Indian Of The Year

It is that time of the year (or maybe, was, a couple of weeks ago) when all TV channels, newspapers and other agencies would be jumping up and down to present their own such awards - to people like Amitabh Bachchan and Sonia Gandhi, to Sachin Tendulkar (that is just a fad) to Narayan Murthy etc. etc. the usual suspects – some deserving, some not so much. I feel this year the award should go to Umesh, the owner of our Kirana Maalacha Dukaan (Grocery Store). Okay, let me make it clear, that I wish to give the award not so much to Umesh, the person, but the category of people and the form of business he represents.

Grocery store owners are for long taken for granted in India, at least in Pune. They go about their job quietly, they deliver us goods of our day-to-day necessities at very reasonable prices and barely anyone even notices them. In many ways they are like good umpires or wicket-keepers whose inconspicuousness is a testimonial to their superb efficient work.

The reason for this post at this time is because of some of the experiences I had in Pune during my current visit here. These experiences emphasized and reinforced upon me the professionalism of these Kirana Maal Dukaandars in stark contrast to some of the so-called modern enterprises around.

Firstly, at Pappillon, one of the well-known and hi-fi parlors in the city – where when I went in rather than be greeted at the desk by the receptionist I was affronted by a couple of guys who refused to say anything but just muttered something under their breath, leaving it up to me to explain to them what it was that I wanted and also almost how they should go about it. As if that was not enough they asked me to go into the changing room while someone was still in there. So much for consumer-friendliness.

Then when I went to get a prepaid mobile phone card at the Idea showroom at the intersection of Bhandarkar Road and Law College Road, I walked in into utter chaos. Apparently there is a system there where you need to take coupons but nowhere was this written and I had to ask someone at one of the desks who indignantly asked me to take a coupon with an attitude that reeked of “Isn’t it obvious ? Why the hell do you have to disturb me?” Of course, I realized that with this attitude it was quite meaningless to ask how to go about using the coupon machine or which code denoted which service which was most unintuitive, needless to add. After working my way through this little puzzle, I waited for an hour (because that was all the time I had) and did not receive service (because specific desks were servicing specific types of requests and unfortunately for me the gals who were supposed to serve me were flitting on and off their desks every ten minutes or were downright incompetent). The same thing happened when I tried my luck again in the evening and only when I was about to leave frustrated a second time did one of the more sensible gals come around checked my request and told me that instead of waiting around I could simply go to the cashier’s desk at the back of the office and get things started. Duh!

So the next time that I needed to get my card recharged I was shaking in apprehension when my mother told me that recharging can also be done at Umesh. Within moments he had put me to ease. I asked him if we could recharge the card here, sure, he said. He asked for the phone number, the amount to be recharged and within seconds I was through.

As a consumer what I look for most is satisfaction – and that depends on various factors – professionalism, reliability, consumer-friendliness, efficiency all qualities embedded by Umesh and like and sorely lacking in these so-called new modernized places.

We should salute these people who do so much for the society simply by going about their jobs with such great proficiency and providing satisfaction and reliability to consumers. Not for them any great façade of sophistication or any altruistic manifestations. He is my Indian Of The Year.

OBC Day In India

OBC Day In India

The OBC reservation bill in institutes of higher education in India (IITs and IIMs primarily) received the approval of President Kalam today. That was the final nail in the coffin of what has been a gruesome murder of democracy in this country. Around the middle of last year, students all over India from all fields had risen up in protest against the draconian act. Yet it was mercilessly, dictatorially, systematically and in former Sovietesque fashion destroyed. All over the country the bright young minds of the country that were supposed to shape its future were fired at and lathicharged by dispassionate police officers. Worse, the media who are so eager to jump upon stories of old men predicting their deaths and the like unprotestingly kept quiet on the whole issue upon Government orders. The uprising of 1857 could not have been crushed more efficiently. Of course, maybe this revolt suffered from some of the same flaws as did the 1857 rising - lack of leadership, coordination being the primary ones.

And now, just last week Ram Vilas Paswan that great philanthropist has thrown in the idea of a countrywide stir if there is no reservation implemented in the private sector jobs. Im sure this particular uprising whenever it occurs will meet with a different ending. And we keep blabbering about the brain drain in this country.

Meanwhile, the headlines in today's Indian Express talks about this affirmative action plan. From the first look, it seems to be a good idea. Of course I read on and realize that this is to be implemented on top of the quota system and that is no real help at all. But still I believe I shall be supporting it as at least it is probably the first step towards not increasing the quota anymore. The factors mentioned in the article make a lot of sense too.

Why ?

I would like to ask people the question - Why ?
Why did you leave and never call back again ?
Why don't you pick up the phone ?
Why don't you ever remember me enough to just call ?
Why don't you feel like just hanging out ?
Why do you promise to meet and then forget ?
Why can't you find time out of your busy schedule ?

Why ?

Meeting Old Friends

It is always great to meet old friends. Met one such this morning. It was a fine moment.

You Know Something Is Wrong When ...

... you actually feel like shutting off the music you are listening to and prefer silence instead.

Kaahee Vattel Te Stats

http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/newsandscores/news/news2.asp

Take a look at this.
1. Marcos Baghdatis becomes the first Cypriot to win an ATP title. OKAY.
2. Baghdatis added 34 INDESIT ATP Race points to his season's total to edge past American James Blake at No. 8 in the Race. OKAY
3. Baghdatis, who this year reached the Australian Open final and the Wimbledon semifinals, had not won an ATP event before today. OKAY
4. He finished last year at No. 73 in the INDESIT ATP Race with a modest 11-12 match record on the year. But Baghdatis boasts a 36-17 record in 2006. OKAY

But now take a look at this:
Of the 133 players who have ranked in the Top 10 (since 1973), Baghdatis is one of only three players to break into the Top 10 before winning his first career ATP title. The others are Cedric Pioline, ranked in Top 10 in Oct. 1993 before winning his first title in Mar. 1996; and Mikael Pernfors, who broke the Top 10 in Sept. 1986 before winning his first title in Sept. 1988.

I mean COME ON ! The stuff these stats junkies will come up with !!!

Pal - An Instant

Instants in time are so important in determining the course of the future. Instants can define ages to follow or several years of time might often boil down to one instant.

How often is it that you realise that only if at that instant you had done something differently how different things could have been for the next few weeks, months, years ? How often do you feel that all those years of hard work will bear fruit or be wasted depending upon what happens in the next upcoming instant ?

Unfortunately once instants are past it is very difficult to alter the outcome it has set into motion. It is very difficult to undo. The only way out is to wait for the next instant and hope it happens right then.

Absolutely NOTHING Justifies Violation Of Freedom

Here, Amit Varma gives his opinions on the incident in which a Mumbai blogger was "assaulted, abused and kicked out" of a cinema hall in Mumbai because he did not stand during the playing of the national anthem.

I must say like most times I agree. Whether or not to stand up while the national anthem is played is a matter of personal choice and while I would ALWAYS stand I have NO right to FORCE others to do the same. Convince, yes, force, NO.

If someone refuses to stand it is up to you to form your opinions of that person. Personally that would concern me just a bit, even offend me, but since that in no way violates any of my freedoms I have no right to use force whatsoever.

In this regard the comparison he makes to the Indian lawyer being evicted out of a first class compartment in South Africa is extremely pertinent.

Miss

So Monday I missed the 8.45 bus and missed class. And I didn't really regret it. But today I woke up a good 2 hours earlier and still missed the 8.45 bus because I lazed around and didn't regret it either. And then now I missed the 9.15 bus and I don't regret that either.Really what has led to this apathy ?

AGASSI AGASSI AGASSI

There is no topic creating more buzz in the news at the moment than that man Andre Agassi. At age 37 he has beaten a guy 16 years his junior who was probably born by the time Agassi played his first US Open - 21 years ago. And how !

The Official US Open website described the match as an instant classic, John McEnroe hailed it as one of the greatest matches ever and virtually everyone agreed it was worthy of a Grand Slam final.

For believe you me, Baghdatis was a worthy opponent. The quality of tennis throughout this fascinating game full of twists and turns was quite supreme.

Agassi just never fails to deliver. I would have said he never ceases to surprise but really it is not a surprise anymore. Yes, Baghdatis was the #8 player in the World, the finalist in Melbourne and semi-finalist at Wimbledon this year. But put him in front of a New York crowd at night and Agassi discovers an extra wing to his game - that quite simply miraculously lifts him several planes higher. How else can you explain this amazing display of tennis after what has been a perfectly mediocre year for him hampered by injuries ?

How else can you explain his dramatic run to the finals last year after again an average season and at one point giving King Federer something to think hard about in the finals ??

Fingers crossed and I would not like to look too far ahead .... but I can't resist myself counting the number of games .... Benjamin Becker next round, then possibly Roddick, Hewitt, Nadal and the Swiss King again in the finals ??

Well what's the harm in dreaming ?? Then again, is it really an impossible dream ??

GO ANDRE !!!!

Hurt

Sometimes you actually look forward to help people. And then they kind of reject that help telling you that in effect you are not needed. Somtimes that can hurt. Even though you have not actually gone out of your way to help that person. Or you might not even be looking forward to doing that particular task. Hell, you might not even care for that person so much. But when you are effectively told you are not wanted it can and does hurt.

Dirty Secrets

Why are people secretive ? Really, I hate secrets and secretive people, sometimes. Especially when they are friends.

Where Everyone Wins

So Hitler’s Cross has decided to change its name and theme. Apparently and I am willing to believe this, the owners had purely publicity in mind when selecting these in the first place and not any particular lover or admiration for the man. Well, they got what they wanted.

The ones who were disgusted with this got what they wanted to – in effect, a name change. I am happy that it did not have to go to the stage of violence and coercion. Well, public pressure worked.

