this fascination for name, reputation, and size while awarding IT contracts. Who delivers matters more than what is delivered efficiently."(Polaris will acquire Lasersoft shortly.)

PS: Bollywood films usually serve their purpose
1. Profit to the producers.
2. Tympass to the youngsters sitting in the back rows ;-)

Trust: A Costly Affair

2009-10-16T15:18:00.001+04:00

"... if you diverge markedly from society’s average level of trust, you are likely to lose out, either because you are so distrustful of others that you miss out on opportunities for investment and mutually beneficial exchange, or because you are so trusting that you leave yourself open to being cheated and abused. ..."

"Maybe we should trust each other more – but not too much."

Sounds like the moral of a story ... a snippet from a novel... no...it is a piece from an article on markets...You can read it here

Curiosity

2009-10-16T09:44:00.006+04:00

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"Her eyes sparkled with intense curiosity...she was so engrossed, completely ignorant of agitated crowd around her."

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I was on my usual lo.....ng morning walk on a Sunday. The township was slowly waking up into a lazy day. Suddenly a dog came running across the road, and attacked a boy of around 13. I was about 20 meters away from the site, and ran up to the boy, but by the time people came around, the boy was severely mauled by the raging dog; and then it ran back to where it came from in the same determined fashion in which it approached the victim. The boy was profusely bleeding, and crying hysterically. Some of the guys came with sticks to kill the dog, while others were trying to assess the seriousness of injury and stop the bleeding. Then there ensued an argument over what to do with the dog. The elders said, "don't kill the dog, it might affect the boy." What I understood is that (the conversation was in Bengali) according to them, if one kills the dog, the boy might get rabies; evidently a misinterpretation of what physicians suggest in such cases, to quarantine the animal and watch it for a few days for any symptoms of rabies.

While this was going on, I found the dog among the onlookers eagerly watching the effect of her deeds with a childish curiosity, with sparkling eyes, engrossed, completely ignorant of the agitated crowd around her...as if she wanted to make sure that the victim indeed received what he deserved. It was quite strange and amusing. I felt, for no obvious reason, that she was genuine...I shooed her away gently before she got into more troubles.

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Video From Nasa

2009-10-15T14:31:00.000+04:00

A nice video The moon and beyond

An Idea Can Change Our Lives: A Note on The Pan-African e-network

2009-10-15T10:58:00.000+04:00

Idea: Connect all the 53 nations of the African Union by a satellite and fiber optic network with India.
Objective: To provide seamless and integrated satellite, fibre optics and wireless network (to be provided by India) that will connect 53 learning centres, 53 Remote Hospitals, 5 Regional Universities, and 5 Regional Hospitals spread all over Africa. From India 7 leading Universities and 12 Super Specialty Hospitals will provide the expert domain services through Tele-education and Tele-medicine respectively. It also aims at providing support in the fields of e-Governance, e-Commerce, infotainment, resource mapping, meteorological services etc.

Who proposed it and when? : The former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, during the inaugural session of the Pan-African Parliament held in Johannesburg on 16th September 2004.
Financial Implications: The initial total project cost was about US$ 100 million, which would be a total grant from the Government of India. Certain resources suggest that India has already invested more than US$ 125 million.
Network Architecture: It uses MPLS(Multi-Protocol Label Switching) to connect various nodes in India, and are ultimately connected to the Data Center at Delhi. The Data Center is directly connected to a Landing station in India which inturn is conncted through an IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit) to the Landing station at Senegal. From there, the Landing station at African end connects to African nodes through RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communication) satellite through VSAT (I am not sure about this VSAT aspect!!!).
Geopolitical Implications: The facility provided through VVIP nodes speaks a lot on that.
What is the current status: No. of AU Member States that have signed the agreement with TCIL (Telecommunications Indian Limited): 42 viz. [West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo; East Africa: Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda; Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe; Central Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DRC and Gabon; Northern Africa: Egypt, Mauritania and Libya]
About 86 sites/centres have been commissioned and integrated with the network, including:

Data Centre at TCIL Bhawan, New Delhi;
Tel-Education Set up in 3 Indian Universities (viz. Amity University, IGNOU and BITS Pilani); Tel-Medicine Set up in 9 Super Specialty Hospitals of India
(viz. Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi;
Apollo Hospitals, Chennai;
CARE Hospital Hyderabad;
Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi;
Fortis Hospital, Noida;
Narayana Hrudayalya, Bangalore;
AIIMS, New Delhi;
Moolchand Hospital, New Delhi;
Sri Ramchandra Medical College and Research Centre, Chennai)

Tele-Education Set-up in 3 Regional Universities of Africa,
Tele-Medicine Set-up in 1 Regional Super Specialty Hospital in Africa
24 Learning Centres
22 Patient-End Hospitals (PEHs) in African countries
22 VVIP Nodes (for video-conferencing and Voice over IP among the Heads of
States)

Sources

1. http://www.panafricanenetwork.com/

2. http://www.indianembassy.gov.et/

3. http://www.igovernment.in/

4. www.scidev.net

Steel Industry of India

2009-10-14T16:16:00.006+04:00

In the year 1911 – Sir Frederick Upcott, chief commissioner, Indian Railway Board (British India), mocks a Tata Steel proposal by saying: “Do you think the Tatas propose to make steel rails to British specifications? I will eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making!”

Let us see where does India stand now in steel production...

According to the World Steel, in 2008 the five major steel producing countries were *1:

Rank	Country	Quantity in Million Metric Tonnes
1.	China	500.5
2.	Japan	118.7
3.	US	91.4
4.	Russia	68.5
5.	India	55.2

Also, India retains its lead position as the largest producer of direct reduced iron (DRI) or sponge iron as per the 2008-09 annual report of steel ministry of India. In India, the major domestic players in the public and private sectors include:

1. SAIL, Steel Authority of India Limited: A public sector undertaking and the country's largest integrated producer of iron and steel with a turnover of around Rs. 48,681 crores per annum.

2. Tata Steel Limited: Established in 1907, Tata Steel has an integrated steel plant, with an annual crude steel making capacity of 6.8 million tonnes, located at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
3. Ispat Industries Limited
4. JSW Steel Limited
5. Jindal Steel & Power Limited
6.Vizag Steel Plant, Rashtriya Ispat Nigal Limited: A public sector undertaking: This plant has been built to match international standards with state-of-the-art technology, incorporating extensive energy saving and pollution control measures.
7. Essar Steel Limited
8. Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited
9. Bhushan Power and Steel Limited
10. Bhushan Steel Limited

A Closer look at Indian Steel Sector

As almost all the large companies are on a modernisation and expansion plan, the country is likely to achieve a steel production capacity of nearly 124 million tonnes by the year 2011-12 and 295 million tonnes by 2020. Crude steel production was at 54.52 million tonnes, a growth of 1.23% over last year with capacity utilisation at 89% during the year. It grew at more than 9% annually from 38.72 million tonnes (MT) in 2003-04.*2

The major domestic player SAIL itself would increase the capacity from 14.6 million tonnes per annum hot metal production (in 2006-07) to 26.2 million tonnes by 2010-11. During the year 2008, SAIL recorded profit (before tax) of Rs. 9,403 crore and profit (after tax) of Rs. 6,175 crore. Record turnover of Rs. 48,681 crore in 2008-09, 6.9% higher year-on-year.

The crude steel production of Tata Steel during the period 2008-09 was 5.6 million tonnes which is higher by 12% over the production of 5.0 million tonnes last year. The saleable steel production was at a higher level during the period April 2008-March 2009 (5.3 million tonnes) compared to the corresponding period last year (4.9 million tonnes). Also, TATA Steel has won the Deming Application Prize 2008.

In the year 2007, Tata Steel has acquired the 5th largest steel producer of the world, Corus, at $12.15 billion *3 (around Rs 55,000 crore) in cash, making it the largest acquisition by an Indian company and the second largest in the industry after Mittal Steel's $38.3 billion acquisition of Arcelor. The total crude steel production capacity of Tata steel after the acquisition is 30 million tonnes per annum.*4

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World crude steel production, 2008
Rank	Country	Quantity in Million Metric Tonnes
1.	China	500.5
2.	Japan	118.7
3.	US	91.4
4.	Russia	68.5
5.	India	55.2
6.	South Korea	53.6
7.	Germany	45.8
8.	Ukraine	37.1
9.	Brazil	33.7
10.	Italy	30.6

Source: World Steel Association
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Indian Crude Steel Production (in million tonnes)
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 ^
Public Sector	15.912	16.964	17.003	17.091	16.374
Private Sector	27.525	29.496	33.814	36.766	38.146
Total Production	43.437	46.460	50.817	53.857	54.520
%Share of Public Sector	36.6	36.5	33.5	32	30

Source: JPC, Ministry of Steel, GOI
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Trivia:
1. The largest producer of steel in 2008 is ArcelorMittal ( 116.4 mmt), headed by Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO
2. Tata Steel is ranked 6th in the list of top steel producing companies
3. SAIL is ranked 19th in the above-mentioned list
4. UK is ranked 17 in the list of steel producing countries
5. "If he had carried out his undertaking, he would have had a slight indigestion." Mr. Dorabji Tata, later commented on Frederick Upcott.

Rust-Resistant Rails for Indian Railways at Bhilai Steel Plant, SAIL

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References

1: World Steel Association, World Steel In Figures available at http://www.worldsteel.org/
2: Annual Report 2008-09, Ministry of Steel, Government of India
3: www.steelworld.com/focusfeb07.pdf
4. http://www.tatasteel.com/Company/profile.asp

Robert Fritz and Transcendence

2009-10-11T14:18:00.000+04:00

I was directed to this article by one of my best friends. The author is Robert Fritz. He talks about 2 different ways through which we build our lives.

1. Consequences

2. Transcendence

The first method is very clear...the cause and effect mechanism. However, transcendence is quite complementary to that. He explains it with 2 stories in his book "The Path of Least Resistance" ... He says "– we can transcend the consequences we have put into motion. Cause and effect are suspended. Past actions do not become manifested in future outcomes. The past, no matter what it has been, is no longer a dynamic that must play itself out. Not only do we recognize the past is over, it is no longer at issue. We are able to re-create our lives anew." (sounds a valid explanation to me.)

