The Bodhi Tree

The Perfect Software

2010-07-18T11:45:00.002-05:00

If God's plan was analogous to the perfect software architecture, this world the software then Karma would be the 'if' conditionals and 'switch-case' statements.

Least Conflict of Conscience!

2009-09-23T15:35:00.002-05:00

"All decisions in life are made according to the law of Least Conflict of Conscience*" (Harish Naik: September 23, 2009)

* defined elsewhere by me.

Some Kind Of A Race & A Missing Link

2009-09-12T17:50:00.004-05:00

The whole world has something to do, somewhere to go, someone to meet at all times. It is like some kind of race I guess. Everyone is trying to get somewhere. Where? I am not sure. I on the other hand, find myself free most times of the day. I am not sure if this is a good thing or bad. If it is bad, how bad is it? I don't know if I should work towards keeping myself busy like the world. But I am not sure towards what end, I am required to do that.

Most people would say it would all end when I get a job. Others who have a job would say it would end after something else. Yet some really smart and knowledgeable thinkers(apparently they are smart by some standard) would say happiness and freedom. I get confused again. It has been my hobby for a few years now, to observe groups of people of all ages; various backgrounds and with different degrees of professional achievement. I have been unable to understand what this happiness and freedom refers to. After all, at what stage do people attain that? Job, first car, house, marriage, kids, promotions, kids' success at school, kids' higher education, kids' jobs, kids' marriage, grand children? When?

Apparently, the world knows this; as to how and when that secret race key opens the door to happiness and freedom and I am left here thinking as if I have had a few missing years during my late teens or early twenties where the people of the world seem to have learned(Brit. usg. learnt) about such things.

One To Another

2009-08-02T23:54:00.002-05:00

Women to men are like strawberries; men to women are like a boat. Everything else is an understanding, an arrangement. In between we sometimes tend to be human (show sentiments).

2009-07-17T01:26:00.001-05:00

Agnosticism (definition): I do not deny the existence; I do not know enough to prove the existence. (At the same time, I do not see necessity to find out as long as I am doing stuff, I am meant to do ).

The 'R' Word

2009-07-12T03:00:00.003-05:00

"Religion is a socio-political system/setup invented by the opportunist to control the majority population by exploiting their emotions and weaknesses." - Harish Naik (July 12, 2009)

Wassup! I'm Brüno!

2009-07-12T02:55:00.003-05:00

The movie is brilliant, extremely funny, hard hitting and gross, all at the same time. But if you can look beyond the obvious tabooed content, you will enjoy Sacha Baron Cohen's genius and his unique style of bringing out social messages by stripping naked the conventional-illogical custodians of the world's societal values and religious beliefs!

My rating: 8.5/10.

PS: Be careful who you go with.

The KDE 4 Journey

2009-07-09T04:37:00.000-05:00

I still remember how eagerly I had waited for the KDE 4 release. I also remember how disappointed I was when it actually came out in January 2008. With that release, KDE lost one of its foremost advocates - Linus Torvalds, to its rival GNOME. Linus was also quoted as having said, "... I suspect I'm not the only person they (KDE community) lost". He was right. I had given up on KDE too after being a user for almost seven years. Everything was broken. It wasn't even qualified to be called a release. Since then, I think the project has come a long way.

Right now, I find that RC1 of 4.3 to be more stable than the final 4.0 release. I am running 4.3 RC1 on Jaunty and I think there is enough stability, speed, reconfigurability and eye candy. In the mean while, I did have to go on a fair amount of an adventure ride. I tried using GNOME for the umpteenth time(have tried it several times before in my 8 years with Linux) and failed to convince myself once more, that I could use it. I even tried using it on MintOS 7, which has a far more friendlier default look, feel and configuration. I still had no success with GNOME.

I tried going back to the rock solid KDE 3.5, especially on Intrepid. Of course it was as solid, predictable and stable as ever and was like the old days again. But the problem with using KDE 3.5 is that most of the newer applications that come out today are built for KDE 4. There is a lot that you might miss out if you are stuck with 3.5. But I was reluctant to make the move from Intrepid to Jaunty when they released it last April, because of my previous experiences with versions before 4.2. But then, I decided to give it a try. Jaunty originally came with 4.2 and that seemed a lot more stable, although I was not very impressed with many other things. At least it wouldn't break as often. The task panel still lacked the necessary features and configuration options.

