AMPHA's Thoughtscapes

Suryanamaskars

2008-06-23T09:14:00.003-05:00

I was taught Suryanamaskars when I was a kid. I never liked it. I was told that doing it regularly is beneficial in the long term, but I never understood what long term is. But I did start practicing it (6 reps each day) since around 3-4 years back and have now appreciated its significance. No joint/back/neck pain whatsoever. Now I've ramped it up to 12 reps (as it should be classically!) and am feeling the effect. The entire body feels toned.

I feel one of the main reasons people start exercise and discontinue it soon is because they have to go out of their schedule or routine to accommodate it. Like going to a gym to do exercise is taking time out and traveling. This hampers the routine and results in discontinuity. So it is really important to merge the exercise routine in your daily chores. Its very easy to do it with Suryanamaskars. 12 Suryanamaskars take not more than 10 minutes and can be done just before or after you take a bath on bare flooring.

Post-91 !!

2008-02-15T08:06:00.001-05:00

Today we accidentally visited a new restaurant in Koregaon Park called "Post-91". Accidentally because we turned a wrong lane for the one we planned to go to. But since Post-91 beckoned, we went in. As I went in I was intrigued by the name "Post-91". Why would someone name a restaurant like that? Has it got to do something with 9/11? If so, where is the other "1"? A friend pointed out that an inside page of the menu-card explained the meaning. The menu-card revealed that "Post-91" really meant post-1991: The period after India embraced liberalization. The period after she put an end to archaic and absurd ideologies. The restaurant wanted to celebrate the period following liberalization: resulting in India's unprecedented economic growth over continuous years. What a novel way to think! Pune must be the city with the largest restaurant density anywhere in the world. But if such "thinkers" are behind these restaurants then what the hell? Lets have more!

Einstein's God

2007-09-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

I was totally impressed by Deepak Chopra's piece on Secular Spirituality (what a term!) based on Albert Einstein's pursuit of God. He wrote a 5-part series on the topic which is posted on Intentblog I've compiled in one place. Definitely worth your time.

Recently, a book caught my eye during a visit to Crossword and that was Dawkin's "The God Delusion". Here is Deepak's reaction to that. Enjoy!

Vote for Taj 'scam'

2007-08-06T00:32:00.001-05:00

As Shobha De rightly points out the "Vote for Taj" 'scam' (New Seven Wonders of the World fame) benefited only 2 people: The foreign entrepreneur who thought of the idea to dupe the gullible and Bipasha Basu who shot to international fame with her pub antics with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Great Cartoon Strip

2007-07-27T09:02:00.001-05:00

I hit upon this strip by chance two years back. I wanted to read a comic strip and went to a generic website hosting many. I just opened the drop down list and selected one at random. It turned out to be Pearl Before Swine (PBS)। I read it and found it raw but comic. I decided to explore its kind of humour further. So I read the previous day's strip. Then the day previous to it and went on till the beginning of that month. Subscribed for its email delivery and have been getting it since. It goes from dumb to hilarious or hilariously dumb to painfully hilarious! It takes on politics, current affairs, fashion, trends through its animal characters: Rat, pig, zebra (zeeba!), the crocs, guard duck and many more! Lawyer turned cartoonist Stephen Pastis! I take a bow!

मेरा पहला हिंदी पोस्ट

2007-05-07T08:02:00.000-05:00

यह कया हो रहा है ?? गुगल सचमुच जबर्दस्त है !! ट्रांस्लितेरेशन का जवाब नहीं! वाह!
मायक्रोसोफ्त्त और याहू! का बज्ज गया बैंड !!!

Hindi Blogging

2007-05-07T07:44:00.001-05:00

Brainstorming is a process carried out to explore a multitude of ideas for tackling a problem and choosing the best solution from those. What if all ideas germinating from a brainstorming session are implemented. Who would do that? Of course Google! I am not positive on this, but looking at this Hindi transliteration feature enabled on Blogger I'm compelled to believe so! Too good. No wonder Microsoft is buying Yahoo to tackle the mammoth Google!

Sudha Murthy Style

2007-03-15T09:40:00.001-05:00

"Amma what is your duty?" is her daughter question that stirred Sudha Murthy into being a philanthropist. Wife of the billionaire Infosys founder (I don't think this is an apt introduction for her), Sudha Murthy is the most unidentifiable billionaire-wife. As these two articles from Pune Newsline and Pune Times highlight this woman of substance, its really such people that redefine power. Anyone but Oscar Schindler might disagree!

Clad in a simple saree, wearing glass bangles, a crescent shaped bindi and a modest jhola/bag hanging over her shoulder is how she would mostly be seen. Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar (for those who don't know they are among the few Marathi film-makers making sensible stuff) have now made a 50-minute documentary of how she, during her childhood, taught her grandmother to read. They are following this up with episodes based on Sudha Murthy's books. Yes she writes too!

This is Ganguly!