Click here to read more of Robert Fritz

Compass

2009-09-29T12:13:00.005+04:00

How do certain people reach where they wanted to in their lives? How do they keep sailing towards their goals, especially in the turbulent and dark sea of life? Even tomorrow is not predictable, then how come they adjust themselves to face the coming years? I feel, we have nothing but the rational sense and intuition to guide us through the darkness of future. It is more or less like sailing in a sea with a compass as the sole aid for navigation. The sailor does not know much about the sea, except very few empirical facts, yet he travels thousands of miles just with that small instrument. When he departs a port in Portugal to Cape of good hope, he knows that much only, yet he reaches his destination with the sole instrument to his guidance; that is something wonderful to say the least.

Cant we use our logic and intuition, the basic faculty we are given with to navigate through life? How many of us are capable of using that? A person who is obsessed about money, drinks, girls, sex, and all sort of things which heavily overload our brains are of course incapable of doing that. Even the small section of society who is out of it is comprised of people who are reluctant to move out of their familiar places, the complacency they are born into; so they too wont be able to make use of this faculty. May be that is why we don't find that many people who are contented with what they have achieved. (I exclude in this the sort of guys like dedicated worshippers who are taught to be contented so as to attract more and more unsatisfied guys to their sect.) The fact is that people should be bold enough to move consciously towards the goals, no matter even if it demands moving in the opposite direction. In a turbid weather, the captain may steer the vessel northward even when he knows that his final destination is somewhere in the south; that is a conscious effort. Every conscious effort is to be acknowledged, appreciated.

What does a wise man do when he realizes that his vessel is heading on to a rock? For the time being he forgets his compass, pulls himself out of the mess, and then does a thorough introspection to see what went wrong in the route. There is no point in planning and dreaming of some sophisticated technique to cut through the rocks, or to wait beside the hard rocky mountain wishing that some day it might move out of his path. Those dreams are of course optimistic, and people might often romanticize it to that degree that one may even start believing what he has once dreamt of as reality!!! The basic idea is to realize that sea, rocks, winds, sun and clouds are out of our control and also that it is absolutely stupid to waste our energy and time in controlling the uncontrollable especially when one has a great faculty of reasoning under her own control (Thanks to Epictetus...and thanks to Mittuz). It is important to invest our energy to control just the vessel, not the sea.

*The image is taken from the site of University of Southern Maine

viva voce

2009-09-29T11:41:00.001+04:00

Venue: Electronics Laboratory in an Engineering College.

Lecturer nicknamed Gajju is trying hard to finish off his last ritual with the students from computer department (marks are already sent to the university). However, as this is his last chance, he does not spare a single instant to tease the guys.

He calls out: "Roll No 4, Jinson"

Jinson hands over his lab journal...gajju signs on the first page and the last page...notes something secretly on his notebook...gives it back to jinson...jinson passes a glance at the door, where Mr. Rajeev is eagerly waiting...(Rajeev will change just the 2 pages of the journal on which gajju signed, and again submit the same book as his ... and of course later give it to Ms. Asmita to repeat the same drama...)

Gajju is running short of genuine questions, yet he some how tries to manage it.

G: Name the latest microprocessor from Intel.
J: err....is it pentium ?
G: Pentium...(grinning)...which one?
J: P3
G: .....(grinning)....okay...leave that...i asked you as you are from computers.
Jinson still tries to cling on ....sir is it pentium 4?...
G: Go and refer the books (and tell me...even i dunno the answer!!!!)

G: What is the size of a 1Farad capacitor?
Jinson has seen capacitors of pico and miro farads...like peanuts...
J: ....sir it is big...may be the size of an apple
Gajju laughs off at the answer...what a spontaneous question that was...need to share the joke with Ms Leghima tomorrow itself.

Gajju now recalls a question he had to face in his viva decades ago, and for which he has not yet found out the right answer...so he tries to drag in the topic
G: What do you know about vacuum tubes?
J: sir...it is an obsolete electronic device....we don't use vacuum tubes these days...
G: okay...(there shuts the door on vacuum tubes!!!)

G: Well...draw the circuit diagram of a monostable multivibrator.
Jinson draws some crap...with a few resistors and capacitor attached to an opamp...writes the spec as lightly as he can with the pencil and hands it over to gajju...gajju passes a glance over the whole stuff...
G: Why do we need a resistor here?
Jinson confused as to whether such a thing is there in the actual circuit or not, blurts out some void sentences...gajju is laid back, with a passive smile...and asks a genuine question this time.

G: Jinson, you dont know anything about computers...you have literally no idea of electronics too...Do you think that the multinational companies will ever hire such a guy?
J: ....sir...If i dont make it to the big companies, i will try for smaller ones...
G: Even they wont hire you...
Jinson sits for a minute with his head down... gajju is quite pleased with the response...its enjoyable yaar...
G: Then what will you do?
J: ....sir ....i will become a lecturer ....

Gajju somehow managed the rest of the session with his head down!!!.

Tailpiece:

1. Gajju was the first one to get laddu when Jinson got selected into a software company with a hefty package. The whole day, Gajju once again felt so sorry for the lecturers.

2. I doubt whether this happens only in India.

Me...and Stupid Ads

2009-09-29T11:27:00.000+04:00

When I considered buying a vehicle, I had only 2 options in my mind

Enfield Bullet
Jeep

I kept this to myself. My friends took me to various showrooms, suggested many glamorous vehicles including the stunner, gs and fz of yamaha, pulsar, and what not (and I enjoyed the test drives !!!) To my surprise none mentioned the Bullet, though there is a showroom nearby.

What made me consider only those 2 options?

Rugged, robust, proven design
Masculine

The reason 1 is purely technical, am worried about the 2nd.
I asked myself whether am a homosexual!!! (I have every reason to be doubtful;-)
The fact is that I am happy being among boys than girls; does not mean that I don't like girls. It would be as meaningless as saying that I don't like santro or linea or any such stylish cars. I like them, I can appreciate the beauty, the curves, the lines, and the contours, yet I would be happy to see them at my neighbor's garage and not mine ;-)

Why so?

Do I detest fashionable design? I don't think so. I detest the fact that certain designs look more fashionable than functional. It is quite disgusting to watch a dumper in the mines with sporty lamps, and a freak look. Look at those rockets, missiles, trains, machinery in big industries, they all have one thing in common- simple functional design. It is absolutely nonsensical to waste our resources on some extra tails/stylish mirrors/ornamental lighting on such things; at times quite compromising on their functional objectives too.

The fact is that our mass media nowadays advertise products with little functional value and more fashionable in nature. I do not know how people stand those highly exaggerated advertisements, which show nothing related to the functional side of the product. I do not know what the designers and the ad agencies think of the public...do they think that we are all stupid?

The trade off is between utility and fashion. The fact is that the degree varies from person to person. That is why certain FMCG items, clothes etc which are of literally no use on it own still find a place in the market.

Tailpiece:
1. I can accept 85-15, am happy with 90-10, and I consider it highly fashionable to have a 100% utilitarian design. In my childhood, along with my brother, I stripped my bicycle off its mud guards, chain cover, carrier, dynamo, lamps, and all those extra fittings to bare minimum...I roamed around my locality in that naked bicycle with a lot of pride... these days Rx 100 comes close to that.
2. I need not change the world to keep myself happy...i may well relocate myself!!!

Manifestations of a self-proclaimmed .... .... ....

2009-09-19T12:46:00.002+04:00

Mr.Kovalan is a self-proclaimed philanthropist, he believes that it is hardwired in his brain. Recently, he got posted to Kolkata, the land of Lal party. The first day itself, he went out for sight seeing into the interiors of the township, found the place quite like his hometown in Kerala, and wondered whether this similarity in geography has something to do with the political tastes too !!! (He is a bit eccentric, he often tries to correlate the unrelated).

While returning his room that evening, he felt a sudden urge for a drink. So, he approached a rickshawala; though in principle he does not appreciate cycle rickshaws ( according to him, "it is cruel to enjoy the comfort at the cost of some other guy, it is the most visual form of exploitation of the impoverished class"). Yet, as there were no other options, and as he does not try to control any of his urges, he pulled up himself to the rickshaw. He tried to convey the old rickshawala where he wanted to go. The word 'bar' seemed to be quite strange to the fellow, so he communicated to him the place of interest through certain actions, and finally reached the place. May be due to his outfit (Kovalan likes frugal living), the rickshawala took him to a Desi daru dookhan, where he found the colorless stuff being served to people squatting on the filthy floor. Kovalan, though thinks and talks a lot of the common people, the proletariat, found it quite awkward to share the space with them, so he moved out,(what a great man he is) tried to convince the rickshawala what a 'bar' is, and ultimately reached "the priyanka bar," which later became one of his favorite hangout.

After taking one beer, the real socialist emerged out of his shell. He recalled what Mr. George Orwel wrote in Animal Farm on liquor and the classes; with a jerk of vengeance he rushed towards the rickshawala who had been waiting for him outside the bar and earnestly called him to take a drink. The rickshawala found it very hard to convince this ultra-modern practical socialist that he quit drinking out of family problems years ago. After about 20 minutes of persuasion, Kovalan came back to his seat and finished 1 more bottle of Kingfisher (Now only he noticed the name, which emanated a series of bitter thoughts on capitalism...accumulation of wealth, and its sheer wastage and what not...)..."It is getting bitter day by day," said Kovalan to himself.

By the time Kovalan came out of the smoky world of the bar, it had started drizzling, however, the rickshawala obliged to take him to his room without any further delay (It was almost 9 by then). The rickshawala pulled along the deserted street, heaving heavily against the odds. Sitting under the hood of the rickshaw Kovalan observed the old chap struggling hard...he was wet...shivering a bit...might be due to the rain or the pain in his weak muscles...suddenly Kovalan found himself looking into an absolutely painful contradiction: here sits a young healthy fellow who has just taken 2 beers and a full tandoori chicken, and there struggles a poor old chap evidently ill-fed, in the rain, to provide comfort to the overfed fellow. He couldnt stand those thoughts for long...

The very next instant Kovalan literally jumped out of the rickshaw, and asked the rickshawala to get down from his seat. Before the poor guy realized what was going on, Kovalan climbed onto the rickshaw puller's seat and ordered the poor chap, weary and wonderstruck, to sit on the rider's seat. As it was raining heavily, and might due to Kovalan's commanding power (which overshoots with drinks), without much hesitation he got into the rickshaw.

Kovalan pulled all along with great vigor and enthusiasm. He later wrote in his diary, "it is the best rickshaw ride I ever had in my life"...(The rickshawala too might have written similar note in his diary too, if he keeps one!!!). To the end of the ride, he paid rickshawala the fair earlier agreed on for the ride too. That night Kovalan shook his hands with Karl Marx, and later admonished George Orwell for his foolish ideas.

