You and Me

2011-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Lost

2011-07-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

Lost between loving and losing
Of never having to love
Or never having to lose
Of the that special one, or the so-easy- none

Lost between being on the move and moving on
Of clinging on and letting go, people and places
Of finding new anchors and building taller walls
Of closing my heart yet wishing it to split wide open

Lost between dreaming upon and realizing
Of sturdy determinations and tall ambitions
Of perfect indifference and not giving a damn
Of running in the mad-race or having arrived

Lost, here I am.
Waiting to be found, wanting too.

Source: Friend

What was it?

2011-06-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

He loves her and she is madly in love with him. They are a perfect couple made for each other, just like in movies. They have everything going right for them and are set to marry soon. He has a friend who has a thing for her.

He(friend) likes her, and likes her very very much. Does he love her? He does not know... He never got a chance to spend enough time with her to know that. There is definitively something about her that intrigues him. He wants to know her and spend time with her. But alas, like every good thing in life this one is taken too. He has a girlfriend and a very beautiful one too, an arm candy for sure. She(girlfriend) has a body of a Greek Goddess. Guys cannot stop ogling seeing her and the girls feel insecure in her presence. Everyone says that he is so lucky to have her. One cannot keep on carrying and showing off his trophy,. A relationship is something more than that...

One day he decides to visit his friend's girlfriend(she is his friend too). She is one of the "good girls", friendly and lovable. She is one of those simple girls who feel uncomfortable when guys checking them out. Here she is wearing just a flimsy white vest and barely-there shorts. He is feasting his eyes on her and checks her out from head to toe. Strangely she is not feeling uncomfortable, she cannot understand.

The two couples meet in a party. The pretty damsel is getting cozy with her boyfriend. It should not bother her but she is uneasy to see her pushing her twins in the guys face. For once in life she wanted to be prettier for him. The guy reads her expressions perfectly.

Both of them want each other badly. They slip out of the party. They were not making love, they were going about it like animals, full of passion. They kept on going all night. She would not have allowed her lover to do things to her what this man did to her. But, she was happy and without regrets. She is still madly in love with her lover. But, this perfect moment the two shared here will be deeply entrenched in her memory for ever.

This year to-do list!

2011-06-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Finally making it public :D. Lets see how far can we go...

1) Head Shaving :D -- Done!
2) Buy an SLR -- Done!
3) Learn Digital Photography -- In process..
4) Learn French (Got nothing to do with the IIT French connection :P)
5) Learn Salsa and Tango
6) Learn Keyboard
7) Open Source contributor -- In process..
8) Visit Buaji!
9) Eurotrip
10) Regular Blogging -- In process..
11) Record songs and put it up for friends
12) Read the books in hindi (Suggestions invited!)
13) Regular Trekker -- In process..
14) Regular Gym/exercise schedule -- In process..
15) Visit Indore
16) Get drunk once and shout :D
17) Kinect

Road Accident!

2011-06-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Instead of telling everyone I thought it would be a better idea to pen down the whole incident. Mind you this happens to be one of the three worst road accidents I have been ever involved in.

So, I am overtaking the three cars in front of me when a crazy driver wants to overtake you. Unfortunately there is no place for me to give him side. Just as I overtake the three cars I give him side but, instead of going ahead this hero decides to hit my bike(remember the scene from Demolition racer). I hit the wall and the bike falls on me(at times like these you realize that bikes can be really really heavy).

This guy stops in front of you. You are in a state of shock and think that this guy is going to help in taking the bike off you. But, instead he chooses to take your bike keys. Just then you realize that the cars number is written in Kannada and there is no way you are even getting an FIR in for this guy in this situation. So, this guy is moving towards the car. Somehow I managed to push the bike off me and with the twisted ankle I jumped onto the car's window while the guy is trying to get away.

I am hanging on the car's window and this guy won't stop the car. Seeing this scene few people park their vehicle in front of his car to stop him. Thankfully, this guy stops. We had a big verbal exchange. He going all out in Kannada and me in Hindi(I was able to use every gaali heard in school/college).

Now, this guy tries to knock a punch at me but fortunately for me I had my helmet on. People say that anything you learn would sometimes or the other help you. All my fighting and wrestling with Bhai helped me. I was able to get a few nasty punches on this guy. But, immediately after the people around grabbed both of us.

Local language can be serious advantage and this guy started blabbering. Few people said to me that if you pay up for the scratches on his car then he would give you your keys. WTF! And what about my bike damages. I said lets go to Police Station. But, the crazy guy was adamant on leaving my bike behind and going to Police Station in his car. WTF! A lot of verbal exchanges followed.

Finally, someone told him something in Kannada and he finally gave me the keys. The same guy told me to not to go to police. After the fiasco I only wanted my keys. Police, witness and all that crap would go nowhere.

Ice-breaking?

2011-06-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

You like a girl and don't know what to say to her. You don't know anything about her but, are pretty sure that you like her. So, what do you do?

Game Theory says that its in your best interests to speak to her. First impression is the most lasting impression on another person. You want the moment to be 'perfect'.

Wanting to have that 'perfect' moment, you end up making a fool out of yourselves. It is always a risk if you put yourself out there. But, its better than not knowing and wondering...