Last week, Kubuntu.org announced the availability of 4.3 RC1 packages on its repositories and I decided to upgrade it. I am happy with everything so far. The plasmoids are far more configurable than the previous ones. I can even add a quick launch plasma widget, which I think was already available with the previous version, but this somehow seems a lot nicer. The Air and Carbon desktop themes are a lot pleasant to the eye.

Google's Next Step Towards World Domination - A Personal Take

2009-07-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

After the launch of iPhone 3GS and the demise of The King of Pop, it had to be this news. For those blessed ones who are not compelled by the urge to check(every 'x' minutes) their Google news updates, twitter messages or Facebook status updates from their friends, desperate to post the latest and the hottest happenings in the world, here is the story for you: Google announced their next step in their journey towards world domination - the Google Chrome based light weight Google Operating System.

Well, this wasn't a surprise to at least a few of us who had realized Google's intentions around mid 2004(a little late, I agree) with their launch of Gmail(which of course went Out Of Beta, as they call it, just yesterday). Until then, their servers had all of the world's web based public information and now they would have all of the private information. Smooth!

Of course many of us didn't have too much of an idea about how this(world domination) was going to be achieved, as in, there wasn't a blueprint as such. At least it wasn't obvious to me, until Amazon started making a big deal about their Cloud Computing technology and Google's acquisition of Upstartle and 2Web Technologies in late 2006 and the subsequent launch of Google docs in early 2007. All the pieces started to fit together and the realization of what was to happen of desktop computing of the near future dawned on us - an exokernel at the bottom and a light weight windowing system like a fairly complex browser(something on the lines of SAP GUI, for those who know what that is) on top. This is of course going to be interesting to see how our supposedly intelligent personal computers of today turn into dumb-terminal like units of the 70s, of course with a windowing system this time and services of cloud computing to back it up with.

I wonder if personal computers would still be called by the same name. If not my alternate suggestion would be: Light OS Cloud-Backed Infrastructure (LOSCHBI - pronounced Losh-Bee). Of course this would be a description of the entire system and not just the end units we'd have at homes(laps/palms).

Truth

2009-07-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

I and my life are the only truths. Everything else is an illusion!

Who Drives Who ...

2009-07-06T10:07:00.001-05:00

I sometimes feel that the people who enjoy being a cog in the wheel, might be blessed in a way.

Questions Bothering Me!

2009-07-02T16:44:00.000-05:00

In the context of a few self proclaimed 'moral-police' groups in my country, India, I have always had a few unanswered questions:

Who defined a list of 'Indian values'? When were they defined? What are those?
Who made Shivsena, VHP, Bhajrang Dal and people like Mutalik the caretakers of Indian culture?
According to me, culture adapts and evolves - it is something that is dynamic, alive and grows. So when the above mentioned groups claim about something to be outside of Indian culture, when did they decide that there were going to be no more additions or evolutions to the list of Indian values? Was it Indus Valley, Vedic times, 1st century BCE, 800 CE, 1600 CE, after the advent of Europeans, after Independence from Britain, 1990, 2000 or 2009 that the saffron brigades decided to stop our culture from growing? What is that date after which our culture stopped evolving and adapting with times?
Who has asked any of the saffron brigade to meddle any of the affairs of the society?
Why can't they take up projects like fixing roads and building schools & hospitals?

Gyan for Feb 21, 2009

2009-02-21T11:50:00.000-06:00

"If you commit too early and too long, most often, you end up old and single" - Harish Naik (Chicago - Feb 21, 2009)

A deal, Tie-up, a Favor or a 'Lock-in'?

2008-09-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

The statements that the current Indian government and officials in charge made great efforts in getting the Nuclear waiver is a total BS. They might actually think that they have, but it had to come through anyways. No matter which other country opposed, it had to. US desperately wants to be in a position where it seems to be doing India a favor currently. The fact is that it was a lock-in in disguise.

This might be one of the US favors that my country regrets in the decades to come. All we need to do is look at the countries US has done a favor to in the past and their current fate.

Here I am not trying to echo the words of BJP. They would have done the exact same thing as a ruling party to get the popular vote, with elections close by. I am not a supporter of the Indian left parties. All one has to do is look at is the world after WWII and traces of neocolonialism. Any kid in the elementary school can tell you that deals must be made with equals or someone weaker and never with a bully.