Later, during Durga pooja, Kovalan was invited to formally inaugurate "Gunjan Pleasure Ride," a company which offers service to the curious tourists (of course at a nominal fee) to pull rickshaw through the streets of Kolkata. The old chap, who turned out in a flamboyant traditional outfit, hugged Mr. Kovalan and introduced him to the small crowd assembled as the key person who gave him the initial support and idea for his startup.

That night, Kovalan again met Karl Marx and requested him to add a case study in the latest edition of Das Capital on "How to turn the remnants of Imperialism to the advantage of the Impoverished" and also promised him to mail the details at the earliest.

RE-READING KREUTZER SONATA

2009-08-04T08:15:00.002+04:00

I read the Kreutzer Sonata for the first time when I was quite young, inexperienced. However, looking back, I realize how effectively it has affected my thought processes, long-term goals, and of course my lifestyle too. So, I thought of re-reading it, just to see what were the original thoughts that might have entered my brain. As a matter of fact, just like certain friendships, I do go back and re-read the 'good' books. I have done this with many of OV Vijayan's, and to my surprise, I would get more and more new insights from the same words, phrases, and pages, that is the depth of those creations. To an extent it can be attributed to my new mental status, circumstances, or experience.

I don’t think that it is worth writing a brief on Kreutzer Sonata for I realize that each word, each phrase, each page of that book is already in its most succinct and unique form. However, in this edition, I came across a chapter titled, "The lesson of Kruetzer Sonata" which Leo Tolstoy himself has written. Certain paragraphs are relevant only to the then Russian society, so I leave them. I appreciated his views on love written elegantly in the following 2 paragraphs.

"In the fifth place, I am of opinion that, owing to the exaggerated and erroneous significance attributed by our society to love and to the idealized states that accompany and succeed it, the best energies of our men and women are drawn forth and exhausted during the most promising period of life; those of the men in the work of looking for, choosing, and winning the most desirable objects of love, for which purpose lying and fraud are held to be quite excusable; those of the women and girls in alluring men and decoying them into liaisons or marriage by the most questionable means conceivable, as an instance of which the present fashions in evening dress may be cited. I am of opinion that this is not right.

The truth is, that the whole affair has been exalted by poets and romancers to an undue importance, and that love in its various developments is not a fitting object to consume the best energies of men. People set it before them and strive after it, because their view of life is as vulgar and brutish as is that other conception frequently met with in the lower stages of development, which sees in luscious and abundant food an end worthy of man’s best efforts. Now, this is not right and should not be done. And, in order to avoid doing it, it is only needful to realize the fact that whatever truly deserves to be held up as a worthy object of man’s striving and working, whether it be the service of humanity, of one’s country, of science, of art, not to speak of the service of God, is far above and beyond the sphere of personal enjoyment. Hence, it follows that not only to form a liaison, but even to contract marriage, is, from a Christian point of view, not a progress, but a fall. Love, and all the states that accompany and follow it, however we may try in prose and verse to prove the contrary, never do and never can facilitate the attainment of an aim worthy of men, but always make it more difficult. This is my fifth contention."

May be from this book only I might have inculcated an independent view of society and its morals, which of course contradicts the norms, which makes many of my friends raise their eyebrows, which makes them say, "You are nice, yet atypical". This might be the sole reason for my obsession about "conscious efforts", "logical deductions" even in my own life. This might be the only book which has compelled my to utter "All this romance is an utter wastage of time, money, and energy." I am quite contented that even in my teens itself I assimilated such thoughts through such a great masterpiece thanks to Tolstoy.

Meaningsssssssss

2009-07-23T14:11:00.003+04:00

while going through the orkut profile of one of my friends, I came across this sentence: "I hate people with attitude, I very well know how to handle them." I really dont understand what this means. I opened the dictionary and searched for any negative meanings for theword "attitude", but couldnt find any. The fact is that I have come across such usages a number of times during my stay in Mumbai.

Another word is personality. have heard people commenting, even on strangers, "He has a good personality". Once I got a nice overcoat from one of my cousins. My girlfriend commented, "Now you have a great personality"...I laughed off; no point in expressing much on such occassions.

Where does the dilution and adulteration occur? Anyway, it is not from dictionaries. It seems that youngsters, especially of metros who use the language very well in their day-to-day conversation misuse these words, ascribing a lighter, diluted meaning to them. That is the only reason now I can think of, for I have come across all those comments from youngsters of Mumbai.

Altruism and related issues

2009-07-23T08:30:00.004+04:00

Though I do pray almost everyday, I am not sure about whether there exists a God, yet I wish he/she does exist;
Though I adhere to a life based on certain strict policies and philosophy, I am not sure whether there is anything great about being righteous, of having integrity, yet I wish there is.

Open discussion on several "good" behaviors tend to frustrate us, with regard to the ultimate gains. I at times doubt whether everything considered socially, morally right remains right biologically, or at times even economically too (for example, as matter of principle I don't tell lies; however, I have seen many virtually making great leaps in their lives, proffessional and personal, through lies alone). However, while reading a book on psychology by Morgan, I came across a theory, which made me quite happy. The chapter was on sociobiology.

"The key concept of sociobiology is that the purpose of an individual's life is to pass along genetic material to the next generation of the species; evolutionary forces are at work to make individuals, alone and in groups, better adapted to their environments so that they will survive to pass on their genes."

At times these thoughts are confusing. I have seen many wicked people cheating others to make a quick profit. How come the latter get fined/punished? I am not talking about the legal system, but about the species as a whole. How does it make sure that such wicked guys are eliminated from the group biologically? Or at least make sure that those who contribute to the society pass on more genetic material to the next generation. For example, consider 2 groups in our society: The group of

1. Scientists and
2. Film stars

If you think about the benefits, survival techniques that the species gain from each of them, obviously the scientists are far ahead of the film stars. However, don’t you think that much of the wealth and resources are consumed by the second group?; which of course, gets translated to wider scope of passing on their genetic material to the next generation.

Think about another related issue. Consider Altruism, ff evolution acts to maximize the likelihood of passing genes on to the next generation, how can there be individuals who will sacrifice themselves to preserve other members of the species?

Quite interesting question, right? Had it not been the case we humankind, after millions of years of evolution wouldnt have ever got people like Mahtma Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela, Bhagat Singh, etc. However, there the author explains the observation with a nice theory called "The theory of kin selection."

The theory of kin selection goes like this. Suppose some animals in a group have genes for altruistic behavior. Some of its offspring, relatives, or kin of these animals also will have the same genes for altruism. So, even if the altruist individual loses his/her life, the gene continues to survive through its relatives, unlike a group which is not altruistic. Thus more genes are preserved in the group that lost by the death of an individual (unlike the case of another trivial gene!!!). Ultimately, the number of altruistic individual increases generation by generation. So,if you find yourself altuistic from within, never ever have it in your conscious mind that you are meant to be exploited by the rest of the species, on the otherhand, you can be proud of being a member of majority, which tends to engulf the entire set in the longrun

I felt quite happy reading the "theory of kin selection"; however, I don’t think that the issue can be explained in simple terms in the context of human beings. Lots of other factors also influence the individuality of a person. Anyway, it is always good to see that whatever one thinks right is right in every sense, which is rarely the case in real life situations.

Even after writing this much, I was not contented; In between, I came across an article published in the Washingtonpost, written by Shankar Vedantam Washington Post Staff Writer on Monday, May 28, 2007. I found it worth reading. I have just included it in this post or else Read the original article

If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 28, 2007; Page A01

"You gotta see this!" Jorge Moll had written. Moll and Jordan Grafman, neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health, had been scanning the brains of volunteers as they were asked to think about a scenario involving either donating a sum of money to charity or keeping it for themselves.

As Grafman read the e-mail, Moll came bursting in. The scientists stared at each other. Grafman was thinking, "Whoa -- wait a minute!"

The results were showing that when the volunteers placed the interests of others before their own, the generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex. Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable.

Their 2006 finding that unselfishness can feel good lends scientific support to the admonitions of spiritual leaders such as Saint Francis of Assisi, who said, "For it is in giving that we receive." But it is also a dramatic example of the way neuroscience has begun to elbow its way into discussions about morality and has opened up a new window on what it means to be good.

Grafman and others are using brain imaging and psychological experiments to study whether the brain has a built-in moral compass. The results -- many of them published just in recent months -- are showing, unexpectedly, that many aspects of morality appear to be hard-wired in the brain, most likely the result of evolutionary processes that began in other species.

No one can say whether giraffes and lions experience moral qualms in the same way people do because no one has been inside a giraffe's head, but it is known that animals can sacrifice their own interests: One experiment found that if each time a rat is given food, its neighbor receives an electric shock, the first rat will eventually forgo eating.

What the new research is showing is that morality has biological roots -- such as the reward center in the brain that lit up in Grafman's experiment -- that have been around for a very long time.

The more researchers learn, the more it appears that the foundation of morality is empathy. Being able to recognize -- even experience vicariously -- what another creature is going through was an important leap in the evolution of social behavior. And it is only a short step from this awareness to many human notions of right and wrong, says Jean Decety, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago.

The research enterprise has been viewed with interest by philosophers and theologians, but already some worry that it raises troubling questions. Reducing morality and immorality to brain chemistry -- rather than free will -- might diminish the importance of personal responsibility. Even more important, some wonder whether the very idea of morality is somehow degraded if it turns out to be just another evolutionary tool that nature uses to help species survive and propagate.

Moral decisions can often feel like abstract intellectual challenges, but a number of experiments such as the one by Grafman have shown that emotions are central to moral thinking. In another experiment published in March, University of Southern California neuroscientist Antonio R. Damasio and his colleagues showed that patients with damage to an area of the brain known as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex lack the ability to feel their way to moral answers.

When confronted with moral dilemmas, the brain-damaged patients coldly came up with "end-justifies-the-means" answers. Damasio said the point was not that they reached immoral conclusions, but that when confronted by a difficult issue -- such as whether to shoot down a passenger plane hijacked by terrorists before it hits a major city -- these patients appear to reach decisions without the anguish that afflicts those with normally functioning brains.

Such experiments have two important implications. One is that morality is not merely about the decisions people reach but also about the process by which they get there. Another implication, said Adrian Raine, a clinical neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, is that society may have to rethink how it judges immoral people.

Psychopaths often feel no empathy or remorse. Without that awareness, people relying exclusively on reasoning seem to find it harder to sort their way through moral thickets. Does that mean they should be held to different standards of accountability?