2006-12-17T01:58:00.000-05:00

VRV Singh is batting with Sourav Ganguly at the crease. Its the last Indian batting pair. Commentators are talking about how Ganguly should retain strike as much as possible, avoid unnecessary singles and singles of last balls: everything that'd keep VRV Singh off strike. And what does Ganguly do? Exactly the opposite! He keeps hitting singles and bringing VRV Singh on strike. He doesn't hesitate to run off last ball of any over. VRV Singh, consequently, comes to strikes and make the South Africans pay! He hits them like no one ever expected! That sums up Ganguly rather the 'returned' Ganguly if you will. Unselfishly not playing for his half century and keeping faith in his tail-ender partner he helps India reach 250 when 180 was once the best case target! This is precisely the Ganguly of the late 90s and early 2000s that instilled confidence in his younger players. It was good that he was dropped an year ago when he had lost it. Its better that he has now been taken back since he is now what The Ganguly was all about. Welcome back Sourav Ganguly!

Let The Ashes Begin

2006-11-22T01:48:00.000-05:00

The Ashes begin from tomorrow and thank God we finally have some serious cricketing atmosphere. No more "cricket weds entertainment", no more Mandira Bedis, Charu Sharmas and Rohit Roys (??!!) on cricket shows! No bullsh*t. Phew! Pure, unadulterated and classic Test match cricket !! Added to it the likes of Ian Chappell, Ritchie Benaud, Mark Taylor, Ian Healy and last but not the least Bill Lawry commentating!! Although the Aussies start as clear-cut favourites we can hope for some surprises for the sake of cricket.

Watch out for Al-Gebra

2006-11-16T02:02:00.000-05:00

Sometimes email forwards are worth your time. Like this one I'm quoting below. It depicts the present American paranoia and disillusionment in a genuine but amazingly funny way!

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. "Al-gebra is a problem for us," Gonzales said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

Now that is something, isn't it? !!

Penalty for celebration

2006-10-22T02:55:00.000-05:00

Andriy Shevchenko scored for Chelsea after a big hiatus, got exalted and a yellow card for the celebration. Unfair one would think, but I guess he'd take it. Rules anyway seem unfair when applied in festive situations. A goal in football can be equivalent to a half-century in cricket as far as a non-scoring player goes. Hopefully this will break Sheva's deadlock. Ballack too scored after a long time! Lampard breaks the jinx next? Sure hope so!

Do You Know?

2006-10-09T00:24:00.000-05:00

Tommy Lee Jones has an unparalleled dialogue delivery style!
Quoting him (Agent K) from "Men in Black" speaking to Will Smith (Agent J),

"...1500 years ago, everybody "knew" that the earth was the center of the universe.
500 years ago, everybody "knew" that the earth was flat.
And 15 minutes ago, you "knew" that humans were alone on this planet.
Imagine what you'll "know" tomorrow..."

Can't imagine anyone else saying that with an intensity to drive home a point!
You've got to see it to believe it.. Too Good !!!

First release 1976

2006-10-04T13:06:00.000-05:00

You've got to listen to this amazing ABBA song. Its called "Crazy World". Firstly its a bit of an offbeat ABBA song since no girls are involved in the singing. Well that easily eliminates 99% of ABBA's songs! Anyway peruse through its amazing lyrics below and enjoy the surprise at the end! It was quite uncanny how I concentrated over these lines hearing them while on my bike amidst Pune's evening rush hour traffic! So here goes-

I was out for the morning sun
Couldn't sleep so I thought I'd take a walk
I was thinking of you and me
And I went to your house 'coz I had to talk
I could hardly believe my eyes
When I saw this guy closing your front door
Had a feeling of emptiness
Like I've never had before

And I close my eyes
Will you leave me, girl?
And I realise
Its a crazy world

As he disappeared in his car
I was stunned and I didn't know what to do
Everything I had ever been
Everything in my life's a part of you
And I just couldn't move my feet
So I stood on the pavement as you came out
You acted as you didn't know
What it was all about!

And I close my eyes
Will you leave me, girl?
And I realise
Its a crazy world

Baby how could you do it?
You just told me lies
Had you been behind my back with other guys?
Baby how could you tell me
There was only me
I was stupid to believe you
I was blind but now I see

Then you smiled and you took my hand
there is something, you said, that you may not know,
There's a couple of men in my life,
And one of them is my brother Joe!
He's been gone for a long long time
But now he's back and I think he's gonna stay,
You'll be seeing a lot of him
He's so nice in every way.

And I close my eyes
Never leave me, girl
And I realise
Its a crazy world!
So I close my eyes
Never leave me, girl
Then I realise
Its a crazy world

Song performed by the ABBA boys - B.Andersson & B.Ulvaeus

(First release 1976)

Lyrics original link

Food for thought: Analyze This!

2006-09-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

First a few words of why I'm making this post. I was sent an article in email. Due to multiple forwards before it got to me it had been totally distorted in text and paragraphs. So I decided to find the true source of the article. I browsed through the garbled text to find what the heading of the article would possibly be. Now you'd think why should this be so difficult? Because a heading is always that - a heading i.e. at the beginning. But its not necessarily so simple with forwards! That is so because there were many lines added in the beginning by forwarders themselves which made it difficult to find the heading! So then I found one line which didn't have any related sentence before or after it. Bingo I thought! Copy pasted the line in Google search bar and voila! I had the original link to the article. (And yes, I had correctly guessed the heading!)