Ten essential qualifications to become a social outcast:

2008-07-20T16:04:00.000-05:00

Dislike shopping or stay away from people who consider shopping as one of life's most important essentials.
Always look for a good discussion amongst a group of friends and talk matters of sense or value.
Have a list of hobbies that do not include clubbing, drinking or shopping.
Express original thoughts or ideas loudly and boldly.
Consider making money as not the ultimate goal in life.
Consider going to a movie alone and carrying a book along, more exciting and liberating than coaxing a group of people with different tastes, choices, preferences and schedules.
When you attend an event, give more importance to the event itself than the clothes you or others wear.
Speak your mind and do not talk behind others' backs.
Support your arguments using facts and figures from a usually reliable source like an encyclopedia or a manufacturer's manual.
Have a short temper (helps)

One essential qualification to be a social outcast and still be happy:

Be good at what you do and enjoy it.

Of Ants, Grasshoppers, Cicadas, Locusts that sadly make up my country; Not Indians

2007-08-20T08:07:00.000-05:00

I got a forwarded email this morning:

1. The text in italics is the original email that I recieved
2. The part between "***********" and "Jai Hind" is my reply to the email
3. After "Jai Hind" is usually random visitors who I do not claim are well read or informed

The story of Grasshopper and the Ant
------------------------------------------------

OLD VERSION...

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...
As a result of loosing lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers India is still a developing country......

Mera Bharat Mahan

************************************************************************************
The following is my reply:

There are a few observations one can make reading the email. Here are a few that looked evident to me:
1. This extremely animated modern story has been undoubtedly crafted by an ant.
2. There is a clear stench of chauvinism
3. No prizes for guessing who the ants and the grasshoppers are in the Indian context realize that
4. Extremely urban view. The author clearly does not realize that a majority of kingdom animalia lives in rural areas of India and is not aware of the family, class, genus and species distinctions that exist there.
5. We observe that even today(read the tiny columns in local newspapers), the restrictions that have been posed on grasshoppers by the ruling ants in villages have forced a large number of grasshoppers to convert to locusts, crickets and cicadas.
6. Even today here are villages in which grasshoppers are not allowed to enter the places of worship, grasshoppers tied to trees and beaten(... again read the tiny columns in local newspapers; you'd say that the media is blowing it out of proportions. But anyone, like me, who has lived in non-urban places knows enough to say that these reports are not totally manufactured).
7. Every time there has been an attempt to improve the condition of grasshoppers, by informed, educated (I don't mean merely literate) ants and thinker ants, there has been a resistance from the majority ant community.
8. It is a myth that it is only the ants who make it big in life. 'Informed people of the human race', look around!. The gap has been bridging. It might take a little more than 60 years for all the grasshoppers become "civilized" and "competitive" in the true sense after they have been stamped upon for a few millennia.

I am not a supporter of the politicians misusing the grasshoppers as their political tool to gain votes. The problem is bigger than that. I understand that merely reservations, or increasing the number of seats will not solve problems. What I'd like to point out that it is not enough to take a one-dimensional view on the subject and keep ranting about it. The problem is deep and multi-dimensional and it will take sometime to repair centuries of damage.

Let us work constructively and help building a great nation that we ought to be without sending frivolous emails like the one we saw.

Jai Hind!

2007-03-28T23:46:00.000-05:00

It was a warm Sunday. About 25⁰C. We went to the beach. As I was sitting on the rocks, I wrote two stanzas:

Amidst the sound of the rubber on the road,
By the tall standing structures, the wealthy man's abode,
As I hear splashes against the lime,
I sit here so lost in time.

Travelling miles, they end at my feet,
Waves: bringing sanity to the heat,
As I wondered if they bring to land, sweet or salt,
A voice calls, it's sweet it's sweet.

Well that might look very childish. But that is because I was very young the last time I wrote any poetry and I haven't really read/written much after that.

A Point Beyond Purpose

2007-01-15T12:17:00.000-06:00

I am very happy about the number of replies that I got for my last post. But it is interesting to note how some people seem desperate to prove a point although it might not be necessary. Seems like it gives them a comfort to justify to themselves, the things they do and believe. Another interesting thing is to note that the resistance comes from a certain class of the Indian society.