"Eventually, you are bound to get into areas that for thousands of years we have preferred to keep mystical," said Grafman, the chief cognitive neuroscientist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "Some of the questions that are important are not just of intellectual interest, but challenging and frightening to the ways we ground our lives. We need to step very carefully."

Joshua D. Greene, a Harvard neuroscientist and philosopher, said multiple experiments suggest that morality arises from basic brain activities. Morality, he said, is not a brain function elevated above our baser impulses. Greene said it is not "handed down" by philosophers and clergy, but "handed up," an outgrowth of the brain's basic propensities.

Moral decision-making often involves competing brain networks vying for supremacy, he said. Simple moral decisions -- is killing a child right or wrong? -- are simple because they activate a straightforward brain response. Difficult moral decisions, by contrast, activate multiple brain regions that conflict with one another, he said.

In one 2004 brain-imaging experiment, Greene asked volunteers to imagine that they were hiding in a cellar of a village as enemy soldiers came looking to kill all the inhabitants. If a baby was crying in the cellar, Greene asked, was it right to smother the child to keep the soldiers from discovering the cellar and killing everyone?

The reason people are slow to answer such an awful question, the study indicated, is that emotion-linked circuits automatically signaling that killing a baby is wrong clash with areas of the brain that involve cooler aspects of cognition. One brain region activated when people process such difficult choices is the inferior parietal lobe, which has been shown to be active in more impersonal decision-making. This part of the brain, in essence, was "arguing" with brain networks that reacted with visceral horror.

Such studies point to a pattern, Greene said, showing "competing forces that may have come online at different points in our evolutionary history. A basic emotional response is probably much older than the ability to evaluate costs and benefits."

While one implication of such findings is that people with certain kinds of brain damage may do bad things they cannot be held responsible for, the new research could also expand the boundaries of moral responsibility. Neuroscience research, Greene said, is finally explaining a problem that has long troubled philosophers and moral teachers: Why is it that people who are willing to help someone in front of them will ignore abstract pleas for help from those who are distant, such as a request for a charitable contribution that could save the life of a child overseas?

"We evolved in a world where people in trouble right in front of you existed, so our emotions were tuned to them, whereas we didn't face the other kind of situation," Greene said. "It is comforting to think your moral intuitions are reliable and you can trust them. But if my analysis is right, your intuitions are not trustworthy. Once you realize why you have the intuitions you have, it puts a burden on you" to think about morality differently.

Marc Hauser, another Harvard researcher, has used cleverly designed psychological experiments to study morality. He said his research has found that people all over the world process moral questions in the same way, suggesting that moral thinking is intrinsic to the human brain, rather than a product of culture. It may be useful to think about morality much like language, in that its basic features are hard-wired, Hauser said. Different cultures and religions build on that framework in much the way children in different cultures learn different languages using the same neural machinery.

Hauser said that if his theory is right, there should be aspects of morality that are automatic and unconscious -- just like language. People would reach moral conclusions in the same way they construct a sentence without having been trained in linguistics. Hauser said the idea could shed light on contradictions in common moral stances.

U.S. law, for example, distinguishes between a physician who removes a feeding tube from a terminally ill patient and a physician who administers a drug to kill the patient.

Hauser said the only difference is that the second scenario is more emotionally charged -- and therefore feels like a different moral problem, when it really is not: "In the end, the doctor's intent is to reduce suffering, and that is as true in active as in passive euthanasia, and either way the patient is dead."

Find another excellent and authoritative article on altruism at http://illusivemind.blogspot.com/2005/05/evolution-altruism-and-ethics.html; Had i read this earlier, I would not written this article at all. It explains altruism in a wider context.

Detachment

2009-07-22T10:31:00.004+04:00

I have got myself back to my real self. Last night I had 2 dreams, which I could recollect today.

Tags of Microsoft Office OneNote; big, grey in color; something was written in it;
Me driving a loco in the konkan railway; actually, there seemed to have some problem with the loco driver and I had to take the train to the next station.

When I got up from the bed, with some vague memories of the dreams, and with a sense of having a conscious sleep, I was quite happy. I like such mornings. I don’t feel that energetic, after having a sound sleep, unlike many. I don’t know why I am so obsessed about having everything done in a conscious state of mind. Even during the most intimate moments, totally involved actions, I sense my brain active and conscious of what I am doing. I cant really get into, sink into something to have myself lost into it; that might be the reason I don’t get addicted to anything, though I have tried a lot of such things; that might be the reason my friends found me not so "involved" in spite of experiencing a real romantic guy within…lol

Flight from Mumbai

2009-07-20T09:30:00.009+04:00

About an year back, I travelled for the first time in a flight. I came in as a necessity though I had decided earlier itself to fly at least once from Mumbai to Kochi. To the end of April 2008, I got hospitalized with malaria, though the malarial parasite was not detected. However, the symptoms were typical of malaria with severe headache, fever, intermittent chills etc. I still remember, the previous night before getting admitted in the Ashirvad Hospital at Nerul. I was so restless that I couldn’t sleep at all. The season was so hot and humid, I thought it might be because of that only. I tried even stretching my legs into the fridge with doors open to get some sleep!!! Anyway, I realized something seriously wrong with my body mechanisms when I felt dizzy in the college.

The doctor advised to go for malarial medication even though the parasite was not detected in my blood sample; he said it might not get detected at times, that was true as well, later I found out. I was reluctant and asked him not to start the medication. Unlike in western countries, in India no body listens to the patient. He gave me an injection to get a nice sleep when I told him what happened the previous night. By the time, I woke up, he had already started me on Falcigo, the injection for malaria.

Throughout the day, Jeeno, my student cum friend was there in the hospital. I had given him blank checks to meet the expenses. He was managing everything very well. In spite of the medication, my health deteriorated day by day. Nausea, reddish and reduced urine, lack of appetite, severe bed sore, pain in the abdomen, and severe continuous headache everything made me worry a lot. I wished if only I had an internet connection in the hospital …so that could google it all to find out the probable pathogen I was infected with.

I did not inform my parents about anything; not even my girlfriend who was staying at Juinagar. However, when she didn’t get any reply from my mobile she called up jeeno and soon she came down to the hospital. The rest of the hospital stay was pretty good with her love and care. She did whatever she could to relieve me of the pain, both physical and mental.

I still remember, I used to worry over the small projection I have at the back of my head (actually, later I found out that this is more or less genetic with my father and brother ). I thought, the headache and related ailments might be due to this 'tumor'. I did even mention this to Neena, my great friend, who visited me in the hospital. Neena, Krishnamoorty sir, Pradeep sir all were of great help to me in those days. Neena would bring me home-made food (though Jeeno would take the major share of it as I was reluctant to eat anything). Krishnamoorty sir too once brought me Kanji, even though his wife was not there at home in those days. Pradeep sir too had so much of problems as his wife was expecting in those days, yet he would visit me often at the hospital. Keerti, my girl friend, too used to bring me all sort of things whenever she go out to get me medicine; I still remember her bringing me kanji from the Kerala hotel…apple, oranges, coconut etc. In those days, she would remain with me in the hospital through out the day, taking leave from the office. I remain quite thankful to them all in spite of now having a restrained/totally spoiled relationship with the girl.(Later I learnt that she had spent her few hundreds on my medication as well)

I digressed a lot it. After 4 days in the hospital, I informed my brother about it. He asked me to return home at the earliest. I was also thinking of the same. So, I asked krishnamoorty sir to book me a ticket to Kochi as soon as possible. He booked a ticket for the flight at 3 that afternoon. My sole intention then was to somehow get back to my home, so was in no mood to carry anything with me except the medical documents. Jeeno, Keerti, and I got into a taxi and reached santacruz in time. The girl was quite upset, with tears rolling over hear cheeks. Through out the bumpy journey I was literally lying half asleep in her lap in the back seat of the car.

The moment it reached santacruz, I realized that I am going to miss the love and care of these people, and that I have to manage myself in spite of severe weakness till I reach Kochi and hand over myself to my relatives waiting for me there. Then only I became that conscious about my attire. I was in a red T-Shirt, not so good one, and I was wearing slippers, and had the medical documents in a file. Actually, jeeno and keerti had advised me to get back to the room in the car before leaving the hospital to change my dress, but I was not at all bothered about it then. However, in the posh premises of the airport I looked more like an odd man. Anyway , I could somehow lighten the embarrassing moments while in the lobby thinking about how John Abraham went abroad for the screening of his famous film; and then a bit philosophically on my naked travel with no luggage through the skies.

Nobody stopped me in the lobby as I evidently had no luggage with me. In the flight I somehow managed to sit continuously for sometime, later on I started walking up and down in the aisle to alleviate the severe pain. At times I tried myself hard to enjoy the journey, after all it was my first flight experience. I had a visit to the toilet, just to see how different it is to pee in the skies; and had a silly talk with the air hostess as well.

You cant imagine how much I desired to get back to the ground at the earliest. I was wondering, even if the technology advance and reduce the flight time to a few seconds, people might feel the same; time is absolutely relative ;-)

The moment it reached over Kerala, I kept my sole luggage close to my chest so that I wont miss the chance to get out first. I lost no time in doing so. I literally walked through the lobby as if I was in a local bus depot with no one stopping me in between. I was so ahead of the rest of the passengers that the people waiting out side might have thought that I alone might have landed in a chartered plane. Through, there was a huge crowd out side waiting at the Arrival, I saw none except my brother, his anxious look. Wasting no time we went to the vehicle, a scorpio, in which my father and my cousin were waiting for me, and there was a friend of my brother who is a mechanic whom my brother deliberately brought along, in case something goes wrong with the vehicle.

Directly we headed towards the hospital. I kept on talking feebly and at times weeping over the severe pain in the abdomen, clinging on to my father. My father kept hugging me close to him throughout the travel. It was raining heavily too, I felt a bit okay because of that after having spent the last few troubling days in the hot and humid environment of Mumbai. My brother advised me to go to the ayurvedic doctor who had treated him for Jaundice, for him it was quite clear that the disease was nothing but jaundice itself. So went to the doctor. The lady (the doctor's daughter; a medical practitioner) gave me some medicines to alleviate the pain, but in vain. She advised us to Pushpagiri hospital and there only the doctors did elaborate check ups, diagnosed me after 2-3 days with Hepatitis A, the least harmful of the Hepatitis; however, initially they were all confused due to the variety of symptoms I had and this made one of the doctors to confess me secretly, "Aneesh, you still remain an enigma to us" I literally, enjoyed the comment as I still remain the same to many of my friends; and even to myself!!! It made me remind what Khalil Gibran said, "your saying that I don’t understand you is a compliment beyond my capacity, and an insult you don’t deserve," though evidently it was out of context.