SHOCKED ...

- that we should be so shocked about this story. After all what is the reason to expect anything else ?

Seriously, such trivial matters should not be making front page news at all.

SHE'S BACK !

Martina Hingis may have lost in the finals of the Canadian Open to Ana Ivanovic but it is clear that the Swiss Miss is back and back with a bang. After reaching the semifinals she has returned to the Top 10 for the first time since 2002 at a lofty height where compatriots like Serena and Venus Williams, her ineffectiveness against whose power game allegedly forced her out, nowhere close in contention. Way to go. Such are the ups and downs of sport.

Here the Swiss Miss says

"At the beginning of the year if you had asked me if I'd make the Top 10, I'd kiss your hand and say, 'Well, yes, of course I'll take it.' But now I'm making it and I see those girls really fight to earn their spot; you always want more. Of course, I'm frustrated losing the finals, but all you can do is keep your head up; there's certainly some things I have to work on before the US Open."

What are the odds on a Federer-Hingis double blast at a Grand Slam tournament in the near future ?

Happy Independence Day

dnaWishing all my friends a happy and patriotic Independence Day.

On this day, here are a couple of stories that caught the eye.

Here, 2 Pakistani terrorists are nabbed.

And here, the story of a Pakistani Indian 21-year old girl.

Both quite unrelated yet very relevant today.

Meanwhile on this occasion, once again I begin to wonder ...

Corporate

Verdict: Brilliant.

Madhur Bhandarkar has done it again after Page 3. In my opinion two things are vital to sustain a film. The first is a coherent storyline and the second the pace and Corporate scores brilliantly on both these counts. Additionally, Bhandarkar also addresses the issues quite beautifully. A case in point is the issue where one of the corporate heads asks the minister to “order” his Swadeshi lobby to get into action to destroy his competitor. And there are many others.

After a spate of mediocre roles in which she merely looked gorgeous Bipasha Basu has finally got the opportunity that can do justice to her potential and the talented Bengali babe pulls it off splendidly. She is undoubtedly the biggest star of this movie and the fact that none of the other actors hog the limelight in such a successfully made venture is further tribute to the director.

The only sore point I felt in this flick is K.K. Menon. I do not say that he has done a bad job at all somehow I just don’t appreciate him – just as I did not in Sarkar.

Finally, in this movie that depicts the murky methods in the Corporate World, you do not feel sorry or sympathetic for any of the characters as the drama unveils and each pays horribly for his misdeeds. Therein lays the success of the movie.

Quite A Statement

"No red bag accompanied me, nor did I have any such bag carried for me on the relief/rescue flight. Indeed, I have never possessed, borrowed or carried any red bag ever,"

This is a statement from former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh in response to a query as to whether he carried a red bag full of explosives to Kandahar during the hijacking of IC 814.

Note the statement in bold. Now I do not wish to implicate him of anything here but how can one be so sure of all the bags one has ever possessed or carried? Couldn’t it be possible that he had a red backpack when he was a kid or he used one of those red carry-bags or something like that when going shopping with his kids ?

Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan ...

Read this very interesting story from DNA India. Haven’t we seen this happen over and over again in Bollywood films? And here it is happening in reality. Fascinating to say the least. This is Mumbai where reel and real life merges.

Now after Google Earth

We have this from Wikipedia. Interesting positives: the ability to annotate. Note for eg. Sadashiv Peth in Pune plus the fact that it opens in a browser.
The negative is that it does not zoom in as far as Google Earth.

YIPPPPPPPPIEEEEEEEEEEEE !!

Google Accessible

This is a new tool by Google that tries to rank higher pages that are accessible to the visually impaired. Google has asked web developers to make their site more favorable for these sections of society so as to obtain a higher rank. Fine idea but it seems Google itself is not too customized to these people ironically. Here is a small tool that compares results of Google default and Google Accessible and I searched the keyword “Google” itself. The results tell a story.

I Think Of You ...

I Think Of You
When The Winds Sing Their Song, I Think Of You
When The Clouds Bring Their Scent, I Think Of You
When The Mornings Show Off Their Hues, I Think Of You
When The Evening Shadows Grow Long.

I Think Of You
On A Glorious Sunny Day, When All Life Is Happy And Gay
When The Seasons Change Their Tune, When There’s A Break In The Heat Of June
When The Buds Wear New Colors, When The Trees Are Clothed in Flowers
When The Flowers Come To Life With The Humming Of The Bees
I Think Of You

I Think Of You
On A Beautiful Clear Night, When Dreams Are Set Alight
When The Stars Adorn The Sky, When The Garden Is Lit By The Glowing Fly
When There Arrives A Silence Deep, When Slowly I Collapse Into Light Sleep
When Body And Soul In The Night Find Their Peace
I Think Of You

Oh Yeah, They're Sorry !

The LTTE have expressed regret over the killing of Rajiv Gandhi and have called upon India to start a new chapter in our relationship with the Tigers.

My foot, I say. Murderers do not deserve pardon nor do they have the right to regret IMO. Now when they realize they are helpless and need India's help they have come out with this facade. It would be a good idea to ask them to get lost.

Music In My Life

Music plays a very important role in my life. Yesterday when my friend Mukta wondered whether my blog was turning into a website for old Hindi songs lyrics it made me think. I confirmed to myself what I already knew all along - music has tremendous power.

Music will cry with you when you are down, then inspire you to lift your sagging spirits. It will give you a chance to vent your frustration as well as share your enthusiasm and happiness.

While I cannot share the actual music on my blog, I do jot down lyrics of songs that suit my mood of the moment. Mainly because these are so ingrained in our minds that on reading them the tune is automatically played in our heads.

I was always tremendously passionate about music and am in general a fan of art of any kind. But like others I was of the opinion that artists are in general grossly overrated. That an above average artist (provided he is performing the right kind of art, read Bollywood, Music, Cricket) earns way more by some not too great performances than say a dedicated surgeon or engineer who has put in years of hard work is a common way to put across this point. A point I still agree to partly, but after what I went through in the past month or so and the way I relied on music to get me through those tough times I have changed my views a bit.

While not all art can be a masterpiece, good artistic creations are meant to help the human mind .... in the above mentioned ways ... that is to face fear, sorrow, share joy etc. Good books, memorable music, great movies ... and depending on each person's taste all art forms are treasures that need to be valued.

Ro Ro Ke Inhee Raahon Mein
Khone Pada Ek Apne Ko
Has Has Ke Inhee Raahon Mein
Apnaya Tha Begaane Ko

Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi
Milte Hai Bichchad Jaane Ko
Aur De Jaate Hain Yaadein
Tanhayee Mein Tadpaane Ko

Tum Apnee Nayee Duniya Mein
Kho Jao Paraaye Bankar
Jee Paaye To Hum Jee Lenge
Marne Ki Saza Paane Ko

Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi
Milte Hai Bichchad Jaane Ko
Aur De Jaate Hain Yaadein
Tanhayee Mein Tadpaane Ko

Mere Toote Dil Mein Koi Khwahish Na Rahi
Armaanon Ke Sab Raaste Soone Pade
Kyon Dua Bhi Meri Bani Aaj Bad-dua ?
Yeh Ehsaas Chahat Ke Sabhi Chubhne Lage

Kisse Kuchch Puraane Mil Gaye ... Rone Ke Bahaane Mil Gaye ...

Tujhe Bhoolna Bhi Chahoon To Na Bhula Sakoo
Tu Hi Bata Tere Bina Kaise Rahoon
Tu Jaane Na Sanam Gham Maine Kya Saha
Bikhre Mere Sapne Zameen Pe Tootke

Kisse Kuchch Puraane Mil gaye ... Rone Ke Bahaane Mil Gaye ...

Yaad Hai Woh Pehli Mulaqaat Yaad Hain
Yaad Hai Mujhe Woh Teri Har Ek Baat Yaad Hain
Woh Maheki Raatein Saari Saugaatein
Bheegi Meri Aankhon Se Aansoo Beh Chale


Kisse Kuchch Puraane Mil gaye ... Rone Ke Bahaane Mil Gaye ...

It is an era of plagiarism and IMO equally bad remixes. So I thought how bad can it be to actually extend someone else's work after of course giving full credit for the original ? So here goes.

Dil To Paagal Hain
*First 2 verses are from the original song, next 2 are mine

Pehli pehli baar milata hain yahi
Seene Mein Phir aag lagata hain
Dheere dheere pyaar sikhata hain yahi
Hasata hain yahi yahi rulata hain

Dil to paagal hain dil deewana hai

Saari saari raat jagaata hain yahi
Akkhiyon se neend churata hain
Sachche jhoote khwab dikhata hain yahi
Hasata hain yahi yahi rulata hain

Dil to paagal hain dil deewana hain

Din mahinen sal satata hain yahi
Bedardi se yeh tadpaata hain
Der se hamein ek baar samjhata hain yahi
Hasata hain yahi yahi rulata hain

Dil to paagal hain dil deewana hain

Sadiyon ke baad lautata hain yahi
Bhoole armaano ko jagata hain
Phir pal mein fanaa kar deta hain yahi
Mitata hain yahi khud mit bhi jata hain

Dil to paagal hain dil deewana hain

Where Art Thou Oh Friend ?

I need you right now. Not for help, I shall perhaps need the help later. But right now I need you to just be there for me. Just know what I am going through. I know I might not have kept in touch. But I need you now like never before. Please, wherever you are ... please come over ... please ...