The article presents a good point of view of normally taken-for-granted things when it comes to Indians living/studying/working in the US. If you've been to the US for study or work you'll identify with it. If you haven't it is still a good read. Food for thought guaranteed!!

Twenty20 Hit Hai Fit Hai !!

2006-08-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

I just found some tangibles which indicate that Twenty20 matches have it in them to become a rage in India. One of them is this: My mom watched an entire Twenty20 game between Essex & Middlesex a few weeks ago. And she was enjoying it. Now THAT is not normal. She normally cannot sit through even 5 minutes in a ODI, leave alone Tests. So basically this format has some zing which makes even the teams playing it irrelevant. Thats why I think it will work wonders for India's 1st Class circuit. If not more, it'll at least develop some good hitters and death-overs bowlers. My suggestion for the selectors: Make a Twenty20 team for international matches that has only young players from the current international squad along with a few good hitters coming out of the 1st Class circuit.

Purists will keep ranting like they did when ODIs were first introduced. They then claimed that ODIs would destroy Tests. They now claim that Twenty20 will destroy ODIs. That ODIs have enhanced Test matches where teams now go for results with aggressive gameplans is the actual effect.

Butterfly's Chaos

2006-07-26T08:50:00.000-05:00

When I was reading Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, I first got to know of the existence of the concept of chaos theory. Of course it was through the character of Ian Malcom (played by Jeff Goldblum in the movie). The theory got more coverage in its sequel novel The Lost World again through the character of Malcom. For starters chaos has nothing to do with the literal meaning. No nobody is creating chaos here in its nuisance connotation. To explain chaos theory in layman's terms - any system which has an expected outcome is said to be chaotic if its sensitive to the way it begins whereby the outcome becomes unexpected (chaotic). This of course is a very loose definition and also an incomplete definition. For more technical details see this.

Another related jargon is the "Butterfly Effect" which effectively summarises what or how a chaotic system is: Imagine a butterfly flapping its wings happily on a summer day! Now imagine that the air disturbance caused by its flapping sets of a series of events or series of such air disturbances which then result in a fierce tornado at some other place! So in the event if the butterfly were not flapping its wings in the first place the tornado wouldn't have happened !! Wow, that's something! In my childhood I used to think of such incidents. e.g. If I snap my fingers right now (or let out a low whistle or jump or anything else for that matter!), the series of events happening later will follow a certain course. But if I don't snap my fingers maybe a different set of events will follow! Who knows! I must choose to snap them or not, so cannot verify events following both! Something similar to the Butterfly Effect! Very very interesting indeed.

Icon

2006-07-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

A legend came to an end yesterday. A maverick who became an icon after his first Wimbledon win in 1992 finally called it quits after his loss to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon 2006. While his official career will end after US Open 2006 it was his last at the haven of professional tennis. For me Agassi's win in 1992 was why I seriously watched tennis thereafter.

I had initially discounted him for being just another junk American interested in style and fashion rather than his game. When he entered the international tennis scene he was mostly famous for his long hair and his women. But then he matured. (Lost all the long hair too!) In his entire tennis career he really hung in there. Pete Sampras first dethroned him but Agassi stayed on. Stars emerged, stars faded but Agassi stayed on. He kept fit, changed him game and did all that was needed to exist among incoming talents. Yesterday's match could had been different had Agassi won the first set but it was not to be! An emerging champion got the better of him. For the first time I saw the vanquished getting a standing applause. Deservedly so!

Beat traffic irritation

2006-06-29T10:30:00.000-05:00

You'll find many people constanly cribbing about traffic in Pune. Slander will involve: lack of traffic sense, violation of traffic laws, bad roads etc etc. But I have found a solution to eliminate all that. Works for me. So I don't really care much if it doesn't work for you. But there is no reason why it won't work for you. Its totally foolproof actually. Basic: If the environment is causing trouble, beat the environment. Let me explain.

So here's my recipe for calmness while travelling on Pune roads:

Ingredients:
- A Bike (get rid of you Car)
- A gaudy coloured raincoat (obviously when raining) - fluorescent green or pink is best!
- A big hanky which can serve as a pollution mask
- A helmet (to protect your eyes)
- SONY h.EAR model headphones
- A discman in your bag (or Walkman or iPod etc) playing your kind of music.

Assumptions:
1. You are decent enough rider.
2. You love some kind of music very much.

Procedure:
1. Don your gaudy raincoat if its raining
2. Put on the SONY h.EAR headphones
3. Tie the hanky to cover your mouth and nose
4. Wear the helmet (SONY h.EAR come handy here since they fit well inside)
5. Turn on the music on slightly above-normal volume
6. Start riding with a slightly above-normal speed

Observations:
The gaudy coloured raincoat makes people shudder. Naturally they get out of your way or take your notice making your riding smooth. If its not raining you lose this advantage but that's OK. Assuming you are a decent enough rider, your subconscious mind takes control of the riding while you are enjoying your music. All turns, braking, acceleration, slipping through gaps in traffic etc is negotiated by your subconscious mind! After some time you feel as if you are in some different world and flying. The riding continues automatically. Rain, ditches, potholes, traffic-jams all just seem to vanish. In no time you have reached your destination! As you continue this everyday it becomes easier and easier.