Tailpiece
1. The basic problem with me is that I remain absolutely clueless about the unknown
2. I later realized that the episode was a dress rehearsal of a more dramatic flight from mumbai back to my native;
I will write about it later on.

The Way We Live

2009-07-01T10:31:00.003+04:00

On 01-07-09

It depends on progress, prosperity, and happiness. Confucius said, 2500 years ago that people determine their conduct through onf the 3 methods.

1. Meditation : Think deeply before action; decide mode of action; and then act.

2. Imitation

3. Experimentation

-----

I digress ... Am now thinking about my own life:

Each day brings in greatness to life. Looking back, I feel more than just contented. I have been getting what I earnestly wished for, on the personal and professional fronts. What I have learnt through a kind of introspection is the fact that if one is not satisfied with the way life treats him/her, dont ever hesitate to try the alternatives. One can even simply leave the current one, and they wait for the better, however people tend to do this very rarely and hence often miss the opportunities too.

When I resigned from the college, I had no alternative offer at hand. It (my resignation) was the result of a principled stand on a certain issue. Though, nothing was planned in advance, within one month, I got order of appointment from SAIL to its Research and Development center. This was exactly the kind of career I wished for, cherished in my dreams. Then, there was a similar decision on the personal life too, taken around December 26, 2008. I wanted to get out of unnecessary complexities, yet I had not alternative with me. Took the decision, though fluctuated in between, made sure that my strategic aim is achieved to the end. Once I was out of it came a similar offer like SAIL; Can you ever compare a private engineering college with around 900 students with a Govt-owned steel behemoth like SAIL with a turnover of around 46000 crores a year? Never right?...

"Nor is the people's judgment always true:

The most may err as grossly as the few"
Dryden
--

Opium War, revisited.

2009-06-30T11:05:00.004+04:00

I was reading through world history; usually I dont try to relate the incidents with my personal experiences; however, here is a piece which made an exception in this regard.

Opium War: 1837-1842
In 1839, the Chinese Emperor sent Lin Ze-Xu to Canton as a special commissioner with instructions to stop opium trade. Lin asserted thousands of smugglers and forced the foreign factories (british mainly) to handover opium to him. When he announced Canton closed to foreign trade, Britain declared war. The Opium war hence started, the Chinese were finally defeated.

Before the war, Lin wrote a strong letter to Queen Victoria. An extract from Lin's "Letter of Advice to queen victoria."

"All those people in China who sell opium or smoke opium should receive death penalty. We find that your country is sixty or seventy thousand li (measure of distance) from China. Yet there are barbarian ships that strive to come here for trade for the purpose of making a great profit. The wealth of China is used to profit the barbarians. That is to say, the great profit made by barbarians is all taken from the rightful share of China. By what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people? Even though the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do us harm, yet in coveting profit to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others. Let us ask, where is your conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly prohibited in your country; that is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your own country, then even less should you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries - how much less to China !!!"* "

Very genuine and straight forward argument right? I dont know whether it has ever got registered in victoria's brain. Most probably not. In our lives to we often come across many who are indifferent/numb to such arguments, who literally show no conscience at all. I often get perplexed witnessing this, at their naked crookedness. I dont know exactly what makes them do so, I believe it might their ignorance and narrow-mindedness...or is it that as certain religious textbooks say, there exist certain evil-spirits also among us?

*Source: China's response to West (1954), Ssuyu Teng & John Fairbank

Diary Entry On 24-06-2009

2009-06-26T15:35:00.010+04:00

The day was so good, so good in the sense that I found myself moving swiftly towards my target. For what I had created a chaos, a controlled yet risky chaos, am getting dividends. I could spend almost 6-7 hours reading.

On the personal front too it was great. I have deliberatedly avoided mingling with many here in teh hostel; avoided unnecessary phone calls (nowadays, I just call my family, twice daily, Nisham my great friend, and my friends at Bhilai regularly, and none else). Inspite of this, the guys came in , met me, had a nice talk, I told them my intention/plan for the next 2 years when they asked me if I dont like socializing. It had its own effect, as a guy came in and told me that we would read together. This was exactly what I wanted, I cherished for, a partner in my studies. Thank God, You are setting the path clearer and clearer for me, well ahead.

To the end of the day, while I was in my bed, wading through REM ;-), I got a call from Deepa, my cousin, working for L&T at Chennai. She told me that her parents are compelling her to resign from the current job and return Kerala. The reasons are many and personal. I was just wondering why is it that many of the ladies do not have any professional ambition as such inspite of extensive modernisation of the society and women empowerment programs?

I have come across several cases : Deep (MTech), Amruta (smart and intelliget; yet her current orkut profile shows nothing about her professional life, just family); Keerti (Juinagar, Navi Mumbai; who just wants to piggyback with any guy so that she can have a 'gud life', completely giving up her own individuality), and several similar cases too.

In 1793, the Jacobian politician Chaumette sought to justify the closure of Women's clubs on the following grounds in France.

"Has the nature entrusted domestic duties to men? Has she given us breasts to nurture babies?"

No.

She said to Man: "Be man, hunting, agriculture, political duties....that is your kingdom."

She said to Woman: "Be woman...household, sweet duties of motherhood....shmeless are the women who wish to become men. Have not duties been fairly distributed?"

_____________________________________

This arguement appeared in 1793, and certain ladies might be due to compulsion from their 'guardians' are proving it right even in 21st century.

_____________________________________

Exceptions are many; even in the ancient world:

1. Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793): The revolutionary woman of France - criticized govt for closing down Women's clubs - tried - charged with treason - executed.

2. Marfa Vasileva (Russain) : could single-handedly call strikes even in Tzarist Russia.

In the modern world too we find so many exceptions. Indians like Kiran Bedi, Nooyi, Kiran majumdarshaw, Chanda Kochchar, Sulajja Motwani, NainalalKidwai etc.... However, why is it that I dont come across many ladies who are inspired by these great lives? May be am in the wrong place!!!

Lyf-Long Project

2009-06-15T03:35:00.004+04:00

Day by day I realize that so called destiny/fate is a mirage. There is nothing which is already "written." Almost everything can be planned and executed so as to create your path through the vagaries of life. Most of us do not realize this just because of the fact that we dont plan much for our own lives. What at the most many of us do is to plan our professional lives, where we want to be after 5 years or so. I have seen many dont even have that. Seldom do we chalkout a detailed plan on our personal lives. I have once read somewhere that in ultra-rich families, every member do have a kinda project-like approach to life, that they set targets, goals with time frame, take feedback, and the sort of things. I think every one can do that, only thing is that one should get out of the day-to-day chores of life to sit and jot down a plan and then track and monitor it. I have been doing this for a long time since I started reading on management. It works well. The results are not so bad so as to say; I better my life day by day; that is what we look for right?

Broadcasting

2009-05-29T04:46:00.006+04:00

There is a Bengali lady, one Ms. Dasgupta in our library department. She virtually does nothing, comes in at sharp 9, and leaves at 530. In a day or two itself I sensed some trouble with the lady. Though she is 50+, her attire, ornaments, style of talking are of a tender age. She often gets up from her seat, walks straight to someone, no matter whether GM or a researcher deeply involved with his studies, and start a conversation. I dont know whether that could be called a conversation per se, for it is more or less like a radio broadcasting. She stands near the victim, talks no matter whether the fellow looks at her or not, quickly expresses her views on some out-of-context situation and leaves the next moment back to her seat. She does this kind of shuttling atleast once in every half an hour.

Most of the guys neglect her, continue reading as if she is not there at all. However, when she came to me, I tried to engage in a conversation. She stood there for sometime, kept on talking and then went back to her seat as usual. Later on another guy in the same department told me that she is insane, lunatic, and asked me not to talk to her; however, I was just wondering what makes her talk like that, to resort to radio broadcasting. Next time I asked her about her family, and I found out that she lives alone in her quarters. Her husband is no more, and the children got settled in far away places. No wonder she does a broadcasting.

The fact is that most of the people like to talk. Many relationships make and break through this process, yet at times I dont feel like talking at all especially when there is nothing serious to talk on. I dont appreciate, whatever it is, that which compels someone to engage in sweet talk. I find it very very hard to waste one's time just on such a stupid act.

Contradictions

2009-05-27T06:42:00.005+04:00

Contradictions are the vitality of life. How pathetic it is to live without contraries. We form certain ideals and then try to live up to them. The life as such becomes series of conflicts within and without. I really doubt if there is any who has not experienced it. This is quite evident when I realize that I am addicted to a drug. Within me someone continuously tells me "it is not good, you need to get out this," at the same time a more continuous urge ask me to continue with it: a conflict between the ideal, and the 'real you' within.

Yet, without this conflict, as I wrote earlier, the life is lifelessly smooth. This is true when I demand something 'ideal' from the people I meet, I get into relationship. Not realising that the 'ideal' is nothing but the conscious self within, a mirror, I tend to move forward with a conflict, without which ofcourse it is as good as dead.

However, cant we live without this? Of course one can, that is what I think. Get rid of the concepts, ideals, the past learning. I got this idea while reading JK ('idea': that itself is a bit contradictory, JK would not approve it !!!). Anyway, I found it interesting:

::::: Learn to unlearn

::::: Pure observation without any direction

::::: When there is no division between the observer and the observed, the thinker and the ........thought, there is pure observation without the shadow of past

::::: The timeless insight

::::: Time cannot measure the timeless

Carcino_Funeral

2009-05-25T05:24:00.007+04:00

It all started out as a tumor in my brain about 2 years ago. My friends had already warned me about the high risk involved in getting closer to a carcinogenic environment, yet I took it sportingly; laughed off the suggestions, advices. I told them bluntly, "I know myself better than anybody. No cancer can creep in without my permission."

Slowly, the cancer got metastasised to my heart. I was aware of it, yet let it happen. Lived with it for a long time. Who knows the agony I had to go through in those days!!! It was literally eating up its share of my life, yet I somehow managed to restrict the malignancy especially of the brain. I wanted irradiate the brain, did not have the guts to do that without anesthesia; you know, I didnt have a specialist, none for that matter, to assist me; everything I had to do on my own.