Musical Relief

This is probably one of the toughest life situations I am going through and while I do not know what is going to happen or how I am going to come out of it if at all I am, but in the short term I have an exam coming up the day after and I need to start studying for that. Clearly I am in no frame of mind to give an exam but I have to suck it up and bull-headedly go after it. Luckily, I am not alone. I have my music with me. Thank you Raaga.com and Musicindiaonline.com. Music is simply great. It is hard to find any equivalent concept in this World that can be your best companion - above even your best friends, loved ones and good books. There may come a time when all of these might seem inadequate like they are doing now but I am banking on music to carry me through. So let us make a start now and tonight a night-out of studies it is going to be in the company of music. Veer Zaara it is to start things off.

Often on this blog I have posted lines from songs that I feel are suited to my mood of the moment. Often these are a bit of an exaggeration, mostly part of them fit while others don't. This particular one I'm writing however matches verbatim my state of mind, a beautiful Hemant Kumar number.

Rulakar Chal Diye; Ek Din
Hansi Bankar Jo Aaye The
Chaman Ro Ro Ke Kehta Hain
Kabhi Gul Muskuraye The

Agar Dil Ke Jubaan Hoti
Yeh Gham Kuchch Kam To Ho Jaata
Idhar Woh Chup Udhar Seene
Mein Hum Toofan Chhupaaye The

Yeh Achcha Tha Na Hum Kehte
Kisise Dastaan Apni
Samajh Paaye Na Jab Apne
Paraaye To Paraaye The

The (Anti) Butterfly Effect In Its Full Horror

I have tended to believe in the butterfly effect in every form. Sure the mathematical meaning is quite different but I also tend to appreciate and would like to believe its populist version: That a butterfly flapping its wings in China can affect the wheat production in Indonesia and cause thunderstorms in other parts of the World etc.

In fact I would like to take a step further and ask what if the corollary is also true ? Can it be possible that a butterfly that was supposed to flap its wings in China to keep the World order going failed to do so and that led to a horrible disaster like the tsunami in Indonesia ?? Quite plausible ain't it ?

Tangentially does the butterfly effect apply in time as it does in space ? Can the flapping of a wings (or lack of it) by a butterfly in Indonesia today affect the occurence or non-occurence of a tsunami some 2000 years in the future ?

Don't they say that words that once leave your mouth, you cannot control and can come back to haunt you in the future ?? Don't they say "Speech is silver, silence is golden." ?? All very fine but IMO paints a very one sided picture. What they fail to tell you is that what you did not say some time in the past may come back to horribly haunt you in the future and mess up the rest of your life. I have today been firmly convinced by what someone said at my graduation ceremony last year - "You will always regret more what you did not do than what you did".

Butterflies all over the World, flap your wings, at least that way no matter what the consequences you will not be left with the regret of what if.

Bhoola Afsana Koi
Gujra Zamaana Koi
Saathi Purana Koi
Banke Bahaana Koi
Agar Dil Mein Woh
Sama Jaaaye Toh
Yeh Dil Kya Kare?

Us Paar Reh Na Sake
Is Paar Aa Naa Sake
Kehna Tha Keh Na Sake
Chup Bhi To Reh Na Sake
Main Bechain Hoon
Tu Betaab Hain
Yeh Dil Kya Kare?

A situation has occurred in life that makes me want to reminisce on these beautiful lyrics from a favorite song of mine.

Anjaane Hoton Par Kyon Pehchane Geet Hain ?
Kal Tak Jo Begaane The, Janmon Ke Meet Hain.
O Mitwa Re, Kal Tak Jo Begaane The Janmon Ke Meet Hain
Kya Hoga Kaun Se Pal Mein, Koi Jaane Na.

Isn't it amazing when you suddenly begin to feel someone's emotions be they pain or joy because you have been through a very similar experience ? You really do begin to see the World in a different light, from the eyes of that person, and you appreciate him/her like never before.

Trouble

I am being troubled these days. I know what it is about. I can’t do anything about it. I want to do something about it. I want to get over it. Move past it and lead a life unfettered by it. Accomplish something wonderful and then laugh down on this thing that is troubling me, mocking it, like it is mocking me right now, telling it “Look you tried your best to pull me down and you failed and I succeeded.”

But right now it is the trouble that is having the upper hand. How long will this situation last? When will I be able to turn things around?

Writer's Block ?

I can’t think of what to write. Every time I try to write something I feel like taking the easier option of surfing the net. Really what kind of a necessary evil this World of laptops and wireless connections is.

The Strange Case Of Conchita Martinez

An ideal example of how you do not really like someone initially (well, who am I kidding might as well say I hated her) then you get to know that they are not that bad and finally when they leave you feel so attached that you actually feel a tinge of sadness !

What Does Amit Have To Say About This ?

Just came across this article on FOX via a link on The Corridor of Uncertainty.

Basically, my point of interest lies in this paragraph:

And you do not need to own a satellite dish to watch it, as, by government decree, any successful bidder for the TV rights to Indian cricket must allow Doordarshan, the state channel, a feed.

This requirement has been imposed on Nimbus, the production group that recently paid $867 million for a four-year deal with the Indian Cricket Board, and it has served Indian cricket well because it is playing its part in spreading the sports gospel to areas where, thanks to the growth of vibrant cities and improved transport, aspiring cricketers can be put in touch with good facilities and coaches.

So what we have hear is a clear case of restriction on the concept of free markets one which is very dear to Amit and Gaurav, both of whose blogs I am a keen reader of and whose views I respect immensely. Yet, as this article mentions and I think I agree it has been of great benefit to young Indian cricketers in rural areas and Indian cricket in general. About the only persons suffering from it are the guys at Nimbus.

Just to cite some examples of the benefits - the names Pathan, Dhoni, RP Singh, Munaf etc quickly come to mind. Plus the fact that Uttar Pradesh has won the Ranji Trophy for the first time !

So was wondering whether Amit and Gaurav will concede that this is an aberration to their staunch belief in the fact that free markets end up benefiting all or do they not consider this to be beneficial in the long term ??

Me, as I candidly admit am yet to make up my mind on this free market issue. This is just another interesting manifestation of my dilemma that I am pondering over.

Freedom Of Speech In Gujarat !

This is what happens in one of the most prosperous states of the World's largest democracy.

Link via Amit Varma.

Update: All is not dark of course, here is a site that lists the good that is happening in India. Check it out for yourself. I haven't explored it in full detail yet, but seems interesting.

Shocking

Read this post on Amit Varma's India Uncut.

I absolutely agree with him. There are so many things we as a nation have got to learn.

It is only through reading the blogs of such people having knowledge of economics that we can realize how much there is still to be done and that an 8.1 annual increase in GDP is only 1 part of the story.

Watching Live Cricket In Class

This is an amazing experience, folks. I am actually watching live coverage of the India v Pakistan game while in class !

Several factors have combined to make this possible.
1. Luckily the cricket is available on my unreliable link today.
2. I have just discovered that paying attention in this class does not pay anyway.
3. I am particularly pissed off at this particular teacher because she did not accept my last homework even though it was submitted on time simply because she was not in office during her office hours.
4. Usage of laptop in class is liberally allowed here.
5. There is excellent wireless signal strength.

So all in all it feels very brilliant and very powerful.

I am taken back to those good old school days when we used to stealthily listen to the radio commentary in class. Now it is video and it is open. Just brilliant.

A Question Of Classification

Should I consider playing outdoor sports as part of my physical exercise routine ??

As most of you will readily agree in graduate student life there is precious little time for anything other than academics. So this time needs to be devoted with great care to all other activities.

The overlap between sports and exercise makes this particular choice rather difficult. For sports can give you exercise but in a rather more unpredictable manner than the gym. But when the weather is great it does seem a shame to be cooped up inside in a gym.

Of course I, like many other people primarily play sport for the love of it than for the physical exercise. Hmm ... an interesting choice this. One which will take some thought.

A Victory For Free Choice

This.

An Experience

Had been to John Nash's lecture today. More to follow ...

I Hate You !

That might sound like a horrible thing to say - but I was just wondering - is hatred better than indifference ? I remember making a post a few days back about my desire to hurt someone and the more I think of it I realize that if I want to hurt that person it is because it MATTERS to me whether he/she is hurt. So clearly I am not indifferent towards him/her.

I remember reading a poem in Hindi in Standard 10. It went something like:

Agar Phool Nahin Bo Sakte To
Kaatein Kam Se Kam Mat Bovo

Meaning if you can't make a person happy at least don't hurt him/her.

Now I can't say I totally disagree with that - but I do feel hatred is perhaps a better emotion to have than indifference. I don't know whether I would feel better to be hated than to be not cared for.

I Disagree

As I am reading one "Manacha Shlok" everyday I begin to realize that I disagree with several rather most of what it has to say. With the notable exception of the insistence on truth, of course. I do not understand whether I am being a fool to disagree with an acknowledged great soul like Shri Ramdas Swami or whether I am just not being able to understand the deeper meaning. Of course in due time I will try to come up with specific points about where and why I disagree. But for now I am just wondering whether I am right to dispute what he says.

Hurt

Right now I really feel like hurting one person. And hurt him/her real bad. Because he/she has hurt me. But I don't know whether I should. I have started reading Manache Shlok every day and they teach me not to hurt. However somewhere at the back of my mind I have this intense desire to hurt.

I don't know whether what I am doing or going to do is right or wrong. Hell I don't even know if that person will be hurt or not ... hmmm.

Ram - Maryada Purushottam ? Or Just Human ?

Very interesting - Read here.

Thanks Kanishka for the link.

Suddenly remembered this brilliant Kishore Kumar song and thought I might as well blog it down.