However, I believe that if someone happens to read my carefully written last post(the whole thing and section by section analysis) and the comments that follow it, one would make a few interesting observations. Following are the observations that I made:

I am not justifying being a non-vegetarian. I am not trying to make a case.
Most of the questions are answered.
I have made considerations for both sides(although it might sound one dimensional, a careful critical observation will reveal that it is not so).
Parts of the comments do not deal with what I have addressed.
I do not mean what the reader* 'seems' to want to think, just for the sake of argument.
Certain arguments stated by readers, seem to invalidate my case only and not theirs. Sort of a selective application of an argument. They even contradict their own statements sometimes.
My articles are often quite well researched (that is one reason why I do not write so often). For example one of the points that I mention(has been refuted by one reader - I do not wish to mention which one) has been adopted from Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari's version of the Mahabharata. Many other points have been taken from other reliable sources. Well, I cannot say that I know all my readers personally so I cannot guarantee that their analysis and understanding of Indian history and culture is more authentic than Rajaji or not. However, I would be extremely delighted if my article has drawn attention from such a scholar.
I agree that certain sections of my article might not have such scholarly backing. But I begin those sentences with phrases like, "According to me" or "I think" and I believe that people should restrict their concerns with the incorrect facts that I state in my articles if there are any and not be concerned with what I clearly state as my personal opinion.
Some people seem to have taken things personally (this explains point no. 5).

I have made a general observation on all the comments. Not all the points apply to everyone. I consider that my readers are capable enough to make that judgment.

*reader(s) in this context means the reader who has written the particular comment.

Of Food, Idealogy & Beliefs

2006-08-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

Well! It has been a long time since I last wrote. Not that I did not have anything to write. There were several things that I wanted to, but I was lazy as usual. Well this one thing interests me so much that I thought that I would sit down and pen down my thoughts.

I sometimes wonder as to what it is with us Indians and the concept of vegetarian food being holy? I was never able to comprehend and probably never will. At least we Indians were supposed to be far advanced in Science(not technology) than these westerners were. For example we were aware about the Heliocentric theory a couple of millenniums before even Galileo Galilei was born or the continent of America was discovered. Similarly our mathematicians had the knowledge about the significance of 'PI' or the Pythagoras theorem even before the dumb white western world(Barbarians) knew about fire. We built cities when people in Europe wandered in the forests. So my logical conclusion is that our people must have known that plants had life too, more than a few thousand years ago.

It is difficult to say when this lunacy started among us. At least the Mahabharatha says that the Brahmins of that age had food that was of animal origin(meat not milk!). So the question is, when did the so called 'Hindus' make this startling discovery that meat was impure. It is believed that, it might have started sometime during the time of the Guptas when there were many reforms in the Indian culture. It is also believed that these reforms came into existence (read as forced onto people) in order to either counter or compete the growing Jain and Buddhist popularity.

What ever it was and how ever it started, I do not understand the logic behind these mysterious ideas. There are certain other interesting things as well. I'd like to list few of them here:

The so called strict vegetarians refuse to eat food that is cooked in the same vessel that has been used to cook meat. A funny corollary to this fact is that even people who usually eat meat, keep separate vessels for cooking vegetarian food and non-vegetarian food.
Even people who eat meat, strictly cook only vegetarian food during special poojas and festivals.
Some of the so called strict vegetarians consider Onions & Garlic as impure too. Some are believed to even change the sacred thread* after consuming onions.
Some even consider touching an egg as unholy.

I actually do not have anything against the vegetarians. I in fact do think that vegetarian food is essential for the body and that our diet should have a lot o green leafy vegetables. I also understand that excessive amount of meat can ruin someone's health. But what irritates me is the attitude of a few people, the reason they give to justify their beliefs and the attitude they have towards people who eat meat.

I once attended a course on meditation and the instructor told all of us something really ridiculous. He said that eating meat was a greater sin than eating vegetables. He went on to say that the lesser sin committed by eating vegetables could be overcome by performing meditation thrice a day. Now what would I say? If he had said something like, meat causes some physiological changes in the body which are not suitable for someone who is beginning to learn the art of meditation, that would have made sense. But his answer was ridiculous.

According to me, a few perfectly valid reasons for being a vegetarian are:

I don't like meat.
I don't exercise much. So I can't digest meat. Therefore I think being a vegetarian is a good idea.
My medical condition does not allow me to eat meat.
I am bored of eating meat.
There is no meat available in my town.