Conclusion:
Adapting to the environment is the secret to survival and success !! Just give this technique a try! You'll know what I mean.

Poetic Justice?

2006-06-27T01:45:00.000-05:00

Australia's football team got a raw deal yesterday. A "foul" in the D cost them a penalty and the match and thereby the dream to win the World Cup. Italy can't be blamed much really since it was the referee's call finally. This referee/umpire acumen issue is gaining much importance when it comes to identifying what is genuine and what is feigned. In cricket more and more batsmen are getting away with innovative "not playing a shot" techniques which save them from lbw decisions.

But leave that aside. As a cricket follower, I can't help but think that the Law of Karma was in effect yesterday. Simply put, the Australian football team paid for the ill-deeds the Australian cricket team commits on the field and gets away with it umpteen times. The complicity of the cricket match referee with Australia went against them with the football referee's decision. All this may sound absurd but in the words of former WI pacer Michael Holding - "God never sleeps. He may rest for a while but never sleeps"

Saturday Musings

2006-06-25T00:20:00.000-05:00

7.30 pm: Cannot extract some really neat stuff from a external hard disk since the data was written on Linux and the Windows PC is confused !!? Sigh..

8.30 pm: Barbecued Chicken Pizza by Smokin' Joes! Wow. Smokin' Joes is THE Pizza brand!

8.45 pm - 9.30 pm: West Indies play some really poor cricket before lunch. Having 500+ on board with only 5 wickets down, instead of accelerating they score 20 runs from 14 overs. Shit. Some Lara subterfuge for sure.

10 pm - 12 am: Good session for the Indians with lots of wickets for Bhajji and some blazing batting by Sehwag and Jaffer.

12.30 am - 12.40 am: 2 goals scored in the first 10 minutes each by Argentina and Mexico. !! The World Cup gets alive and kicking.

12.40 am - 2.15 am: Argentina and Mexico maintain the 1-1 scoreline and play goes into extra time. I cannot resist sleep and doze off.

8.00 am: CNN-IBN website shows Argentina scored the winner goal 8 minutes after I slept last night.

Yeah Right!

2006-05-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

You might have received an email (forward of course!) titled "How Niagara Falls Originated". The email has pictures of Niagara Falls (claiming the year to be 1869) with no water flowing over it. The picture also shows some construction vehicles/equipment nearby. That picture claims to be the Niagara Falls origin scene! I have had the privilege of seeing Niagara Falls and want to categorically state that the email is FALSE.

The pictures that you see in that email, where no water is falling over the Falls was a repair effort undertaken by the NY water authority some decades back. This was in response to a portion of one of the cliff rocks falling over due to erosion. To avoid such cases and thereby potential injuries, susceptible portions of the land mass were reinforced. The Niagara river was diverted for some time to fall over the horse-shoe section of the falls while the repair took place at the main location. That's why some photos show no water over the falls. After the repair was completed, the river was re diverted and the falls resumed.

(How Niagara Falls originated!...Yeah Right!)

Forsyth is King

2006-04-26T23:58:00.000-05:00

That I am a fan of Frederick Forsyth's writing would be an understatement. I have thoroughly enjoyed 'The Day of The Jackal', 'Icon', 'The Fourth Protocol', 'No Comebacks' and 'The Odessa File' before. But the book I finished yesterday has surpassed all those! 'The Devil's Alternative' is by far, his most complex and thrilling book according to me. I should not be making such opinions since I have to read many of his novels yet but this is surely one of the best.

I can't remember sleeping so peacefully after digesting any climax. I finished the book at 12.45 am yesterday, 5 weeks after I started reading it! (I am a slow reader and many would laugh at my speed, I admit!) As always the book's Epilogue changes perspectives so dramatically that you awe at the literary and formulation skills of Forsyth. The last 3 paragraphs of the Epilogue makes an absolute mockery of the reader as to how he has smoothly been taken for a ride like one of the protagonists in the book!

For those who have not read the book here is a short synopsis.

Charlize & Deepkia

2006-04-09T09:39:00.000-05:00

There's an uncanny similarity between the South African bombshell Charlize Theron and our very own supermodel Deepika Padukone ! Both are unusually tall, both have sandclock figures and both have the most awesome eyes.

Daughter of the ace badmiton player Prakash Padukone, Deepika is proving to be an ace on the Indian fashion scene. Entry into Bollywood is inevitable. Charlize on that front has been quite advanced with some dynamic academy-award winning performances.

From some of her interviews I've seen, Deepika seems to have a sensible and down to earth personality. May she attain all success in her career like Charlize. After all there is some similarlity!

Intelligent Life Murphy Style

2005-12-01T05:34:00.000-05:00

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the
Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us"
-Corollary to Murphy's law

Seafood

2005-11-03T12:26:00.000-05:00

I did not relish seafood before I left India. I confined myself only to chicken. Then I went to the US for study. There I had to be a bit flexible on my non-veg diet. Barring beef and pork and the other kinds of red meat, I expanded my menu to include seafood. I started developing the taste and started liking it. Now after my return to India, I ate seafood in India for the first time at The Kalinga in Kothrud, Pune. Man, now I know what country makes the best seafood. The fried fish and prawn curry was out of this world!