Jin Raaton Ki Bhor Nahin Hain, Aaj Aisi Hi Raat Aayi
Bojh Se Gham Ke Doob Gaya Dil, Saagar Ki Hain Gehrayee

Raat Ke Taaron Tum Hi Bata Do, Meri Woh Manzil Hain Kahan
Paagal Bankar Jiske Liye Main Kho Baitha Hoon Dono Jahan

Raah Kisi Ki Hui Na Roshan Jalna Mera Beqar Gaya
Loot Gayee Taqdeer Mujhe, Main Jeetke Baazi Haar Gaya

Bluffmaster

I would recommend it. It might seem extremely slow and boring in parts especially in the first half. But it is worth it. Expect what you might from and English romantic comedy. If you go in expecting non-stop action like DHOOM or comedy like No Entry you will be frustrated.

Priyanka Chopra is frustrating. Abhishek is good as usual but surprisingly Ritesh Deshmukh has stolen the show.

I wouldn't want to even venture into the story here because who would I be bluffing ??

Villain Today, Victim Tomorrow

There is nothing better that the media likes. It likes to launch a vicious attack on a person who is vulnerable (irrespective of whether or not he is guilty), destroy his reputation, dignity, muck him with all the filth possible and once he gives in, it likes to recast him as an unfortunate victim. It tries to portray him as the sacrificial lamb and just a small spoke in the big wheel of this World. It tries to show how the whole system is conspiring against him.

It happened with Sourav Ganguly. When he was in the team not scoring runs, the media were after his head. Once he was dropped, the wheel turned a full cycle. He is now the man who is being made the victim of a witch-hunt, being deliberately plotted against and kept out of the side for purely political reasons. Suddenly Greg Chappell who was being portrayed as the saviour of Indian cricket is now being talked about as being a tyrannic dictator trying to take over the reigns of Indian cricket. It matters not a jot that ever since Ganguly has been out Greg Chappell has done a fantastic job of taking this team to great success.

And now, it has happened to Natwar Singh. After causing him to nearly tear his hair apart due to continuous hounding, now this article in DNA tries to project the not-so-negative side of the man. Agreed, this is just a start. Soon we will start seeing articles about how Natwar was just an unfortunate pawn in the hands of Sonia and Manmohan.

(Cross posted on Cricket's Outside Edge)

Flash, Actionscript, XML and DTD

There is no way to validate an XML document with a DTD using Flash and Actionscript !! How frustrating !!

And now, a certain property, getSetResults, of a certain object LocalConnection works fine in Flash MX 2004 Professional 7.2 but does not in Flash MX 2004 Professsional 7.0. To make matters worse, I need it and I have only the latter, not the former.

OK. Unbelievable Nugget of Wisdom. If you are trying to establish a local connection between flash movies, you'd better declare the local connection object as say "my_lc = new LocalConnection()". Do not go for the more correct style of declaring separately as "var my_lc; my_lc = new LocalConnection();"

Why etc. don't ask.

Why Are You Quiet Now ?

In this article in DNA Minhaz Merchant poses some pointed questions to the Indian Muslim intelligentsia and celebrity. The article talks about the politics of fatwas in India in relation to the pre-marital sex controversy. The point the article makes is predominantly not about just that, but in the bigger picture about the freedom of speech and expression.

From the article:

It also raises the larger question — rarely debated in polite society — of why prominent Muslims, ranging from Shabana Azmi to Shah Rukh Khan, such voluble critics of Hindutva-inspired communalism (and rightly so), do not equally vociferously and publicly condemn fundamentalist Islamic communalism of the rabid sort that was directed against Sania Mirza when she first defended Khushboo's views on pre-marital sex.

And if I remember correctly, none of these ventured in support when the poor girl was tortured about her clothes on the tennis court either.

What Do You Mean ?

It is an honorable and praiseworthy move by India to honour the cylones striking her coasts by assigning then names. It would have been even better however if the names chosen were much simpler. Pray what does "Baaz" mean ?

Anyway Baaz has decided to postpone its visit by a few hours as it has taken a halt somewhere i the Bay of Bengal. However, it has done the damage already to the test match in Chennai.

The Bihar Elections

So the NDA won the Bihar elections. I tend to be a centrist when it comes to national politics. I do not care what happens in Bihar. I do not care about Laloo, Nitish, no one. But one thing I do care about it is secularism. And I am glad that Ram Vilas Paswan who had set out on the election campaign with the aim of giving Bihar a Muslim CM has been soundly thrashed. As in he is not going to be a king-maker. Find great satisfaction in that.

The 81 ers

Trying to list all the famous people born in 1981 other than me of course. Of the top of my head I can remember:

Roger Federer
Lleyton Hewitt
Michael Clarke
Graeme Smith
Yuvraj Singh
Shahid Kapur
Anna Kournikova
Serena Williams
Mahendra Singh Dhoni NEW

Shanghai Knights

Must admit I have been pretty much cut off from what's happening in tennis since the US Open. The injury to Roger Federer was a major reason as was the fact that in India you simply do not have enough time to deliberately follow the circuit - there being other distractions like cricket and family.

But now is the time for the season-ender and the return of Roger Federer really makes it something to look forward to. Quite keen to see him do battle with Rafael Nadal (one of only 3 players to beat him this year) and of course the grand old man, Andre Agassi.

With the withdrawal of Safin, Roddick and Hewitt the tournament has definitely lost some of its sheen - imagine there are players like Nalbandian, Gaudio, Coria (3 Argentines !!) Ljubicic and Davydenko in the frame. Well, it does not really matter when the Swiss king is in charge does it ? His injury is a bit of a worry though and interesting to see if it in anyway affects his near-flawless game.

Five Point Someone

Well, this has been one of the bestsellers in India for some years now - but I only happened to read it today. Well, started it two days ago and finished it today. Why the delay you may ask ? Well I am never one for laying my hands on a book the minute it arrives (except the latest Harry Potters). Nor do I believe in letting other people's opinions decide whether or not I am going to read one. If it sounds interesting and if I have not been horribly disappointed at any of the author's previous books, I believe in giving it a fair chance.

So by what could justifiably be called a sudden impulse I decided to read this book which has been topping Indian charts for quite some time. My brother, a senior at IIT, Powai had warned me against reading it. His exact words were to the effect that if I did go ahead and read it, his opinion about my taste in literature would deteriorate. My friend, an MTech student at the same place had also read it sometime back and gives his view here.

Anyway, why I am bothering to write all this stuff ? As I mentioned earlier, I don't care about other people's opinions when it comes to books, right ? Well, I guess, it is just blogging culture to try and link to all related stuff .. blah blah .. whatever ... ok let's get to the deep end of it.

Overall impression - Nice stuff. Sure, it won't be hailed as a literary classic or even be looked at in more serious circles, but for college kids and those just passed out, definitely an enjoyable read. The Tabloid Of India calls it as Dil Chahta Hain in print (ah there I go again) and for once is pretty much spot on.

Superb pace, easy informal style definitely the great plusses. Plus you can easily identify with the characters ... ah well deep insights, you might say ... but there you go - I said it is not ground-breaking stuff ... nor is my review about it anything out of this world. It's just that you "like" it you know ... so much ... taking you back to college days ... and well it does not give any earth-shatteringly deep message either ... but then little things you know ... like whether it is right to judge someone by his/her GPA, the importance of the IIT stamp, the way they are handled provide a nice sentimental touch to go with the basically fun-filled story of 3 friends.

Well besides the trio-thing, the other similarities with DCH include a fallout and reunion of two of the friends. Well, as we know DCH went on to be a mini-classic. Well, not quite but it will - 50 years down the line - it definitely portrayed so well a generation - the decade of the 2000s. Will FPS go the same way ? I heard it is soon to be made into a Hindi flick ... well for now ... I would say it is definitely more than a five pointer ... and hell should I really be judging in those terms ??

Now We Might Understand Women Better !!

The Venus Express lifts off and the mission hopes to "lift the veil" off the planet named after the Goddess of Love. About time, I should say - after all we have been concentrating on Mars all these years. Men are from there isn't it ? So now that we have focussed our attention on Venus ...

Idealism Gone Awry

Ideally no one should have a problem with the ideals liberty, equality and fraternity. These are the ideals of French secularism that are themselves threatening to shake its very foundations and send France into a near Civil War - Dileep Padgaonkar of DNA analyses.

Cable Problems in Pune

Hathway cable service in the Erandawane region has been most unsatisfactory to say the least in recent times. Firstly, only 40 channels can be decently viewed. The other 30 that are available the signal is extremely weak. What's more is that important channels such as ESPN, BBC, DD Sports (at times STAR SPORTS) figure in the later group of channels. While pretty ordinary channels like the recent sensationalistic news channels, hungama etc. that hardly anyone would care a damn about are shown in the first category. Another issue is that Zee Sports which telecasted the Challenger series last week is not shown at all - it was shown in the adjoining Rajendranagar area - while several other Z channels ranging from Z Gujrati to Z Punjabi are shown.

It must be noted that whenever there is a cricket match on, one of the sports channels is swapped from the later group so it clearly proves that there is no technical reason as to why they should not be able to show all good channels at all times. Even assuming there is, it is understood that we are paying to see all available channels PROPERLY. This is really disturbing and someone needs to voice their concerns over this.

The Bacon Number

This is doch brilliant !!

Find out how Kevin Bacon is connected to Madhubala, Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Jadeja, Sunil Gavaskar, Will Smith and Nicole Kidman !!

The brilliant ideas some people can come up with ! And so ingeniously simple !

Link via Gaurav.

When Killers Become Healers

This post on Rediff describes how the jehadi organisations in POK are helping out the quake victims - common people, police and army-men alike.

They have reached the remotest areas where the Government has failed.

Goodness of heart or plain opportunism ?

The article goes on to imply that jehadi movement has been strengthened by the quake and that grateful 16-year old kids are keen on joining the Mujahiddeen.