I got 4-5 chances to do so. Did that. Yet the cancer would not leave me, seems like it fell in love with my body, in love with my body. That is the most difficult stage of metastasis. The carninogen started directly interacting with my oncogenes, the dangerous weak points. I fumbled as if i were losing my track.

I could feel the cells divide uncontrollably, could do nothing about it; the excruciating pain day in day out; often laughed at the sheer nothingness of my deeds, my life per se. Chemotherapy didnot work, at times backlashed. The prognosis was distinctly unfavorable.

Then came the breakthrough, as if someone was determined enough to end the melodrama. It came out to be a kind of irradiation. It worked in my brain first, later the heart. The first phase was smooth, the latter most painful; Now I feel my brain lighter, smoother and tranquil. No one knows how the heart works, its elusiveness knows no bounds. It now mourns, "I have lost a great share of my life !!!"

I pity you my heart, for you dont realize what you have gained. The whole story reminds me of a piece I have read somewhere earlier, "As the time passes, the slave may mistake his chains a piece of ornament. Even losing that might be quite tormenting for him."

* The pic was taken from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dH0q9hvpVHg/SNZfWLRfR-I/AAAAAAAACyA/LeJFL7V3Zl8/s400/romance.jpg

Visit to Rajarappa Mandir

2009-05-23T11:15:00.004+04:00

Recently, I visited along with a few friends, the Rajarappa Mandir, near Ranchi. It is about 70 km from Ranchi, somewhat between Ranchi and Hazaribagh. The major deity of the mandir is Ma Chinnmasta, the Goddess Kali. The rituals in the mandir made me somehow connect it to the dravidian practices prevalent in south india: the deity is fierce, with a sword having cut her own head, as a tribute to God Shiva; the prasad is blood red in color; sacrifice of animals (goat mainly) is done in temple premises; its cooked and eaten; nearby the temple you can see a burial site; mix of violent red and yellow seen throughout its premises; the priests look more ruffian.

Anyway, the visit gave me a break from the monotony of life. I enjoyed it to the fullest. Took bath in a nearby river, literally plunged into a mood of bhakti, a kinda realisation that there is something more about the life than just making a living. The sense of being sacrificed for a means much greater than one's own life, hence realizing the meaning of life itself (what a contradiction !!!).

On my return, I have brought a towel, bright red in color; and a small deity of Maa Chinnamasta. Though am not religious, I do worship her with incense sticks whenver I get time. It makes me feel some what lighter.

Thinking on Reading

2009-04-25T14:27:00.007+04:00

There are always standard and substandard varieties of knowledge. Till a few months back, I used to despise management books, having tried to read several popular stuff. I found them all closer to wordplay than anything useful. I always had an adamant negative impression of the motivational style adopted by those.

However, Peter F Drucker has literally given me a new perception of management; truly great and philosophical (I use this word in a very very positive sense, unlike the popular notion !!!) ; with great insights and ideas.

I had similar experiences in my BTech days. Several local books used to be full of just 'relevant' pages from the standard books. I still remember a local author who wrote in the foreword of his book on digital electronics, "Digital means related to finger," so digital electronics means electronics at fingertips - I closed the book forever.

Standard books often show us the core of the knowledge, which in a short-term might not fetch you credits, however sure to help us in a longrun.

Training On A Train

2009-04-25T04:04:00.006+04:00

About a few years back, during a brief halt at Kankanadi Station in the Konkan Lines, I approached the Loco pilot. My basic intention was to understand the working of the loco engine and if possible to have a look around it. Though, he didnt allow me enter the cabin, the guy explained a bit on the working; I was not satisfied, my curiosity still remained.

However quite recently I found myself in loco, driving it all alone (of course, without any load). This happened in the steel plant for which I work. It has around 80 locos which are primarily meant for transportation of raw materials and the finished products. Fortunately, though, my background is computer engineering, as a critical equipment, I got the Locos, in which I was asked to get some handson training. I was very much thrilled. I called up my friends and my brother, who is an automobile engineer, to tell him about this.

The experience was wonderful. I got detailed instructions on its working, internal mechanisms, how it all works. The trainer took me to the engine on the second day. After a few demonstrations, he handed over to me the WDS 6 loco, a heavy engine particularly meant for industrial use. I did more than I ever thought of. Climbed up into its engine room. It was quite amazing to watch the mammoth engine pick up speed. Everything associated with a loco seemed to be big and rugged. This might be the reason, why they dont often create any trouble during even long journeys.

To the end of that day while returning, it were the words of Pablo Coelho from, The Alchemist, in my mind - "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."

Tailpiece----"Does it take even the silly ones also very seriously"

"US Plays I spy a broken Sat", The NewScientist Reports

2009-04-25T03:33:00.004+04:00

This entry is based on an article appeared in The New Scientist, 24 Jan, 09; I was just flipping through the pages during the lazy hours of an afternoon recently.

"The Pentagon is using 2 covert inspection satellites developed for DARPA to assess the damage to a failed geostationery satellite. If such a satellite can get close to a target, they could probably attack it."

"Theressa Hitchens, director of UN Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva is troubled by the secrecy surrounding the launch of Mites Craft. It raises question about its future use she says, "I am positive other nations, particularly China, will find this development suspicious- and the US behavior regarding the program as hypocritical, given that Washington is always chastising Beijing for its lack of transparency regarding its space programs and intentions."

I was wondering how the media and the international community downplayed this issue, given the fact that N.Korea's 'suspicous' launch of a satellite was in the limelight for such a long time.

Random Seeds

2009-03-26T17:15:00.004+04:00

Addictions

Why do you still linger on to age-old addictions like tobacco? You better switch over to modern stuffs like PDAs, net, porn, or atleast mobiles.

Job

Making a living is ofcourse a necessity of life;

but, the life is much more than that.

However, I really dont know what is life.

Sexual Addiction

When people feel insecure or worthless, most of them develop a tendency to get themselves lost in sex, making it ritualistic and involuntary.

YY Analysis@A company

People talk a lot about things they dont have much idea about:

: A Management Trainee, an engineering graduate, of an Indian PSE heard wondering why the people celebrate birthday anniversary of Nehru even after decades of his death. (The company itself was set up by Nehru)

: Why do left parties get such a ground support in India, in spite of their proletarian and anti-corporate views. This came from another guy. (What is democracy? and what percentage of indians constitute the destitute?)

Science and Religion

2009-03-26T17:07:00.004+04:00

Recently one of my senior guys stated, "Everything is based on a belief, no matter whether it is science or religion."

Is it so?... I really doubt.

There is a basic difference between science and religion. Unlike religion, the science is not immune to conscious change. Science does not accept anything as absolute, rather it keeps everything open to refutation. Even if an infinitude of premises support a scientific theory, it is bound to be discarded by the scientific community if contradicted even in a single instance. This is quite contradictory to religious beliefs, which are more or less static.

The Train

2009-03-26T06:14:00.004+04:00

About an year ago or so I was drugged and robbed by a few fellow passengers in a train. This brought me a kinda instant fame with the news and my photo in newspapers and tv channels. After the incident, I met a seasoned clerk at my bank who inquired me about it. While talking to me he made a nice observation. "I dont really know what might have landed someone like you in such a trouble; might be innocence or stupidity."

Later, I did give it a thought and found out that if you pay more attention to the subtlety of the matter, stupidity and innocence are one and the same, the difference being only the degree of harm it might cause to himself; if there is any harm out of it then it is stupidity, else innocence.

Obsessions

2009-03-26T05:56:00.003+04:00

This often happens with me while I am on my bed asleep. All of a sudden, I come alive just to wonder where am I; my mind isabsolutely blank, except for this confusing thought. I doubt whether I am dead and in a new world. The thought is so profound that, I get mentally prepared to face the "new world" This might last for quite some time, as I experience it. It is to me more or less like a rehearsal of my own death. Am I so obsessed about the death?

I dont think so, rather I am a bit anxious about the world. I dont like to believe that the world is limited to what we experience everyday. Though, personally I find it quite funny to live in a world where men and animals take birth and die off, leaving nothing but traces of organic matter; I can really appreciate the elegance of such a 'simple' mechanism of life.

*The image is taken from http://bednarik.wordpress.com

Ignorance

2009-02-15T04:11:00.009+04:00

Why is the world not as good as it could be?

Why cant the society re-orient itself to make our lives better?

Why cant we get rid of the old customs and practices which takes away with it the real essence of life?
As with any other social issue, the reasons might be many, yet I feel the first and foremost can be credited to the following maxim.

"Stupids are always so sure, while the intelligent doubtful."

Once in a meeting, the Principal of an engineering college asked his staff members, "What is the duration of the aptitude test the IT companies usually conduct in the colleges?"
There came the answer, instantly from a mech guy, "Sir, its 90 minutes."
The response was literally stupefying for the comp and IT guys both for its exactness and the speed which it came.

Ask Mr. Muthalik (The Manglore pub-fame), What is indian culture? You are sure to get a clear and succinct definition; for which someone like Romila Thapar would have taken a long lecture.

In the canteen, I overheard a northie guy commenting on Achutanandan, the CM of Kerala "He is the most incompetent of the chief ministers." I asked him why; there came the answer "He is uneducated," by this he meant, "not college educated" It took me quite sometime to appreciate the logic he used to assess the competency of a chief minister; a simple "not gate". I wonder, whether his brain has only one not gate from one end to the other.

The other day, I was a silent witness for a heating debate on Reservation. The guy who spoke against vehemently on reservation was quite sure of the grounds on which the concept was baseless. His logic too sounds simple. "In the society all are equal, there fore preferential treatment to a few in the form of reservation is against natural justice." Look, how his brain (I want u to assume how many gates it might be accommodating), bypassed gigabytes of information on the historical, cultural, and economic perspective one has to otherwise consider.

In the common room, there was a discussion on computers. One metallurgist having listened to the ongoing discussion for a few seconds was quicker than any to make his stand, "The best one available in the market is Dell Inspiron." The comment seemed authoritative, he had no explanation whatsoever.

Reading JK

2008-12-15T05:29:00.005+04:00

Why do you want a theory at all, and Why do u want to postulate any belief?

This constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear- fear of everyday life, fear of sorrow, fear of death, and of utter meaninglessness of life.

Seeing all this, you invent a theory and the more cunning and erudite the theory, the more weightage it has.

My God, it's a fiction

2008-08-26T11:03:00.003+04:00

While reading "The Life of Pi" I was so engrossed by the story that it hardly occured to me as a work of fiction. Atleast for the next 3-4 days the imageries monopolized most of my thought process to that extent that I would suddenly wake up from the sleep and wonder whether its true or not.