Perfect invalid reasons for being vegetarians:

My religion does not allow me to eat meat.
I was born a strict brahmin. So I have to be a strict vegetarian (Your thoughts and deeds determine whether you are a brahmin or a shudra and not what you have on your plate).
My parents asked me not to eat meat.
I pity the animals that are killed for meat(plants and vegetables are also killed. I however agree with the idea of Fruitarianism).

It is surprising that our country, once a center of Mathematics, Astronomy and Science is now tied down by beliefs like these which benefit our society in no way. I have really come to believe that everything follows a sinusoidal pattern; after every big bang, there is a big crunch

*The thread worn by Hindu males after their Upanayanam.

Interpretation of Life Sentence

2006-04-10T00:41:00.000-05:00

I don’t know who thought of the idea. At a later point it appeared like it was indeed me. Yes it probably was me. I don’t remember now who he was. Why we agreed on that still confuses me. I stabbed him with my left hand. He was dead.

Now there were two tasks left. Dispose off the body and eliminate all evidences that would lead the cops to the four of us. As far as I remember, we did everything to make sure that all evidences were cleaned up. We had the body disposed off. We even planted false evidences to mislead the investigators.

The investigation began. The police officials would have frequent visits to my house to make trivial enquiries. I had no idea how the whole thing was related to me. If you ask me whether I a suspect, I have no idea. However I handled things calmly. It looked like I had an amazing amount of confidence. I came home one day and I was told that the police had found the real criminal. The evidences showed that it was me and the judge had sentenced me for life. How could I be sentenced without being summoned to the court even once? It was all very confusing.

I wondered why the police had not come after me and taken me into their custody. I decided to surrender. Yes! I did surrender. I was taken to the jail with more than the required amount of respect. It looked like, none of the jail authorities thought I deserved what I was going through. I could see from their expressions that they truly believed I was innocent. But I knew that I wasn’t.

Anyway! Now I was a convict and it would be a long stay at the jail. I would be 37 at the time of my release. No! Not necessarily! I remembered The Shawshank Redemption. Yes! I could be released sooner than that, if showed good conduct. These were the kind of things I coming to my mind.

I had a few requests to be made to the jailor. I asked him to see that all my books are brought to the jail so that I could read them sometime. I also asked him for a few papers and a pen. I told him that I asked him to do this, even though I knew I was not a political prisoner – like our freedom fighters. Just when I was having this conversation with the jailor, I heard a bell ring. I opened my eyes and looked at my watch. It was 7 O’clock on a bright Sunday morning. I was more than relieved to know that all that had just been a bad dream.

My interpretation was that I had been watching too many movies off late. It looked like it was a product of The Shawshank Redemption, Teen Deewarein, Rang De Basanti, Being Cyrus and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara.

Being ...

2006-04-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

There was a time when I had vowed that I would never see a Bollywood movie again. This was after I had seen the King Khan (KK) starer called K3G. That I thought was an absolute disaster.

It took me nine long months after that shock, to bring myself to watch another Bollywood movie. That happened to be Mahesh Manjrekar's - Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaye. I wouldn't call that an absolutely brilliant movie either; but it was far from the KK variety and had nothing to do with young people running around trees or sing songs standing on a glacier or a son coming home after his studies, on a chopper. At least there was an attempt to be different. It was supposed to be a satire, I guess, and I thought that it served the purpose well. But, like all good/different movies, it failed to click at the box office. The junta simply couldn't follow it. Neither did they follow 1947 Earth, Pinjar or The Legend of Bhagat Singh either.

The year 2005, I would say was a year of resurrection for Bollywood. It looked like the movie makers actually came out of their graves. They seemed to have taken too much of a rest, six feet under the ground. At one point it looked like the entire bollywood was heading towards the same grave. Thankfully the good movie makers came out to save their once very own industry from dying a slow painful death. Result - we had movies like Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, Page 3, Black, Swades and Iqbal.