The Unimplementable Laws

Last month was the nth occasion when the Maharashtra government was supposed to start the strict enforcement of the draconian helmet rule in Pune. And for the nth time it flopped. Why the Government expected that it would be successful on this occasion given n-1 previous failures and all other things remaining constant is a mystery. The Government's vain efforts on this front are now a source of great hilarity for Puneites and although it might have escaped them, an embarassment for the authorities.

And then some time last month, they announced a much more reasonable law comprehensively banning use of plastic bags in the state. This was, it was reasoned, as a response to the July 26th floods in Mumbai. Apparently, it was the clogging caused by plastic bags that caused the drainage systems to fail. The language of the legislation was terse and strict - no exceptions made. There were protests by the usual suspects happened of course - how will one get milk ? what about cooking-oil ? what alternatives are we supposed to use ? does the Government realise the amounts of price-hike this will cause ? etc etc - of course we needn't have bothered. After making a few noises for a couple of days everyone has forgotten about it. The starting date for the proposed ban is long gone and yet we see plastic bags existing happily in our daily lives, carrying items of day-to-day use, littering roads and (maybe) blocking drainage.

Writing

I am worried that I might lose my writing skills forever. By writing, more precisely I mean handwriting. In this era of the WWW who has the time or will to take a pen and paper and write ? Well, even if one decides to take the effort he is going to be the loser as he will be spending extra time and effort reproducing that in print again. Unless some one is willing to employ specialist typists for every little piece he writes ...

I do believe this is a great tragedy of the modern era. Surely, we agree on the importance of getting children acquainted with computers at an early age via courses in school but I don't think the day is too far when kids will not know what "hand-writing" refers to.

And there is more loss than one can immediately perceive. Handwriting is universally accepted as reflecting the character of a person. There is no need for me to go into details of this. Handwriting breeds of individuality - the lovely curly one, the straight clear yet not-very-beautiful one, the childish flabby one, the completely incomprehensible rubbish - all of these reflect different types of personalities. Hell, it is not for nothing that we used to have hand-writing contests and prizes for the best hand-writing in school in those good old days. What individuality does the typed word signify ? Reading this post, does it indicate in any way what kind of a person I am ? (Of course I do believe that reading emails and conversations a person does develop a certain style and it is reasonably possible for me to identify the sender/chatter based on the type of net-language used ... (for eg someone may be one to say 'yeh' one may say 'hi' etc) ... but that's not quite the same is it ?)

And most frighteningly, I do not see any really feasible solution. Any ideas ?

Go Gaurav

This post is to support Gaurav Sabnis, a Mumbai blogger who is involved in some pretty serious legal matters on account of some of his blog posts that sought to bring to the notice of the blogosphere certain issues regarding IIPM and a certain Arindam Chaudhary.

Im sure many of you must have heard about the story but for those of you are uninitiated or are unclear this post of Amit Varma is a good point to begin.

Of course you can find details of the latest from the above post and on Gaurav's blog. I just want to support Gaurav wholeheartedly for the principled stand he has taken and his determination to stand for freedom of speech. I also wish him all the best and hope that he emerges victorious.

Yes, I do have a lot more to say on the role of the blogosphere in this context, but for lack of time, that will have to be some time later.

Art And Science

What is Art ? What is Science ? How are they related ? Where does the boundary lie ? Is there an art in doing scientific research ? Is there a scientific way to create art ?

Questions aplenty.

Iqbal

Quite a fabulous movie. No other way to describe it.

About the only negative point about the movie was the way it was promoted - somehow it gave people the feeling that it would be a somewhat sad movie about a deaf-and-dumb youngster. But in fact, it is quite a brilliant feel-good movie while all the time being extremely realistic and down-to-earth. Definitely one of the best films of the year.

The simple life in the village is so beautifully portrayed with no efforts to glamorise or dramatise it anywhere. It feels as if you have just walked into this village and are meeting these lovely people. Cricket of course is the theme of the film, but it is not just about cricket. It is about the life of these villagers including but not restricted to the central character, their hopes and aspirations, their despairs and disappointments. It is about the bubbly and loyal younger sister (who is in the truest sense the heroine of the film - whoever said that a hero and heroine need to be romantically linked in a movie ?). It is about the loving and supportive mother, the stern yet good-at-heart father and most importantly about the extremely adorable, alcoholic coach Mohit- portrayed by the as-usual-brilliant Nasseruddin Shah. Mohit in his time himself was a fast bowler and a victim of political selection policies.

He is initially reluctant to coach Iqbal. This is due to various factors. Firstly he prefers to drink and sleep all day. Second he does not know how he is going to communicate. This is where the sister plays a stellar role. And third, he is convinced that nothing good can come out of being a fast bowler based on his own experience. Iqbal's persistence pays off and finally Mohit is drawn completely into it. He even tries his best to convince the austere father when the situation arises.

How he goes about teaching the raw, talented but extremely naive Iqbal the art of bowling is very cleverly depicted. The idea of Iqbal naming his buffaloes Kapil, Kumble, Harbhajan, Balaji and Irfan is very appealing. As is his idea of using them as stumps in his early days to practice bowling. Using them as fielders during practise to make the batsman play the shot that the bowler wants him to (a brainwave of Mohit's) is an intelligent one.

Of course towards the end, the plot is lost somewhat but that is bound to happen. But it is not completely lost like in most movies. The predictable aspects such as fixing in matches and selection are dealt with and while the end is a little over-dramatic it can be pardoned after such a beautiful effort.

My Experiments With Myself

Yesterday I planned my day to a T. Every minute was assigned a task (even relaxation and TV surfing was allocated a separate time slot).

Today I had the urge to try the exact opposite. I would plan nothing. Just take things as they come and do what I feel at that moment.

So far I am not really able to say with any conviction whether one was any better than the other. Maybe a compromise is the best solution. Ah well, the experiements will continue.

Happiness

The other day I read a brilliant article in The Times and cited on slashdot about happiness and its pschycological links. Unfortunately can't find it right now.

The most important point it made however, is that often are wants and likes are different. We crave for certain things and try our best to get them expending time and effort but in the end we do not end up liking them even if we manage to achieve them on most occasions. Such a simple thought and so true - yet something we don't always realise. It would be a good idea hence to remember the moments that made us truly happy and then try to recreate the situations that caused them.

The article also talks about, among other things, how the human race might have evolved in a manner such that when there is a danger or a crisis we make efforts to fight it but when all is going well we move into cruise control and take it for granted - make no effort to enjoy it or improve it. This is attributed mainly to the fact that our prehistoric ancestors had to fight against natural calamities during the Ice Age and then with wild beasts just to survive and now while that is no longer relevant our brain which has adapted to that resists change.


Update:
Meanwhile completely tangentially The Times (not the London times our very own Tabloid) says that Pune is the happiest city in India !! Isn't this too good or what !! Link via Amit Varma.

Getting The Timing Right

Is extremely important of course in all walks of life, in cricket ...

It so happens it is also important in your daily Tekdi visit.

Of course, Tekdi is a hot topic in the blogosphere of Pune bloggers courtesy this post by Gaurav (see here and here) and hence thought I might as well add my two-pence to it.

Yesterday I started climbing at 6 and it was a touch too late. For while returning it gets a bit dark and lonely.

Today I started at 5.20 and it was a bit too early !! Because the crowds really don't start pouring in that early and the Tekdi is resultantly much less romantic, devoid of life. Of course a bit too sunny too.

So you see, tomorrow I think I should look to start at around 5.40 ...

Ubuntu - Humanity To Others

Check this out.

Linux for Human Beings it seems. In African other than the above mentioned title it also means "I am what I am because of who we all are".

'The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.' according to their website.

My good friend Pavgi will no doubt be already onto it.

Interesting ...

Originally found via slashdot.

US Open Men's Final 2005

What a grand final ! After the rather tame affair on the women's side, this was certainly a final worth waking up late at night to see. First of all, Agassi's march to the final was extremely creditable. Agreed, he got a "relatively" simple draw and I say that because he is after all 35 and was playing people 10 years younger most of the while. He beat Blake in a classic who himself had played gorgeous tennis to beat the red-hot Nadal and then Ginepri who had ousted Roddick's conqueror and had done really well leading up to the US Open.

And in the final, right up until the third set tie-break, it genuinely seemed that a "match" was on, unlike say when Hewitt played Federer when it looked like he was playing just for honour and the result a foregone conclusion. For some time now, Federer must have been thinking that it was about time somebody stepped up to him (according to one of the commentators) and Agassi did so in spectacular style. Looking at the way Agassi played in the earlier rounds, it seemed that he would be thrashed by Federer - he only barely managed to get past Blake, Malisse and Ginepri in 5 sets. But today against a champion he realised he had to lift his game and did so quite magnificently. It was indeed sad that he should come out second in the end - after all, this could well be his last realistic chance at a Grand Slam title.

But there is no shame and indeed nothing to feel to bad about to lose to a champion like Federer. Not only is he probably the greatest ever tennis player to have walked this Earth, he is also such a wonderful human being. At the end of the match Agassi said so in precisely these words. And Federer paid homage to the senior pro and the champion of a generation when he said that this was his biggest career final (no disrespect to the Phillippousises, Safins, Roddicks and Hewitts although after this performance by Agassi one wonders whether they are really any good capitulating so easily to the Master) and in a touching gesture hoped that Andre kept on playing so that they could have many more great matches.

Also, it was wonderful to see Steffi Graf and the two kids at the matches. Looking forward to the day when Andre and Steffi are in the stands cheering their kids !!

Clijsters v Pierce In US Open Final

I have this weird tendency to find patterns in the weirdest of things. Quite often, in cricket and tennis - my favourite sports. Take this one for instance. In 2005, Lindsay Davenport made it to the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing both, one to Serena Williams, the other to Venus. Mary Pierce made it to the finals of the French Open and was destroyed by the Belgian Justine Henin Hardenne. Now she makes it to the finals here and takes on another Belgian. What are the odds then of Clijsters breezing to her first and long overdue Grand Slam title ? To make the analogy stronger, both Pierce and Davenport are veterans on their last legs in professional tennis.

