Food for thought: Analyze This!

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 !!

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

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

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

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?

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

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!

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

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

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

"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

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?

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

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!!

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

"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

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

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)

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

"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!