Yesterday, we happened to watch this new movie called Being Cyrus (BC). Good movie. I should say a good cast consisting of Nasiruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani and the others. With a cast like that, very few things can go wrong. Someone like Nasiruddin Shah doesn't have to act. He just has to come and deliver the dialogue, and rest of it just happens. He didn't have much of a role in the movie though. In fact no one had much of a role in the movie. Things happen too fast. But I think that it is well knit. There is one scene in which, Cyrus has a dream. I thought that must have been one difficult scene to conceptualize, write, make people understand and shoot. Ok that is enough. I won't play a spoilsport anymore by letting out the story.

What might be the only concern is the fact that it was too short, at least the second half was. Well, it looks like the movie makers were a little too apprehensive about doing an experiment with the audience. So, may be they opted to make a short abrupt movie over a long boring one. I'd say that, they took the safer option. A few of my friends agreed that when they did that, the audience did lose a bit of suspense. Sometimes the suspense was revealed even before you realize.

However it is a good that the quality of the movies has been improving. I am sure there would be lot of people would pounce on me for my last statement. But I never for once doubted the ability of our film makers. After all movies like Deewar, Sholay, Mother India, Guide etc. were Bollywood products. The reason for the low quality of movies these days might be due to non acceptance of good movies by the audience. Why would a anybody make some kind of a movie (like a good movie) when there is no one who would watch it? He would certainly cater to the needs of an audience that enjoys movies like K3G. I think it makes lot of sense from a business perspective, although it might not make sense from an aesthetic one.

My come back poetry after 6 years ... I quit again after this :)

2006-03-29T00:29:00.000-06:00

I recall a line from the past,
That life is like a box of Chocolates, you never know what u get,
For now I've learnt it the hard way,
That this one truth is there to last.

I've seen it coming my way
All my life, from far away
Little things and small things, it brings
Not joy or sadness dilema mostly,
To tune to my life's style,
And build an ever going rhyme.

Then I'm here, all alone in the middle of nowhere,
Thinking, "Why Me ?"
And there's a voice that sings,
Appears as if t'is trying to say,
"It's not just you but for all it brings is some spice in your monotonous ways
Of life", just leave it to handle itself n' you'll see,
How after a while it appears tiny

It is then that I decide to sit back,
Watch the happenings and relax,
Let it occur on its own,
Chaos or good, all alone.

But this one time it looks different,
For it appears like no spice or an attempt to cheer,
Broader, deeper, finer, sweeter,
.......................this poem is incomplete ... dont know how to end it !!

... but there is always a first time

2006-03-15T06:52:00.000-06:00

Well the day was not all that good after all. Not too many good things happened to me last saturday. But this was something, I least expected, would happen. I have never been so careless. Or may be I was! I must have been lucky then. I was on my way to Bhoopasandra(towards north of Bangalore). It was late in the night. Not too late by our standards actually. Barely 10:30 pm. But it was late, considering the fact that I do not have a private vehicle and have to rely on the BMTC buses for my trips within Bangalore.

The last bus for Bhoopasandra had probably left and now I would have to take a different bus, get down midway and then take an auto(pay him double) and reach home. I was thinking of all this when the bus arrived. About 60 people rushed towards the bus. I ran too. First thing on my mind was to find a seat. I was also calculating other possibilities: like taking a different bus or waiting for the direct bus to Bhoopasandra. Finally I succeeded in making my way through the crowd and entered. I found a seat. When the conductor started issuing the tickets, I was happy of the fact that I did not have to buy one since I had already bought the day pass and didn't have to pay anything more. But even then I would have to flash the pass, when he'd come to my seat. So I got up to take my wallet out.

Gone! My wallet was gone !!

Was this really happening? I have seen a number of victims of pick pocketing. I have seen a number of pick pockets being caught red handed. The person most often would manage to escape and vanish into the crowd. Some people, who were not really that lucky, would get thrashed by who ever managed to lay hands on them. But this time, did it have to be me? It was absolutely unreal. It was now about 10:40 in the night. I had no money. I had to travel atleast 10 km. What would I do? A few people on the bus offered to pay my fare. What would I do after that? I had to take an auto after getting down at that stop. I didn't know what to do. My head started spinning.

Although there wasn't too much cash, barely 80 bucks(INR), there were a lot of other things in the wallet. There was a credit card, my debit card, Driver's License and a few bills and other other papers. That meant that I would have to call the bank and block all my cards and report the incident at the nearest police station.