Ganpati Bappa Moraya

On the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, Namaskar. The enthusiasm of the youngsters in organizing the society Ganpati celebrations brought back nostalgic memories of those good old days in Rajdoot, the place I used to live as a lad. The last 2 years when I was overseas, I had kind of missed this excitement. Of course we had Ganpati celebrations at a few of my friends' place but the atmosphere here is totally different. There are programs like dramas, dance and music at night and it is just wonderful.

Which brings me to another important social issue. For what is Ganeshotsav if not a celebration of the society ? It so happens that this year, all our evening programs start at 8 pm. Which means that people like my father won't be able to enjoy most of these. Why is it so ? Because it has been ruled that the use of loudspeakers will not be allowed beyond 10 pm.

I find this really very disturbing. I am all for allowing people their privacy and peace. I do not support the blaring use of loudspeakers at night that ruins the lives of those all around. But if you are not allowed open-air theatres beyond 10 pm at night nor the use of light-and-sound of Ganpati, you are really destroying the soul of the whole festival. It is an occasion for families to get out and roam the streets of Pune late into the night watching the various decorated Ganpatis. If all is going to be shut at 10 pm, how do you expect someone who works hard till say 9 o clock return home and take his family out to enjoy the festivities ??

I think this is a problem of rigidity, adamancy and stubbornness alongwith a lack of will and organization. One must make exceptions for cases like these. Of course, you might argue that it would be unfair on others who might want exceptions on occasions of say Id, Christmas etc (hypothetically). Sure, if so is the case, I have no problems in granting them the exceptions as well. The issue is that this is what the people want. It is not something for 1 particular individual. After all, since our legislators represent us, they should make the exceptions in the law and I do not quite blame the courts as much as I blame them.

Another arguement is that Ganpati is a phenomenon restricted to the people of Maharashtra, more particularly those of Mumbai and even more than Mumbai, Pune. The ban on use of loudspeakers is nationwide and is overseen by the Supreme Court. What do the politicians in Delhi care of what we want here locally ?? To hell with this rubbish, I say ! I think we should fight for greater autonomy. Such decisions which are not of national importance should definitely be made at state level, if not even lower. In the United States, every city has the autonomy to decide on use of fireworks and the like. If you do not allow each city to retain its soul, its character what is to happen to the great Indian ideal of "Unity in Diversity" ? How is the diversity going to be sustained ? Isn't this akin to the BJP's dangerous proposal of a Uniform Civil Code ? We should take care that we do not destroy the diversity of this country in strengthening the unity.

Already, great traditional cultural activities in Pune like the Sawai Gandharva have had to bear the brunt of this draconian rule. I would like the PMC to file a PIL against this and this should come now for next year. Not five days before. I would also like people to undertake civil disobedience and court arrest. Of course, I doubt any of this is going to happen. We are like this only. Aren't we ?

Update: In lieu of the the restrictions on the loudspeakers, the leading Ganpati mandals decided to initiate action. The 5 Manache Ganpati decided to observe an hour of silence for one hour as a mark of protest. The newspapers too were filled with stories of the death-like silence that had marred this year's celebrations. It looked likely that some sort of action would follow. However the next day a poll in the newspaper showed that in fact over 70% of the people were happy with the embargo on loudspeakers and did not support the Ganesh Mandal's protests. This was an eye-opener for me. Truly, the residents of Laxmi Road and downtown Pune must have been relieved and happy at being able to live in peace and silence. What still needs to be addressed however is the issue of the blanket ban. True, a loud-speaker blaring out stuff like "Dhoom Machale Dhoom" and "Kajara re" for hours late at night is definitely a pest and should be an absolute no-no. On the other hand, a loudspeaker that is narrating a story about some scene or is used for open air theatre should be allowed to function ?!?! The issue is one of discrimination. We are very good at discrimination in general. We have reservations in colleges, in the Parliament, in the Government jobs and now are planning to extend it to the private sector. Why then do we refuse to discriminate here ?

Pune Traffic

This morning I was a victim of the notorious Pune traffic system. No, don't worry - I did not face a near-death experience. "Earree !! Mag kay ??" I know several of you will rebuke me for making such a big deal. If it is not near-death, it is not worth fretting about, is it ?? An hour's delay here and there is something to be expected, is it not ? Well, what if I then tell you that my delay didn't really last for an hour but about ten minutes ?? Well, I can already hear the "pch pch" es from all of you - What a cry-baby I am ! Ain't I ??

So be it. I will lodge my complaint anyway. This morning I was walking to the nearby grocer (kiranamalacha dukaan), Umesh to get some milk. Those who are aware of the geography of the region will agree that walking out of the back gate of Himali Society via the narrow lane that opens into Lakshminarayan Nagar on the left, it should take an average walker no more than five minuted to get to Umesh. Allowing for two minutes ito get the milk (he is very efficent, that man), the complete excursion should not take more than 12 minutes. Of course, only if you do not take into account the delay caused by the infinite time required to cross the Gulawni Maharaj Road. So it happened that today it took me about 20 minutes to complete the above mission.

To look to your right and see an ocean of cars and two-wheelers like Ganpatis in the Anant Chaturdashi procession is quite overwhelming. I waited for ten minutes (well maybe seven to eight, but what the hell) patiently looking for an opening. Again, I can hear you chiding me for following the wrong strategy and then bickering. "This is not the way it works in Pune, is it ?? You have to keep moving forward regardless of the flow and through the chaos will emerge a strange kind of order and you will reach your destination safely 99% of the time, isn't it ??" Well, call me American-minded (since I have just returned after staying there for two years) for expecting a sense of discipline and method if you like. I am sorry, when it comes to such things where I feel the American way is right, I will not desist from saying so. I expect some sense of decorum. I expect that while the traffic is in flow, the pedestrians should stop and the vehicles return the favour in due course of time.

It is not that I just want to bicker and preach. I want to practically try to analyse the situation and make suggestions to improve it. One, the difficulty mainly arises with the traffic that is moving towards Mhatre Bridge, not away from it. This can quite clearly be attributed to the existence of the signal just after Mhatre Bridge at the ... Chowk. (Note to self: Find out the name of this chowk, too) which regulates the flow of traffic allowing periods of calm for the pedestrians to cross. Now, there exists a signal at the other end too - near Kirloskar Cummins - (Note to self: Find out the name of this chowk also) which clearly isn't functional. At least, it was not this morning and based on the experiences of many people's complaints and resultant reluctance to cross this road, does not for a major part of the time. It is imperative that this should be looked into. There should be no excuse for a signal not functioning at all. People not obeying it is a secondary matter. Otherwise there is no way we can break out of this vicious circle - vehicles not bothering to stop to allow pedestrians to cross and pedestrians pushing their way through. As I said that it will work 99% of the time is no justification. Last week an old woman was killed in front of Vishrambaug Wada doing just this. The papers were quick to castigate the "reckless vehicle drivers" but can they really be blamed if people are pushing their way through heavy traffic ?? The next day, another paper carried a piece lambasting these "careless and irresponsible pedestrians" - but pray what are they supposed to do ?? Wait for an eternity to find some breathing space ?? Clearly the answer does not lie in blaming either. The time must be fairly divided to allow both proper use. After the Vishrambaug Wada incident, the city police were shaken into action - and the idea of using a rope at the signal at Alka is certainly a welcome one. But at other places like this one too, signals must be strictly enforced.

Now let us look at the context. Umesh is a pretty well-known and significant trader and has several customers in the region, particularly in Himali. There are a lot of senior citizens living in Himali and while most are fairly well-to-do, not all have servants who can deliver their groceries home. Even though Umesh provides for home deliveries when purchases are made in bulk, there are occasions where people will want the odd item like I did this morning or where they will just feel like walking to the grocers. This number will soon grow when more people move in into the newly built Sankul. Already there is a lot of traffic flowing in and out of Dinanath Hospital - access to which from either side is not easy to put it mildly. In such a scenario it would not be unjustifiable to demand for a signal in the Chowk of Umesh itself. At least, the authorities should make sure that the existing signals are functioning properly.

It is said "Charity begins at Home." I think we need to start taking an interest and resolving local issues like these. There is no question Pune is growing fast. But it is growing in a wild, indisciplined manner. We need to make sure that it remains a decent place to live in. We need to follow the examples of Bangalore (BATF) and Kozhikode (the first litter-free city in India). I wonder if there is any group of bloggers interested in making Pune a better place and are working for that - I would be keen to join - similar to the effort 'Mumbai Help' by some Mumbai bloggers. While Pune has been lucky that it has suffered much less than Mumbai with regards to natural and man-made disasters, it is severely lacking in other respects such as traffic and discipline.

I admit I don't really know how to go about trying to make a difference by myself. I know I should and I probably will communicate this to the authorities, newspapers etc but we all know for any change to happen, people in large numbers need to come out and voice their opinion. I am not the best at organizing people to do that. Hence I am making use of this blog to communicate with similar-thinking people who are interested in bringing about a change. Let us hope we can make a difference.

Update: I did check the signal later in the evening and while it was working, it is run in such a manner that it gives the pedestrians negligible time to cross. Really, it should be better regulated.

Weird Windows XP

Over the past few days, I was facing peculiar problems browsing the Internet via my new HP Notebook. Peculiar because several sites like Blogger, Cricinfo, Yahoo Mail refused to load at various times. And did load on other occasions. Every time it seemed it was some site or the other that caused problems and I could find no underlying pattern. All this while MSN and Yahoo Messengers performed to perfection.