The work is a sublime novel. Yann Martel truly deserved the Booker. I was quite taken up by his ideas on religion, spirituality, and the life as a whole.

Later, as I was quite occupied by these thoughts, I did a bit of search on the background of the novel, and came upon a seemingly-legitimate controversy on the novel and the plot it describes; however, one cannot ever expect such works to be independent of anything published so far.

::Pi: Piscine Molitor Patel::

Friedman and his Flat World

2008-08-22T14:57:00.004+04:00

Quite recently I have been spending a lotta time on reading general stuff, the most recent one being "The world is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. Friedman talks about 10 flatteners in the current globalized world with great lucidity and clarity. The author shows great grasp of the current world and its ultra modern ideas. The work sheds light heavily on the emerging economies of India and China and to the end warns the US of being overtaken by these economies in the nearby future. I really enjoyed reading it; worth reading, and I could use certain chapters during the "reading sessions" in my lecture hall too (especially the one on Supply Chain Management, and the one on UPS' Business Model).
:: Be Special/Specialized/Anchored/Adaptive; I prefer the last one, adaptive strategy to survive in a flattened world::
:: The #10 Flatteners ::
#1: Collapse of Berlin Wall on 11/09/1989
#2: Netscape
#3: Workflow software
#4: Open source
#5: Outsourcing
#6 Offshoring
#7: Supply Chainging
#8: Insourcing (Gives UPS as an example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.)
#9: In-forming (Google and other search engines)
#10: "The Steroids": Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol etc

Al Gore's Speech

2008-03-23T10:06:00.008+04:00

I had been reading stuffs related to Global Warming, and came across Al Gore's speech at Nobel Foundation accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, 2007. I found it quite interesting, and thought-provoking too...Excerpts are given below (The entire speech can be found at http://nobelpeaceprize.org/eng_lect_2007c.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------
© The Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, 2006.

General permission is granted for the publication
in newspapers in any language. Publication in
periodicals or books, or in digital or electronic forms,
otherwise than in summary, requires the consent of
the Foundation. On all publications in full or
in major parts the above copyright
notice must be applied.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honorable members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen.

I have a purpose here today. It is a purpose I have tried to serve for many years. I have prayed that God would show me a way to accomplish it.

Sometimes, without warning, the future knocks on our door with a precious and painful vision of what might be. One hundred and nineteen years ago, a wealthy inventor read his own obituary, mistakenly published years before his death. Wrongly believing the inventor had just died, a newspaper printed a harsh judgment of his life's work, unfairly labeling him "The Merchant of Death" because of his invention - dynamite. Shaken by this condemnation, the inventor made a fateful choice to serve the cause of peace.

Seven years later, Alfred Nobel created this prize and the others that bear his name.

Seven years ago tomorrow, I read my own political obituary in a judgment that seemed to me harsh and mistaken - if not premature. But that unwelcome verdict also brought a precious if painful gift: an opportunity to search for fresh new ways to serve my purpose.

Unexpectedly, that quest has brought me here. Even though I fear my words cannot match this moment, I pray what I am feeling in my heart will be communicated clearly enough that those who hear me will say, "We must act."

The distinguished scientists with whom it is the greatest honor of my life to share this award have laid before us a choice between two different futures - a choice that to my ears echoes the words of an ancient prophet: "Life or death, blessings or curses. Therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."

We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency - a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here. But there is hopeful news as well: we have the ability to solve this crisis and avoid the worst - though not all - of its consequences, if we act boldly, decisively and quickly.

However, despite a growing number of honorable exceptions, too many of the world's leaders are still best described in the words Winston Churchill applied to those who ignored Adolf Hitler's threat: "They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all powerful to be impotent."........

--------------------------------------------------------------
Read the entire speech at http://nobelpeaceprize.org/eng_lect_2007c.html

Fabulous: JFK On Secret Societies

2008-03-22T15:25:00.001+04:00

Isnt It About Me?

2008-03-10T18:44:00.005+04:00

This is an excerpt from an article on astro-numerology for the number 7, people who are born on 7, 16, and 25 of a month. I dont generally read such articles, but this one somehow I couldnt skip as such. As I read sentence by sentence, the feeling that it is about none other than me was getting all the more reinforced.(my comments are given in brackets)

"About Religion, their ideas are different. They try to found new, innovative and creative religions. They always dream wonderful dreams. They love occult sciences. They are always intuitive.

You are ruled by the Moon's Descending Node, Ketu. In the psychic sciences, the number seven represents the Divine. People born under this number are always inspired and actuated by high ideals. They are always engaged in noble and creative activities. (That is why opted teaching as my profession. In my childhood days, I wanted to become a Doctor and I got a pretty good rank in medical entrance too, however, I opted engineering because of certain personal issues)

You are a mystic by nature, always tuned to the spiritual world. You are endowed with personal magnetism, and people are influenced easily by you. (I wonder how many temples, spiritual leaders, classes, seminars, different churches, spiritual books I have read, however, still remain confused, still remain a 'seeker')

You will shine in the noble professions (Medicine, Law, Philosophy, Astrology & Theology), as your main objective is the alleviation of human suffering. (to me philosophy is a kind of obsession, yet to gain confidence in it, though I have read many books)

You are ready to sacrifice your life for attaining the Promised Land of your chosen ideology. You push forth to your aim, irrespective of the opinions of the world. You are only happy when your objective is realised. (I really dont mind what others think about me...even if it is my superior; recently i made my colleagues perplexed with a pretty 'frank' speech during a send-off ceremony which even the HeadOfInstitution attended.)

Your main drawback is that you are too innocent and straight-forward, which has its drawbacks, particularly in business and politics.(especially in cheap politiks...lol, but I don't give a damn)

Your noble outlook on life will definitely earn you progress in the field of Ethics and Morality. You may not be that prosperous in the material or the worldly sphere.(I am sure I might not be that prosperous, I dont want too; Even in my teens, I was fascinated by the greatness of people like Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty. My ideology is to live a simple life with great thoughts)

You are too emotional and writhe at the slightest adversity. Perseverance and patience should be perfected. (at times, I do lose my patience; though it does not happen so often, the moment I lose my grip over it, it becomes a blast!!!)

An Analytical Review
The zodiac sign representing this number is Scorpio. (Do not confuse this with the birth sign in Astrology.) Scorpio is the sign of the Mystic, the Investigator. Psychic sciences attract them in no uncertain measure. They are always attracted to the mysteries of Nature. (Goes very well with me. I have been attracted by Freud, Jung and the likes. According to me, Nature is the God.)

Scorpians show tremendous resilience. They have the ability to bounce back after being at the receiving end. Their determination and tenacity make them winners in the long run. (Long run that is my aim; My observation is that I am good at accomplishing long term tasks, while may fail miserably at short-term ones; does nt it sound contradictory, yet it is the truth.)

You do not care for the opinions of others and go ahead with your peculiar outlook on life. As you are stubborn and show a bulldog spirit, you are likely to have a lot of enemies. You will be subjected to struggle, strife and suffering, as this constellation is fiery in nature and shows all the qualities of the lord of war, Mars. (I fight for my way of lifestyle, outlook, idealogy even with the whole world, I jst dont mind against whom am I talking as long as I am convinced taht I am right, and they are wrong. And about enemies, I have enough of them though I dont think about them that way.)

Scorpio is ruled by Mars. In classical Astrology, Ketu resembles Mars and hence this constellation is Martian in nature. As you are a Martian, all the fighting qualities of Mars will be predominant in you. Determination, bulldog spirit leadership, generalship, willpower, resilience - these are the real Martian qualities. Patience, perseverance indifference - all these qualities will be lacking in you.

Anger is another passion which will grip you at times.

Negative Aspect
Ketu is a planet which brings salvation through sorrow. In other words, he makes you bear the cross. Enmity from one's own kith and kin and sorrow are the net results. (But, I love to lead such a life; for me bitterness of reality is much more attractive than the sweetness of superficiality)

In Transcendental Philosophy, the Number Seven is considered very sacred. The seventh state of Consciousness in Transcendental Meditation is the Unified State of Cosmic Consciousness or Unity Consciousness. The Beatitudes are Seven. The Seven Octaves of Music , the seven colours of the spectrum, the seven major planets, the seven days of the week - all these bear ample testimony to the significance attached to the number seven. In the Supramental Dialectic, Universal Being is sevenfold - viz, the Sevenfold Chord of Being being Life, Mind, Matter, Supermind, Being, Knowledge and Bliss.

Seven sciences constitute Dialectics - Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology, Aesthetics, Ethics, Logic and Politics. The seven liberal arts - Rhetoric, Music, Astronomy, Grammar, Logic, Arithmetic and Geometry - and the seven cardinal virtues - Justice, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, Knowledge, Wisdom & Understanding - adorn classical Philosophy. The seven reprehensible actions of Aristotlean Ethics - Lust, Greed, Jealousy, Anger, Sloth, Covetousness & Attachment -hav been classified by Dante as the Seven Deadly Sins. The seventh principle in Transcendental

Philosophy is Absolute Being (Sat), which is the source of all existence. The seven states of Consciousness are called in Yoga as Sapta Bhoomika.

NB

The fact is that I was born on Sixth, not Seventh; However, it is said that I was born at midnight; might be more under the influence of 7.

Oh Dear Google !!!

2008-03-10T17:39:00.005+04:00

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Disclaimer: All the characters described in the following section are fictious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental; however, the problem addressed in it is real, and of great importance to everyone related to academics.

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Q: Sir, I want to publish a research paper, as a senior faculty, what suggestions would you give me?
A: It sounds great. You go ahead and publish it. Remember, you will have to pay atleast Rs 1000 per paper.

Q: Sir, I am not that worried about the fee as what the contents should be. What should I do exactly...there is a bit of starting trouble?
A: Dude, you need not find anything new per se. If you set such high standards, even in IIT you would not able to find more than a few true research papers published in an year.

Q: Sir, still I am worried about whether its morally right to copy it from IEEE papers, it is sheer plagiarism. I know that you have a lot of papers to your credit, sir, please tell me how you managed to publish that many papers?
A: My dear, what you need to do is to find out an interesting topic, which is current. Then 'google' it. Get atleast 5 papers, preferably good quality one, then a few Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V will give you a good paper. Only thing is that you need to format it well, as per IEEE standards; use Times New Roman, size 10, double column. Also make sure that the pictures, tables you copied from the web pages are well-formatted. Try to maintain international standards in formatting even the silliest element in the paper. That z all, you are done with that. It takes hardly a day or two. Please dont waste your time...go ahead mister...if you come across any trouble formatting it, dont hesitate to ask me.