I got down to go back, to the place where I boarded, to try my luck; to see if I might have dropped it while getting on the bus. Even if I had, hoping that it would still remain there would be more than optimism. I went back to the shop where I had bought an apple drink just about 15 minutes earlier. Wanted to check if I had left it there. But I hadn't. Now I was left in the center of Bangalore, at close to midnight, with now money. How would I get home?

I remembered all the people I met in the parks and other public places, who would ask me if I knew hindi or marathi. If I'd said yes, then they would relate their sad story to me, ultimately demanding some help in the form of cash. Were all of them, in the same condition as I was now? May be atleast a few of them genuinely were. Would I have to ask someone for money in the same way? Would they believe me and offer help? Well I decided to try, but in a slightly different style. I went back to the shop where I bought that drink and told my sad story to the shopkeeper. I managed to ask him if I could pledge my watch in exchange of 100 Rupees. I promised that I would return the money next morning. He agreed. I took the next bus and reached home.

I have used these BMTC buses for more than five years. How did this happen now? It might never have happened before... but there is always a first time.

Art or Science

2004-08-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

I had this strange question ever since childhood. I think that it was some sort of ego sort of a thing. Don't know why I can it ego either. May be it was ego since I always wanted to take up a science related course and now I am an Engineer. So probably way back in school, the point was if Science an advanced course or is Arts ? Really stupid argument; I agree with most of my readers.

After years of arguing with myself, I finally came to some sort of a conclusion which was that, Arts is the more advanced form of science. I cannot exactly explain all the details as to what made me come to such a conclusion.

Very lately I happened to pick up this book at a book fair. It is titled "Literate Programming" and written by one of my favourite authors "Prof. Donald E. Knuth". I am sure that many of the readers from a non-technical background wouldn't be aware of this extraordinarily brilliant author, scientist and philosopher. This book is a collection of lectures and papers presented by Prof. Knuth on several occasions.

The first chapter, which I have just finished reading, is the talk he delivered when he received the Alan Turing award in 1974.

The Army Man's Delivery at the Birthplace of Olympics !

2004-08-20T00:52:00.000-05:00

I was all charged up to watch the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004. Most of us would agree if I'd say that we all were waiting to see the Indian Contingent. After waiting for long however, the Indian contingent did finally come. But the enthusiasm that one could see on the faces of the sportsmen was not half as much as that on people who had their faces glued to the TV sets, so late in the night. The only person who seemed to be a little happy about being there was Anju Bobby George, who was carrying the flag.

The first day was however not so great. Jitendra Kumar was unlucky. I really felt for him. Our very own Kunjurani Devi did her best but came 5th ( later named 4th).

But the highlight of the event for us Indians was Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, winning India's first ever Silver in Olympics. I was in the office when I got the news. I still have that sms which gave me the news. I remember my father's reaction when I gave this news to him. That joy in his voice said everything. I'm sure every Indian would have felt the same, barring a few who are indiffernt to all this.

Now, whoever they are, Bravo Major Rathore - You have done us all proud !

The flower show

2004-08-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

It was a tough day yesterday. That visit to the book fair and the travel on the bike through the length and breadth of the city. But there was this desire to look at something new, something more beautiful something that is more refreshing after that long tiring day traveling through those dusty roads.

Aunt had expressed that she'd like to visit the flower show in the evening. So we decided to go. We had barely reached the gates of Lalbagh, it started drizzling which matured into a pouring kind of a scenario after a while. What a way to begin a nicely planned evening, I thought.Since we were at my BTM Layout place, Aunt & party had to join us after a while. Thankfully they had brought umbrellas with them. After waiting for sometime at the gate, we slowly started walking inside as it was slowly beginning to get dark. As we entered, cursing the rain for its untimely advent, we noticed that the garden looks even more brighter and fresh after rains. The whole place was looking totally lit up and beautiful.

The `Glass-House' is one of the most beautiful parts of Lalbagh. But as we approached the fountain that is right in front of the Glass-house, the sight ahead looked scary, crowded with thousands of people. Since it was drizzling outside, people were taking shelter inside. We still managed to get in with some adventure. But the sight inside, truely was worth every bit of trouble.

Flowers are definitely nature's most beautiful creations. Just finding all of them in one place arranged in such beautiful sequences was a treat to the eyes, truely ! They were arranged in such interesting patterns - fish, octopus, cake, bird etc.

That was almost the end of the of the Sunday evening outing !