I tried the usual fixes. Went through two vain attempts of troubleshooting the problem. My brother had already disabled the firewalls so I was sure that that was not what was causing the problems. When I looked up on the Internet today, someone suggested that I should check Internet Explorer in the Exceptions to Windows Firewall List. Though it should not have made a difference, the firewall already being disabled, I went ahead and did it anyway. Lo and behold, here I am comfortably able to access all the above mentioned sites and writing to you all via one of them !!

Really weird. I wonder if this is just another manifestation of random behavior of software in general or Windows XP in particular and if in ten hours' time Im frustrated by the same old problems again. Or is this really a bug in Windows XP ?? My friends in Microsoft, care to help me out ??

Of Hope ...

Have been reading reports of the terrible tragedy Mumbai suffered - all over the electronic media and in the blogosphere. Sitting here 5000 miles away it is difficult to completely grasp the gravity of the situation but even if I was in closeby Pune which was completely unaffected I'm sure it would have made no difference. Once again the spirit of Mumbai and the Mumbaikar has shone through and the city is slowly (or maybe prettty quickly) returning to normal. On this occasion, I remember and find it apt to quote a poem by the Late Harivanshray Bachchan that I studied while in high school:

Need Ka Nirman Phir Phir, Neh Ka Ahvan Phir Phir
Yeh Uthee Aandhi Ki Nabh Mein Chha Gaya Sahasa Andhera
Dhooli Dhoosar Badalon Ne Bhoomi Ko Is Bhaanti Ghera
Raat Sa Din Ho Gaya Phir Raat Aayee Aur Kali
Lag Raha Tha Ab Na Hoga Is Nisha Ka Phir Savera
Raat Ke Utpaat Bhay Se Bheet Jan Jan Bheet Kan Kan
Kintu Prachi Se Usha Ki Mohini Muskaan Phir Phir

Jaayenge Kahan ? Soojhta Nahin
Chal Pade Magar Raasta Nahin
Kya Talaash Hain ? Kuch Pata Nahin ...

Parineeta

Overall an excellent movie. Parineeta means "The Married Woman" - a fact I discovered only during the movie. Kind of helped me appreciate it all the more. The story albeit simple is a pretty well-acclaimed classic but where the director Pradeep Sarkar scores is in its sensitive yet well-paced handling. Nowhere (except at the fag-end ... "Tod Shekhar Tod" ...) can you sense a trivialisation of issues (unlike Munnabhai MBBS, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's previous work); at the same time your patience is not tested by ultra-sentimental and hyper-emotional scenes.

I will not dwell too much on the story here, but just briefly describe what I appreciated the most. Lolita (Vidya Balan) is the central character - the married woman, the Parineeta. Her lifelong love is Shekhar (Saif) - a love while strong and pure, is unexpressed in words and almost taken for granted to the point where it is never acknowledged until the arrival of a third angle Girish (Sanjay Dutt). In one moment of realization, unknown to the rest of the word Shekhar makes Lolita his Parineeta. But things take a turn, Shekhar is convinced that Lolita has given in to circumstances (which I wont describe here) and decided to wed Girish. He condemns her and decides to move on with life and get married. On the day of his wedding Girish arrives to finally let him know that Lolita had in fact refused to marry him(Girish) because she has already accepted Shekhar as her husband. What happens next is obvious (even trivial). But herein lies the essence of the story.

The strengths of the movie are many, primarily the direction - the portrayal of the 1950s Kolkata is immaculate. While the obvious indicators are minimal - the Victoria Memorial, the Hooghly Bridge and the Goddess Durga make only momentary appearances; it is in the other minute details - the characterization and the picturisation that the director has been able to bring out the true spirit of Kolkata - a tribute to him and the entire cast.

The songs while stopping short of being great are very very good. "Piyu bole" is melodious and hummable while "Kaisi Paheli Zindagani" is truly enjoyable - Rekha is amazing.

Finally, the starcast. Saif delivers another extraordinary performance. While I believe his role in Hum Tum though good was not worth a National Award there is no doubt that Saif's star is on the rise and since 2001 he has been the biggest hit in Bollywood consistently. He portrays the rich, young Bengali babu perfectly but the movie in the truest sense belongs to the Parineeta - the beautiful and hugely talented Vidya Balan. She has literally walked into a very demanding role with utmost ease. Nowhere do you find her making an effort - she looks most natural. Sanjay Dutt is good only in parts and probably looks a tad too old for the role. The support cast is excellent.

In the end, a comparison with Devdas is inevitable - both being Sarat Chandra's novels. Parineeta in my view scores hands down over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus. While the main reason is that Parineeta is simply a much better and positive story, the relatively light-weight starcast has also been a plus-factor. Devdas it seemed was made to showcase Aishwarya, Madhuri and Shahrukh and was resultantly much too elaborate even gaudy. In Parineeta the actors fit into the characters so smoothly to result into an almost perfectly underplayed product.

Wimbledon

Very enthralling match - the Women's final - 2 veteran Americans, Venus and Lindsay producing some marvellous tennis to give us one of the best women's finals in recent memory- particularly after the farce at Roland Garros ... and last year's mismatch between Serena and Sharapova. This is the real stuff ... reminiscent of some of the great finals that the Williams sisters played in the 2002-03 period ... Still anybody's game at a set-all and on serve in the third ...

Lindsay got off to a great start ... though Venus fought back she took the first set and had a chance to serve out the match but Venus fought back with seven straight points and I was happy then because I want to see a longer match ... but now I think I'm supporting Lindsay again ... because she is the older player and this could very well be her last realistic shot at Wimbledon ... probably at any major .. Come to think of it she could be the oldest player to win since Martina Navratilova in 1990 !!

Update: Venus in trouble on her serve ... is the end near ??

10:56 am Central Time Venus broken but breaks right back !!! Great game continues ... We could be here for a while

11:00 am Central Time Sad !! Lindsay has an injury and has to take time-out !! Just when she was almost 5-2 up in the final set ... we are back on serve still ... and this could still go wither way after the break ... Venus looking remarkably and unusually calm and composed ... gotta say she is the favorite from now on ...

11:06 am Central Time Lindsay is back and fighting but Venus appears much the superior player now .... Great pity if the match is decided due to injury ... as it looks like 4-4 now ... taking away nothing from Venus though ... great match

11:10 am Central Time A great point a couple of errors ... Lindsay is back on top ... this match never ceases to surprise ... one game away from a hugely-deserved win ... can't help feeling it is going to be Venus's superior physical ability vs Lindsay's will-power now ... after all she surely wants this MUCH more desperately than Venus at the age of 29 ... in close situations like these it is often the one who is mentally stronger that wins ... could be Lindsay's game after all ... Venus exploiting Lindsay's injury going for her body all the time ... still too close to call Venus at 4-5, 30-15

11:14 am Central Time Lindsay has match point and Venus saves it ... no nerves there !!

11:16 am Central Time 5-5 and this could well go on to be a classic in the mold of the Graf-Sanchez match of 1995

11:25 am Central Time Again Lindsay has a chance on the Venus serve at Deuce ... every point is crucial from now on in ... and nervous times for the server !! Thats the way to beat it ... hit an ace !! Only Williams third of the match

11:27 am Central Time It is 6-6, no one letting down ... this is now the longest ladies final in Wimbledon history

11:29 am Central Time (Time zone implicitly assumed now): We are likely to go on and on here ... Lindsay leading 7-6 and for the first time Venus looking a bit ruffled ... vow ... really difficult to bet on this one now ... thought Im tending towards Lindsay ... gut feeling ... and even difficult to predict what the final score will be

11:33 What a dejavu !! Again Lindsay had 15-30 on the Venus serve and after a mesmerising power-filled rally it is 7-7

11:38 It seemed like that rally would be decisive - so it might be !! Venus having the better of some great power rallies - and though Lindsay fights Venus now has the break ... but this has been tennis of the highest class - especially the last set and in particular the last 2 games ... this is the longest third set in the history of the Championships

11:42 All over ?? Now Venus with 3 match-points !!

11:44 Indeed it is all over !! Venus Williams 4-6, 7-6, 9-7 in a classic final and a most magnificent comeback performance against a valiant 29-year old lady ... Really no losers in this one !!

With 3 Wimbledon titles now, Venus can have some legitimate claim to consider herself above the plethora of one-time (or 2-time) winners ... and hope to get closer to the levels of champions such as Steffi Graf and Martina Navaratilova

Home

Lord Im Five Thousand Miles Away From Home !!
I wanna go home ...

Update:
Not a shirt to my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go back home this a way !!!

I Wish

The Earth Opened Up And Swallowed Me ...

Ideology Change

I'm going through a process of ideology change I think ... I no longer feel that I am a firm believer in the principle of rationality and scientific thinking. I am beginning to see that there are certain things that are beyond the comprehension of the rational mind and need to be taken care of by the heart, instinct, gut ... whatever you call it ...

So I will be revamping the structure of this page quite a bit soon ...

Addicted

To Coffee ?? I feel like drinking coffee all the time ... It is the way I find relaxation and peace of mind in these turbulent times ... Am I going insane ??

Update: I do not actually have coffee 25 times a day. I just feel like. I have it only twice.

Chaos

... not just in my mind but also elsewhere in the Universe. Chaos - The Making of A New Science - amazing book ... just started reading this week. By James Gleick. It is science and non-fiction but written with amazing clarity and simplicity.

Just to make things clearer ... remember that stuff about "A butterfly flapping its wings in China can affect the wheat production in Indonesia and cause thunderstorms in New YorK" ? ... well it is about that stuff ... although let me warn you the above is not literally true ... or is it ??