Q: Sir, can the same be done with PhD too? Afterall you too hold a PhD.
A: Noooooo. Never do that, if you cannot publish a genuine PhD thesis, better get ideas from other people's papers and then try to get a better solution for the problems which they have addressed. That will make it a wonderful thesis paper. Thank You Sir for your valuable suggestion and advices.

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The Unsaid
1. Comments on Ethics and Personal Integrity.
2. How a 'Search Engine' has become a 'Research Engine'.
3. Dumbfounding discrepacy between the level of ongoing Research and that of the Research Papers being published from 2-tier engineering colleges of India.

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TiddlyWiki: A reusable non-linear personal web notebook

2008-03-09T07:46:00.008+04:00

"A TiddlyWiki is like a blog because it's divided up into neat little chunks (tiddlers), but it encourages you to read it by hyperlinking rather than sequentially: if you like, a non-linear blog analogue that binds the individual microcontent items into a cohesive whole. I think that TiddlyWiki represents a novel medium for writing, and will promote its own distinctive Writing Style." Jermy Ruston, The creator of TiddlyWiki.

WhatIsIt?

TiddlyWiki is a wiki-modeled client-side single-page application that is designed to be used as a personal notebook. It is a single self-contained HTML file that includes CSS and JavaScript code. Following TiddlyWiki conventions,(which are so simple and easy to understand) users can make a new entry, called a tiddler, in their local copy of the TiddlyWiki file and save it for future reference. Existing tiddlers can also be modified or deleted in the same way. As it runs under most browsers and requires no installation, it can be easily used as a portable personal wiki.It allows anyone to create personal SelfContained (note, this is a WikiWord) hypertext documents that can be posted to a WebServer, sent by email or kept on a USB thumb drive to make a WikiOnAStick. Because it doesn't need to be installed and configured it makes a great GuerillaWiki.

PersonalExperience
I have used TiddlyWiki to create a personal blog as well as a tutorial on Project Management. It is so easy to use and incredibly flexible that I did not find the usual breaks and jerks while mentally processing the contents of the page. The tool seems to have sensed the flow. Though, I am yet to learn more and more on it, I can boldly state that using a TiddlyWiki to build a web page is a good idea:

Because
* it's fun
* it's simple to create
* it's simple to update
* it's simple to customise
* it's an innovative way of presenting text

TiddlyWiki has almost limitless possibilities:
* It works great as a documentation manager for products, software, etc.
* It can store little bits of information, reminders, and notes like that with ease.
* It makes a great FAQ page.
* Turn it into a ToDo list, with items as tiddlers.
* Some use it as a blog.
* Some use it as a website.
* Make it your own personal dictionary/encyclopedia.

TechnicalSide
TiddlyWiki is published by Osmosoft under a BSD open source license, which makes it freely available. Developer Jeremy Ruston describes it as experimental, and in that spirit many people have used the original HTML file to create TiddlyWiki Adaptations. These fall under two general categories: those that retain the client-side write only feature, and those that add server-side file writing to make TiddlyWiki more like a traditional wiki. Links to both these kinds of Adaptations are put in the original TiddlyWiki file as they become known. TiddlyWiki Adaptations typically add features that were not originally envisioned by Ruston, and some of these features have been included in newer versions of TiddlyWiki.

TailPiece
>>>It works with all major browsers, if configured properly; however, Mozilla is recommended.
>>>For a better lucid explanation, visit http://euicho.com.
>>>For more resources, and detailed tutorial, visit http://www.tiddlywiki.com

Credits
>>>JeremyRuston, and his personal web page.
>>>TiddlyWiki forum, GoogleGroups.
>>>Wikipedia.
>>>http://jermolene.wordpress.com/
>>>To One of my colleagues, who had coerced me to develop an online StudyMaterial for the students, which made me explore TiddlyWiki further.

"The way to learn to use TiddlyWiki is to forget that you don't know to use TiddlyWiki"

ODD MAN OUT

2008-03-05T18:05:00.008+04:00

1. What is the basic difference between the lives of an industry professional and a teacher?

Generally, in industry, the one who tries to improve the existing system will get rewarded, while in the teaching profession he gets blacklisted.

2. What might be the reason why more than about 80 percent of the current teachers are ladies?

With reference to the answer to the question #1, as per current standards, ladies (with the exception of a few) are best suited for the profession.

3. What is the relevance of Victor Frankl's Existential Vacuum in an educational institution?

When most of the lecturers find a vacuum created by a kind of meaninglessness of their lives, they often try to fill up that emptiness with useless clerical work and irrelevant analyses.

4. What is the root cause of current pitiable plight of the academic sector (especially higher education) in India?

A. Lack of brain power.

B. Lack of good middle level managers.

C. Complete lack of strategic planning.

5. What is the use of a fancy solution to a problem which does not exist?

It has 2 usages,

1. Helps to fabricate an agenda for an otherwise meaningless meeting.

2. Many times than not, helps to coverup actual problems.

Loneliness

2008-03-02T20:55:00.015+04:00

***************************************************************************************
PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE
She was a girl of 18, charming, simple, and bold (yet, not so bold enough to break the unjust parental restrictions imposed on her). She always wore a melancholy expression on her face. Those days, I was attracted by her elusive nature which often failed to keep itself within the veil.

It took me about a few months to get her out of that thick shell. On a Saturday evening she gave in to my continuous compulsions to talk on her life. The evening, vivid in my memories, was blessed with a drizzle that made her look all the more sad. She looked deep into my eyes, for such a long time that I felt embarrassed and turned away my face. I eagerly waited for what I presumed to be an unregulated flow of raw emotions directly from her heart, yet, what I heard from her were just these words, "I am alone, always alone..."
"
********************************************************************************
Loneliness is a kind of detachment from those around you where you float away from the situation. People who are interested in experimenting with their lives, often enjoy this momentary seperation from the world, and often try to look at it with the eyes of an outsider like a Sunita Williams who watches the earth from the space. Every body accepts that her view is more 'complete' than a typical 'earthly view'. However, most of the people attach loneliness with a bitterness that gives it a negative taste.

Loneliness is a kind of detachment from those around you where you float away from the situation. People who are interested in experimenting with their lives, often enjoy this momentary seperation from the world, and often try to look at it with the eyes of an outsider like a Sunita Williams who watches the earth from the space. Everybody accepts that her view is more 'complete' than a typical 'earthly view'; however, most of us tend to associate loneliness with a negative feeling that gives it a bitter taste.

On the otherside, the same feelings had then drawn my life away from people who believed life was just to be lived and not to be thought about, and also from several popular beliefs, customs, and practices. I should admit that because of all these critical drift from society, as a young man I had seen many a face growing suspicious of my morality.

I very much believe that there is something like an an intellectual loneliness which has fascinated seekers for ages. This often manifest as a yearning for the Ultimate Truth, the Ultimate Wisdom. I often wonder, why not many of us are concerned about it at all. To me, living a life without exploring it is like treading a bridge of which I know nothing about its foundation, the pillars, and more than anything else, its destination (Oh God, dont you think that we have the right to explore at least that much about ourselves?).).
*************************************************************
EPILOG

Rather than trying to answer those questions with seemingly no sensible answer, in my late 20s, I found myself at home with answering 'her' questions. Although her questions were various, and seemingly unrelated, there was an underlying basic question she wanted to ask me: "Do you really love me?"

Now, In my late 60s, I realize that she was the one who put me into an oft beaten track of life, bringing in a profound change in my lifestyle. Someone like me who would have otherwise lived in a periphery of society, all alone as a solitary free bird, is now cobbled into a web of relationships; father to 3, grandpa to 1 (and many more to come), and uncle to an uncountable
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One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Revisited)

2008-02-29T22:19:00.005+04:00

The great works in literature have an evergreen touch. You read them umpteen times, still chances are pretty high that you may stumble upon certain 'new' stuff...hitherto unknown interpretations and insights. The following is a paragraph from One Hundred Years Of Solitude.

"The rumor that he (José Arcadio Buendía, the patriarch's second son and the first person to be born in Macondo) did not want to hear anything about the situation in the country because he was growing rich in his workshop made Ursula (his mother) laugh when it reached her ears. With her terrible practical sense she could not understand the Colonel's business as he exchanged little fishes for gold coins and then converted the coins into fishes, and so on, with the result that he had to work all the harder with the more he sold in order to satisfy an exasperating vicious circle."

I wonder how many of us have that 'terrible practical sense' Ursula is bestowed with!!! There is no doubt that our society would have scorned at her for her stupid ideas.

WHy did I aSK Y?

2008-02-28T18:19:00.003+04:00

It is very difficult to find out oneself whether one is addicted to something or not. Finding out an answer to such questions a person ask himself is a very difficult task. For example, think about the perplexing complexity a man faces when he doubts whether he is in his normal self or not. If he is not, he will not be able to realize it; however, if he is, then he senses that he is; but some time later he doubts whether its an illusion out of actually being not in his normal self.
Let us see what Mr X thinks about himself.
X thinks...I take drinks often. It is not so good for health, thatz what the science says. I need to regulate it first, then quit it altogether. Nowadays, it seems to me that I dont have any control over it. Is it so?...err...in that case I might have developed an addiction to alcohol...should I go to the AA or the doctor? ...err...but if I were really addicted I would not have ever asked myself whether I am addicted to it or not, let alone thinking of quitting it; as in that case I would not have found out any justification in giving up such a 'GOOD' habit...yeah...it makes sense...makes a lotta sense to me......Now I am quite convinced that I am NOT ADDICTED to alcohol at all...Good...but, what does it mean...I have been thinking of quitting, and suddenly found out a reason not to do so...to put it plainly, I am not ready to give up that habit...doesnt it imply that I AM ADDICTED?
What he gets to the end is a contradiction, absolutely confusing the poor guy...who finds that he is ADDICTED and at the same time NOT ADDICTED too.
Though I elaborated a lot on it, the same complexity could be confined to a simple sentence as in "This sentence is WRONG"Can you feel a flipflop of WRONGs and NOT WRONGs in ur brain?
...Wonderin how I ended up thinking all these on a lazy sunday? I found a half emptied bottle of Whisky during the regular Sunday cleaning. Then I said to myself, "Man you are not addicted at all"...and from this seemingly harmless statement, I got into a vicious cycle.
..................Written 2:11 PM 12/30/2007