What are you?

2005-08-18T06:43:00.000-05:00

There are 4 types of people-

1. Those who know that they know!
2. Those who know that they don't know!
3. Those who don't know that they know!
4. Those who don't know that they don't know!!

Category 1 are the best lot, 2 are a down to earth and practical lot, 3 are the unlucky lot while 4 are the nuisance lot!

What category do you think are you? ;)

My Online Pseudo

2005-08-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

The Royal Kingfisher.
I carry all colours of the Rainbow and fish with the authority of Kings.
I am Kingfisher.

Can drive In Pune or Mumbai = Drive anywhere? NO!!

2005-04-02T16:56:00.000-05:00

People from Pune/Mumbai claim that if they can drive comfortably given the traffic conditions in Pune/Mumbai they can drive anywhere in the world. That is false. Because they have not imagined one natural scenario offered for driving: SNOW.

Driving In Snow

Driving in snow is an ordeal. What do you do if your car turns right when you want it to turn left? What happens when a perfectly straight steering wheel on a perfectly straight road takes your car obliquely? What happens if inspite of your careful (smooth) acceleration and braking your car slips? An advice of: Keep your steering straight no matter what direction your car is taking to make it safely out of snow is spine chilling! So all those friends from Pune and Mumbai (or that matter any torrid driving part of India) please take this possibility into account before making any such claims!

Touching the Colour

2005-03-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

"Mausam kee adla badli mein,
Pavan gulabi ho jaati hain,
Haan maine chuukar dekha hain!"

(Change of season renders the wind pink; I've touched and verified it)

From a normal perspective these words don't make sense - seem illogical - but from the fertile imagination of a deaf and blind girl these are a perfect appreciation of beauty. Through the available (and intensified) senses the beauty is recognized by touching a 'colour' produced during the 'change of season'. These intelligent lines are Prasoon Joshi's lyrics of the only vocal song in the movie BLACK composed by the newcomer Monty and sung melodiously by (the IIM Lucknow MBA graduate) Gayatri Iyer!

Kudos to Prasoon Joshi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Monty & Gayatri Iyer!

Filhaal

2004-11-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Filhaal, the movie which has the following simple but thoughtful lyrics in a song by Gulzar. Always admired him. (These get classified into my Only Live in the Present notion)

"Aye Zindagi,
Yeh Lamha Jee Lene De.
Pehle Se Likhha,
Kucch Bhi Nahee.
Roz Naya Kucch,
Likhtee Hai Tuu.
Jo Bhi Likhha Hai,
Dil Se Jiya Hai,
Yeh Lamha, Filhaal, Jee Lene Dee.."

Kudos.

(Song Music: Anu Malik, Singer: Asha Bhosale)

[Oh you life! Let me live the moment. Nothing pre-written, you serve something new everyday. Whatever came by, was lived to the fullest. For now, let me live this moment]

Natural Horror

2004-11-19T11:55:00.000-05:00

We always talk about horror films being scary or ludicrous. I for one seldom get scared watching even the best horror movies. But as always nature made me look like a fool yesterday. It is Fall in Buffalo now in November. Trees shed their leaves and are reduced to a bare collection of brown twigs as branches. I travel on interstate highways where there are thick forests (now huge networks of brown twigs). A monotonous brown expands over the entire forest cover. You can't help getting fixated on the colour when you drive. So I was driving and staring at the brown forest when all of a sudden a white tree appears from nowhere. This white tree seemed to be of a different wood-type than the ones surrounding it and over the complete forest. No leaves, branches looking like a bare skeleton and all white among brown. All of a sudden. That scared me like anything. No motion, no noises no histrionics. Just stillness with two contrasting natural colours. That was natural horror! Then reached office, continued the work day and in the evening headed back. It was all foggy with very low visibility. The rush hour was gone since I left a little late, so pitch black darkness on the highway. Even the fog goes unnoticed in the dark until.. Another horror. A huge beam of scattered light appears from nowhere and rotates. I can't understand what it is. The presence of the light makes visible the presence of the fog. After a while I understood that it was the headlight of a car heading 90 degree from my road on a distant turn. The fog had scattered the light far beyond the car and the turn that separated its path from mine. I proceed further. Now appeared huge red glow adjoining the road. I think it was a hotel or a shop with its neon signs. I try to look carefully. Nothing. I proceed and the glow reduces. It must have been some light scattered by fog again but I could not find out what it exactly was. A scary experience nonetheless. The fog driving fatigued me. I returned home, ate and dozed off by 9.00 pm!

Truth (Search)

2004-11-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

I've come across writings referring to some "search for truth". Earlier I used to read the words and say Ok and move on. But its not as shallow as it looks. Its profound beyond imagination. Truth. That which cannot be explainable or comprehensible given the latest thinking, technology or evolution stage. Does God exist? If yes, is he inside us or somewhere else. What happens to us after death? Why are we born? Why were we born to the two individuals who are our parents, in the country which we call our homeland? What is the purpose of all this? No one has understood it yet. Eons can pass before the truth unfolds. *Anytime I write a spiritual/philosophical blog I come to a typical conclusion :)* Live life without worrying about anything. Whatever you are thinking about anything right now may not be the truth! So why waste the energy?