:(

Feeling low again. This is how I feel every morning these days and fortuantely/unfortunately it changes dramatically in the evenings to being hopeful ... weird cycle that I need to get out of. Have no work to do, missing home ... missing friends ?? ... I don't think so ... just the fact that I have very little clue what I want to do with my life

An empty mind is the devil's workshop .... Gimme some work to do !!!

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham

The old saying which has been brought into disrepute as a result of being entitled upon a mediocre film. That does not however take away from the veracity of it.

Sitting alone in a distant land, doing nothing, pondering and worrying about the future, longing for home, and at the same time eager to find that place of eternal joy and fulfillment in life, it is natural to connect to the Internet and start Orkutting or browsing people's blogs - and then the realization dawns - that the World is not against you and that you are not the victim of some wicked conspiracy - (wow ! Just realized I tend to write much more fluently if I let it flow rather than go for well-thought constructions) - anyway, you realize that everyone wants the same things in life - joy, achievement, love, home and is struggling in his/her own way through difficult times in that particular quest. Kind of makes you ashamed of yourself for brooding over less serious problems when you read some of what people are going through - also makes you realize that there is no shame in being uncertain, groping about and insecure and also in admitting it openly.

Back to that good old (non)movie title - the happinesses and sorrows of the World flip-flop more frequently than I thought - I imagined it would be a period of a few weeks or months - but the more I think of it - it can vary every half an hour or so - because after all, so much of it depends on what you choose it to be. Like those other eternal truths, beauty and trouble they too lie in the eyes of the beholder.

Faith

There comes a time in life when one feels the need to believe in faith.

Being a rational and scientific-minded person I was of the opinion that everything had a rational explanation, that with sufficient effort one can, with the assistance of nothing but one's mind work out any circumstance he encounters.

But today I realize that one needs to have faith at least to believe in him/herself. That whatever actions one takes (s)he shall hold him/herself accountable and have the courage to keep going ahead unwavering.

"So What's Your Plan ?"

When you are 23, single and just out of school that is often the most exclusive and frightening question you are attacked with. With time you develop your defenses and have at your disposal a ready response to shut off the questioners.

But yesterday I discovered that the weapon is not quite exclusively designed to attack and knock the sails out off the aforementioned category of persons. It is a universal irritant that can be employed against anyone by anyone at anytime.

I was exhausted after manfully defending against it for the last few days. Then in front of my eyes and to my astonishment, it was directed at my six-year old cousin !!! "So what's your plan for the summer ??" Poor chap - he replied earnestly after much thought - swimming in the pool, playing computer games - but that was simply not a good enough defense !! A more detailed explanation was demanded of the nature of the computer games - why and which and what else ??

Take a chill pill people !!!

For The Sake Of A Pizza

Last night, my friend and I decided to go to Pizza Hut. Unfortunately we were greeted at the door by a board saying - "Sorry. Computer Not Working. No Credit Cards Will Be Accepted." For a fleeting moment, I thought about offering to fix their computer in return for Pizza, but we decided to take the more mundane option of retrieving some cash from an ATM.

It turns out ATMs are not as populous a species as I believed they were, at least not in Iowa City. You will find them at the Malls and near the banks, but not always near major stores like Walmart and K-mart and we happened to encounter a lack of these today. My friend was ravenously hungry, so we decided to explore a better alternative than going elsewhere in search of food or an ATM.

One of the great latent advantages of possessing a debit card is the power it bestows upon you to go to any major store, buy some trinket and take away a huge amount of cash, a system they call "cashback" - something I had never bothered to give serious consideration before. However, 2 years of cashiers politely enquiring "Any cashback, sir ?" with much redundancy had made me aware of its existence. So enter we did K-Mart, in order to acquire the 20 bucks or so that would allow us to have our weekly Pizza.

I am no avid shopper. I hate going out there and spending hours browsing through the stuff on offer before purchasing. I'd much rather go there with a detailed specification of what I want, get it and get out of there. Having said that, I never thought I would walk into a shopping situation like this and be unable to buy or want to buy *anything*.

T-shirts are always welcome, but I have just got a whole new army of those; tennis racquets don't do harm but K-Mart is hardly the place to buy them and there are no books !! I have no idea where the chocolates are and with every second we are getting more and more ravenous for the impending Pizza. Finally I decide, that a 12-pack of Pepsi in the fridge can never hurt, we pick it up and get in the line for checkout. Some woman who evidently has a lot of cash (unlike us) is taking her own merry time at the counter and on more than one occasion I have a good mind to smash the 12-pack on her head.

As we make progress in the line however I begin to wonder about the benefits of having a 12-pack in the fridge when I am going to leave the town in 4 days time. I mean that is still 8 bucks !! What do we do ?? Finally I spy some things nice and cheap and that could never be wasted - a boll-pen !! - that all-time classic, chocolate - oh hell, why don't they put them everywhere ? and some gum. Well any one of these would have sufficed but it just doesn't feel too good to demand a 20$cash back on something priced at 30 cents, so all three went in for 2$. The lady at the counter was told that I didnt really want the 12-pack and I was fairly impressed by the impassivity and lack of surprise shown - these people are real pros - and we finally departed with a lot of relief and hilarity.

Master Of One Trade

Graduated with a Master's Degree in Computer Science Saturday.

Phew ! The Convocation Ceremony is some experience - albeit an exhausting one.
There are so many PhD graduates - and for each there is usually a "Prof. XYZ" who "assists with the hooding." And if that is not elaborate and time-consuming enough, the person on stage repeats the above sentence every single time. I'm sure he must have woken up several times in the middle of the night muttering something about Professors and hoods much to his wife's distress. My - apply a little bit of "common" arithmetic here - by common I mean the method of taking out the common factor - we all know that the person who "will assist with the hooding" is a "Professor" and that he will indeed "assist with the hooding" - take that out of the brackets for goodness sake. Just say the names of the Professor and the student !! And to put the icing on the cake, we need to sit through this for 2 hours wearing not only the graduation gown, a piece of cloth which is undoubtedly an honor and a privilege but also one that generates extreme body heat when adorned, but also a blazer and a tie, on chairs that are placed infinitesimally apart.

But all in all, it is an occasion to remember - with family and friends watching - it feels nice. I dont know whether I will ever be experiencing that feeling again.

Lot On The Plate

Apologies for the lack of any interesting or rather *any* posts in recent times. Fact of the matter is there is lot on the plate at the moment. And even excluding what has gone in the past few days, there are still the following upcoming items on the agenda:

May 10 - Parents arriving for graduation; pick them up from airport
May 11 - Exam at the diabolic time of 7.30 in the morning, project report due later
May 12 - Take Home Exam of one of the toughest courses offered due, attend a function in celebration of graduation
May 13 - Grading papers
May 14 - Graduation, throw a party (and help organize it)
May 15 - Travel to and sight-see Chicago
May 16 - Return to Iowa City
May 17, 18, 19 - Prepare for upcoming job interview
May 20 - Fly to Houston to Mama's place
May 21, 22 - Continue Studying for upcoming interview
May 23, 24 - Trip to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon
May 26 - The Interview

And it is not as if it ends there, but I guess you get the picture. So ...

The Ultimate Answer

Some of my friends seem to have been disappointed by their first-day-first-show (henceforth referred to as FDFS) experience at the movies this Friday. I was so lucky then in that respect. Yesterday, I happened to watch this wonderful movie - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - based on Douglas Adams' book - vow - I must get my hands on that soon now - blast ! I haven't been reading *anything* for a loooooong time - anyway, those of you have had the good fortune of reading this book - you will know what the story is - but for those who don't - this is about a time when the Earth was demolished to make way for a hyper-space super-highway and how Arthur Kent (the hitchhiker) manages to get a ride through the galaxy.

The best part comes when Deep Thought - the computer designed to find the answer to the ultimate question - i.e. "What is life, existence and all that ?" processes it for 7.5 million years and outputs 42 !!! Yes, the ultimate answer is 42. What a climax !! Reminds me of a time when a friend of mine had claimed that for any 2 vectors f and u, the best scale of u that fits f is square root of 2 .... but whatever !! and then the computer helpfully suggests that it was not the ultimate question and had they taken more trouble to frame the input correctly, the answer could have been more helpful. It also offers to construct this machine for them.

For this and much more geeky fun stuff ... the Hitchhiker is a must-watch ... and for me a must-read !!

Outsourcing

Interesting, to say the least, is this article in today's Tabloid Of India. After IT and BPO, now the next big thing outsourced is the school-leaving exam papers of British kids. Now I am not completely pro or anti outsourcing. I believe it has its place and importance although I do not think in the long run it is going to be beneficial to anyone. But clearly, there is some sort of outrage in the British media about this. Of course there are atrocious comments flying around that "Indians can't read English" - which is such a load of tosh - Indian English is one of the best in the World. But the weird part is this organization which is doing the outsourcing claims to be non-profit. Pray, what then is the reason ?? Do the people in Britain consider grading the papers of their young too difficult or demanding or unimportant a job ?? Or does the body simply believe that the Indians are much better at it ??

Either way, I would like you to think about what you would have felt had you been told that your 10th standard exam papers were being outsourced to Sri Lanka or Bangladesh for grading !!

Happy Days Are Here Again

It is hot out there. The temperature touched 81 today and the night is only 10 degrees cooler. I feel much better in this kind of weather. Spring time is finally here and the trees have begun to coyly exhibit some of their leaves. People have gone back to covering less of their selves and campus seems buzzing even late nights on weekdays.

I am also particularly happy because I have been playing tennis this last weekend. Cricket is the greatest but I am kind of out of form ( that seems to be the in-thing these days) . Badminton is fun but nothing can come close to a good hard game of tennis especially if it is followed by a great chug of icy cold water or a bottle of Gatorade !!