Thursday, September 16, 2004

Boon of Energy Conversion

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!

Friday, September 03, 2004

Legend called Pu La

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.