Marathi Breath at The Academy

2004-11-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

"Shwaas" (Breath) is nominated for the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. This is a happy moment for me and all Marathi brethren. The Marathi film industry, criminally neglected for some years now, needed this kickstart. Now it should roll. Shwaas epitomises effective storytelling. Modestly budgeted with no star names, this film impressed the Academy for its sheer content. I wish the makers who are currently promoting the film at the pre-Oscar film festivals, the very best. Bring the statue home!

Way to Go Boys!

2004-11-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

The Indian music scene has great future thanks to the likes of Sandeep Chowta, Shankar Ehsaan Loy and of course A.R. Rahman. These guys have understood sound engineering earlier and better than most trying to compose music these days. Rahman brought effective sound engineering to India. His score for Roja was ten years ahead of contemporary music when it arrived. He is still going strong. His composing methodology itself renders to advances in sound engineering keeping melody intact. He has attained international acclaim recently and that will only push him to test his own limitations. Shankar Ehsaan Loy form a formidable team too. Coming from totally disparate musical backgrounds they gel together well. Melody has been their forte along with a great sound. They have many more musical years ahead of them. Sandeep Chowta is to music what Ram Gopal Varma is to direction. Experimenter. His 'Mitti' transcended all musical genres and brought a new twist to sound. He as the other two (four) understands sound engineering better than most others. He is foraying into international alliances with jazz musicians to bring out his new album. He has built a brand new studio and that augurs well for the forthcoming years of Indian music. These musicians are letting the world feel the Indian presence. They are giving music connoisseurs food for their ears. Way to go boys!

Marriage & Optimization

2004-11-04T08:46:00.000-05:00

An interesting analogy formulated in my mind yesterday between Marriage and Optimization. Specifically, Love Marriage::Gradient Based Optimization and Arranged Marriage::Heuristic Optimization.

Optimization is a mathematical technique for finding the optimum solution of a function. There are two major methods of doing it viz. Gradient based optimization where in the derivative information of the objective function is used to approach the optimum solution and heuristic (stochastic) optimization wherein a more stochastic approach is used for reaching the optimum. Survival of the fittest is the solution strategy for Heuristic Optimization (like Genetic Algorithms). There is a higher probability of achieving a global optimum in Heuristic optimization while in Derivative based optimization its highly possible that you get stuck at a local optimum. In other words it highly depends on from what point you start your optimization for Derivative based optimization. Derivative based methods require fewer objective function evaluations since they use derivative information as opposed to Heuristic Optimization.

Before a love marriage, the lovers test out the chemistry (use derivative information) between themselves and arrive at the conclusion or marriage (optimum). In an arranged marriage the bride(groom) is selected at random (Heuristics). Of course its not entirely random because the family etc is known but the chemistry and compatibility between the two are unknown. The solution is kept feasible by the patrika matching exercise (constraints satisfied). Love marriages are quicker once love is initiated (faster optimization), while Arranged Marriages may take time (more bride(groom) evaluations). Arranged Marriages work wonders since Global Optimum is highly probable. Love Marriages work too since its still an Optimum (Was a Global missed?) :)

Karmic Cleansing

2004-10-15T10:39:00.000-05:00

Choices. We make hundreds of different choices every moment, every minute, every day. All these choices have consequences or other choices needed as a result. Each of these choice sequences can define an alternative life path for us. We don't think of this consciously but we chose to live the way we want by our choices. So if we make a conscious effort to let our Self do these choices for us then that would mean a meaningful, stress-free, eniriching and a very enjoyable life. It will pave the way for Karmic cleansing. You consicously decide at each moment to make a choice which will be beneficial for you as well as good for all. No malice, no envy, no hatred, no anger. Peaceful decision making. Once you get used to the procedure you don't need to do it consciously. The Self will take over.

Boon of Energy Conversion

2004-09-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

Its been a long time since I've written any technical stuff. Most of my earlier posts have been spirituality and movies. I was studying some alternator and motor theory today and that invoked the dormant-for-a-while energy conversion fascination in me. Its one of the many ones I got during my Mechanical Engineering study. Energy conversion is the most cruical means of existence for us, for mother earth, for the universe. We can't 'see' energy but can feel it, manipulate it, need it, use it; just like air. Isn't it fascinating to observe the chemical energy in fuel getting converted to mechanical energy which moves the vehicle you drive? Electrical energy getting converted to mechanical energy in a motor and exactly the opposite in an alternator also is as enchanting. Whatever form it is, energy is available to us. What would we do without it? A spine-chilling thought!

Legend called Pu La

2004-09-03T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have always been an ardent fan of the satire made famous by the great Marathi literary P. L. Deshpande affectionately known as Pu La among his reader fans. His comedy based on happenings in mundane matters strikes a chord with anyone who goes through similar circumstances some time or the other (everyone!). I had been exposed to fact that he had written material other than satire too. I experienced it first time when I began reading his "Vyaktee ani Valli" lately. It has some really beautiful instances of serious lives, tragic lives, indifferent lives, sympathetic lives and many more. How can a person put oneself on an observation point and so keenly sketch characters as variegated as the ones in this work? Sheer talent and observation strength has made Pu La what he is today even after leaving this world. I have just started out with this book and am amazed, with each proceeding page, at the amount of emotion bundled up in it. It is said that tragedy and comedy lie on a razor's edge. You know it when you read some of the works in this book. Characters speaking of tragic matters in the most uniqely comic fashion
challenges you to laugh and cry at the same time. A truly heart-wrenching but awesome experience. I hope to enjoy more of his non-satirical works in future.

Kill Bill Grandeur

2004-08-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

This is a very happy period for me. I am getting to experience one cinematic art after another. Yes 'experience' it is rather than just watching. Quentin Tarantino has displayed sheer class in the Kill Bill volumes. Cinematic art at its best. The two movies are so delicately intertwined that its injustice to view/review them individually. A layman will view the movies as ones with gross violence and dirty tricks. But if you keenly pay attention to the level of meticulous detail in all dialogues and scenes, you will know that these are works of a master filmmaker. QT rocks.

Uma Thurman was created only to act in this movie. I don't see any other Hollywood actress in her place. Beauty, anger, wrath, frustration all adorn her face and personality equally effectively. Insequential editing, a QT trademark spices up the proceedings. The editing chronology is disturbed not only in each volume but the whole two volume set as well. Not once do you forget what happened in Vol. 1 when you're watching the sequel. Use of foot-tapping background soundtracks during serious fights scenes can only come through the mind of QT. The movies look authentic. They are a blast.

The Village (Weirdness Wins)

2004-08-17T10:06:00.000-05:00

M. Night Shyamalan has always impressed me. So prior to my comment on The Village, I would pen something for this great Indian American director. MNS's films always carry some solid undercurrent of an idea. Can't call it the central theme. The incidents depicted all belong to this undercurrent. Sixth Sense differs in that it lacked this undercurrent but was an excellent movie nontheless. Unbreakable (contrasts/balance) and Signs (no coincidences) had these undercurrents in their best form. Weirdness, suspense and thrills all rolled into one epitomize his films.

The Village is weirdness at its best. It falls into the same category as The Sixth Sense in that there is no substantial undercurrent idea. It stayed with me long after it was over. My brain could not come to terms with it and thats the best thing about it. That made me like it. I know my movie absorbing prowess and can confidently say no movie invokes (or intrigues) me much. Be it horror or romance or gross violence, I can take it all well. But this movie made me uneasy for a long time after it ended. This effect has made me a follower of this intelligent filmmaker. I hope he keeps on developing good ideas like this in future. Critics and movie-goers have had mixed opinions about this film (moslty negative). For the record, The Village opened along with Bourne Supremacy and The Manchurain Candidate. Three weeks later the chart rankings prove my point. Weirdness wins! It has too.

Bourne Supremacy

2004-07-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

Bourne Supremacy was a fitting sequel to its fast moving prequel in terms of its content and edge-of-the-seat thrills. Matt Damon performs Jason Bourne to his core and exudes the same emotions as the confused covert assassin with some more details of his personality and story coming to surface as the story moves along. The action packed car chase at the end of the movie is one of the best car chases I've seen. The Ducati bike chase in Matrix Reloaded is surpassed by this one. At no point during the movie does the viewer get any time to rest and if he does will lose track. Watch BS for Matt Damon and its high-voltage thrills.

GITA Gist

2004-07-22T04:47:00.000-05:00

I translated some of the excerpts of THE GITA which I
found on one Hindi newspaper cutout in our house.
Maybe the old tenants left it behind. Ponder over
these interesting observations:

* Why do you worry in vain?, Who (and why in vain) are
you afraid of?, Who has the ability to kill you? The
Spirit is neither born nor does it die.

* Whatever happened, happened for the best, whatever
is happening is happening for the best, whatever will
happen will happen for the best. Don't repent on the
past, don't worry about the future, Be in the present

* What have you lost, that you now cry? What did you
bring with you in the first place that you'll lose?
What have you produced that will get destroyed? You
did not bring anything with you. Whatever you got you
took it from here, whatever you gave you gave it here.
Whatever you got you got it from (this) God.
Whatever you give will do to (this) God. You arrived
empty handed and will leave empty handed. This today
that belongs to you, belonged to someone else
yesterday and will be someone else's tomorrow. You
are engrossed in considering it your own and getting
happy about it. This very happiness is the cause of
your sorrow.

* Change is the rule (law) of nature. That what you
consider death is infact life. You rule over millions
at one moment, and become destitute the other.
Destroy all classifications like yours & mine, big &
small, from your mind. Then everything belongs to you
and you belong to everything else.

* This body is not yours and neither do you belong to
it. It is made of fire, water, wind, earth and sky
and will eventually return to it. The Spirit is
stable. But then, what are you? Devote yourself
completely to God. That is the best support that you
will ever get. The One who recoginzes this support is
freed of all fear, worry and sorrow forever.

* Whatever you do, give it up, to God. With that and
that only will you experience the joy of (freedom
from) life, forever!

Life Purpose (Anthill Analogy)

2004-07-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

One's prime aim in this mortal world is to find the reason for one's mortality. The purpose of their life. Every individual in this world is here for a specific purpose. A majority of people spend their entire life without knowing their purpose which is very unfortunate. Knowing your purpose and abiding by it grants you not only satisfaction on the personal front but also in a higher sense. The analogy of an anthill is apt here. An anthill is the overall domain which houses hundreds and thousands of ants. Each ant in this domain has its own purpose. This purpose or duty is encoded into the ant's Self/body. A queen ant knows its job to reproduce. The guard ants know their job to protect. The worker ant knows its job to collect food and so on. Human beings are far superior to ants in almost all domains but lose out on this very fact of recognizing their purpose. So the prime question is how to determine your purpose in life? One way is through effective meditation where you allow your inner self to become one with the divine. These terms appear heavy to read but everything happens automatically once you practice effectively and regularly. I don't claim to be successful at it and have a long way to go, but I am getting there. Your Self knows your purpose in life and it is just waiting to bring it to life. It will hint your normal consciousness to understand this purpose and proceed for it provided you give it a chance.

Confidence Mirror

2004-07-19T14:26:00.000-05:00

This is a confidence boosting technique that I have
found useful at times. Stand in front of a mirror
(fairly close- 2-3 feet away) and look into your own
eyes. Feel the confidence building up and conviction
emit from your own eyes. Look periodically into
either eye and concentrate. Say to yourself that you
were born to solve the problem you may be under at
that time and that you're going to solve it at any cost. It
is extremely important to look confidently into the
mirror so that the confidence is reflected back.

Heart Says

2004-07-16T09:09:00.000-05:00

Decisions taken with ones heart are always in Yes or
No format. Whenever you ask a question to your heart
the feeling is a very basic yes or no. You may
analyze your problem to depths, weigh out possible
consequences of actions taken and then arrive at a
decision. This would be your brain's decision. You
don't need all that. Whatever decision you want to
make be it a decision to ice skate or not or a
decision for a career in engineering or fashion
design, just let your heart give you the basic comfort
(yes) or chill (no) about it. The pang of the feeling
going throughout your body about something is the
hearts decision for you. One "feels good" or "feels
not so good" about something in his(er) heart. That
is the very answer you are looking
for.

Now Power

2004-07-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

It is now. Something was. Something might be. Thats the power of the present. Maximum efficiency is achieved by being in the present. Musing over the past drains your energy. It has happened, its already over and will not change no matter how much you think about it. So is it logical to even think about it? Worrying about the future also drains your energy. You can never know the future. So is it worth it to think about it? The past and the future have their own speciality. What you do in a moment defines the next one.. Learning from the past, for the future, by being in the present is the mantra..

Religion

2004-07-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

I think there are too many religions in this world that preach different things, but that is not the direction worth this space and your time. What can go wrong with a religion? "Interpretations". Ponder over these possibilities: A religion may preach things that are good for humanity directly or things which can go against humanity indirectly (or maybe vice versa ?!). Followers interpret ideals of religion in ways that may result in enrichment or devastation for humanity. But it all comes down to the same final thing - whatever you follow, whatever you do, it should cause NO HARM to mankind. Thats it! Your deeds may or may not enrich humanity, but they certainly should not deteriorate it. Debates will go on forever as to which religion is technically most correct, enriching, noble and so on. But even that can only happen if mankind persists. 'Live And Let Live' is the simplest solution to the mess you may find yourself in!

Karma

2004-07-10T00:38:00.000-05:00

What is Karma? Karma is an(y) action (which yields a similar reaction). Cause and effect, is one version of Karma. As you sow, so you reap is a common phrase used to explain the effects of wrongdoings to kids. It is one example of Karma. Karma is not just that. Karma returns as itself. If you do good, good will happen to you and vice versa. Thats it. Thats the simplest possible explanation of Karma. Your Self - the all knowing God inside you satisfies the law of Karma. Whatever you do, its your choice of doing it. You go through a lot of decision making and arrive at your final choice. You weigh this final choice more (better) than other choices. Thus your Self knows that the choice you made was appropriate and beneficial for you in some way. It acts on the lines of Karma and exposes you to the same. Whatever you acted, gets acted upon you. An exquisite coordination and sychronization of events occurs to satisfy the law of Karma (and you appreciate it when it actually happens..and it does).

So do good and good will happen to you. Do anything that benefits someone and something similar will benefit you. Never ever do anything that harms because the same will happen to you...which is not good!

Peace.

Spiderman 2

2004-07-10T00:35:00.000-05:00

Spiderman 2 is a sweet movie. Thats all I can say. I went there for lots of action and lots of stunts. The movie started at 7.15 pm and the only real stunts started at 8.50 pm and by 9.15 the movie was over. What I expected to be in Spiderman 2 will, in fact, be in Spiderman 3, the revenge for the father. Anwyay, Spiderman 2 brings out some more decent thoughts as did the first one, but this emotional mumbo jumbo is a bit too much. I went to the movie as a kid inside a 24 year old body, expecting a lot of action and a fearsome villian. But alas, it was a neither & nor. The kid in me slept in the first half hour itself and I had to watch the rest of the movie. A good movie nonetheless..