In the hindsight, Ice-breaking is a science. Number-game with probability trees. Some people don't need it and the rest, will spend the rest of their lives to figure it out.

Maybe a simple 'Hello' or 'Hey' is better than that 'perfect' line/moment.

Language with no genders?

2011-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

Why are there no genders in some languages?

Will post the interesting discussion in sometime. Meanwhile, if you have a definitive answer to this question, feel free to shoot a mail. You will be given due credits :P

Special Thanks: Surbhi for: Why Bengali has no gender?

To do: Read The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

Gender Equality?

2011-06-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

Scene 1: (6 months back)
Me and my friend at Victoria Chat House. We had a plate of paani puri.
My Friend: Bhaiya thode kaale chole dena.
Paani puri guy: Yahan pe koi khairat thodi na bat rahi hai saab. Ek token leke aayie tab dunga.

Scene 2: (Yesterday)
Me and my friendni at Victoria Chat House. We had a plate of paani puri.
My Friendni: Bhaiya thode kaale chole dena.
Paani puri guy: Ma'm ye lijiye. Agar thoda nimbu aur pyaaz bhi dalwaana ho to boliyega .

Art and Interpretation?

2011-06-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

via Rupamanjari Majumder

Her interpretation: Men being created from blood and water.

My interpretation: Do you really paint your life? You will never know until you try :D

You: What is your interpretation?

Its funny how each one of us look at the same thing in so many ways..

2011-06-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered why do we end up having meetings at say 11:30, 12 or 12:30 and not at 12:15?

Its not only about meetings. I usually end up setting my alarm clock with these timings. Why is there such a bias towards n:30 and n:00?

Busy?

2011-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Days in a week: 7
Hours in a week: 7*24 = 168
Sleep(8 hours avg.) = 8*7 = 56
Available hours = 112
Work hours range: 40 to 90 hours/week
Mean = 65 hours(Bias: you cannot sustain 90 hours a week for long)
Household work: 10 to 20 hours/week
Mean = 15 hours
Available hours: 112 - 65 - 15 = 32 hours

Question: Whats up?
Answer: Busy/Work
**wondering** Not a good time to talk.
**wondering** Interpretation: Nothing interesting to do in the 32 hours? Kalti?
Question: So when is it a good time when I can catch up with you? backspace backspace ...

Commitment

2011-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love. The acts frees you from the tyranny of the internal critic , from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life -- Anne Morris

Language of thoughts?

2011-06-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

What is the purpose of language? Is it only the means to communicate or does it shape our thinking too? People in psychology have come up with new words just to express their ideas. How do you think of things about which you haven't heard of?

Ever wondered what is the language of your thoughts? Is there any correlation between the mother tongue and the language in our thoughts? Like a mad scientist I have tried to answer this question by keeping a journal and taking notes wherever necessary. But, I haven't been able to come to a logical conclusion on anything.

Does it happen to you that you are talking to some person in one language. He asks you something and you have just the perfect answer in another language. No? Happens to me all the time. You will only see quick answers from me when I have the freedom to change language in a conversation at will. Anyway the post is not about me. Its about you.. its about what do you think about it? Do you have similar set of experiences?

Relationships.. Naah!

2011-06-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Job Changed!

2011-06-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

My friend was really senti about me not telling him about the job change. So here goes..

Its nearly 3 weeks since my last day at Novell. I am now working in Internet Advertising industry.

More details later :)

Am I the only one confused?

2011-06-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

If someone tells you that they are busy, do you continue with the conversation or do you let them carry on with their work?

If someone in another timezone asks you to call them today, then is today obvious?

If you are at work should you be 'Online/Available', 'Busy', 'Invisible' or 'DND'?

2011-05-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

"And was it his destined part

Only one moment in his life

To be close to your heart?

Or was he fated from the start

to live for just one fleeting instant,

within the purlieus of your heart."

-- Ivan Turgenev

The Girl from Mars?

2011-05-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

He is sitting in the coffee shop wondering what to order. She walks by his side and sits on a table right next to him. He is not the bird watcher. But, she was different and not the five feet nothing girls one typically comes across. The girl seemed 'cute' enough to deserve a glance and as he tries to sneak a peek like a Russian spy he notices that she is looking at him. Now he is thinking whether she thinks of him as a creep who is staring at her. Staring is not allowed in our culture anymore. You cannot look at a thing/ person of beauty and call it joy forever. That would be inappropriate and yes, people do stare at things, probably even like staring at things. Also, people that are being stared at, more often than not, enjoy being the center of attention ... but it's still inappropriate. We live in a strange world.

He likes her and wants to talk to her but does not want to end up being categorized as 'creep' especially by her. He decides to give up. Few years later he sees her again but with some guy. He sees her looking at him again. Should he talk to her? What should he say? He decides to give up the idea of talking altogether.

What is it about the girl and her look that he cannot forget?

Driving in India -- Survival?

2011-05-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Bike with no backlight

Recently, one of my old flatmate was caught up in an accident where he ended up hitting an old lady. Possible explanation of how he ended up in an accident is there in the last para of the post.

Driving in India is tough because:

1) Vehicles(trucks, buses and bikes) with no lights.

2) High percentage of people driving with high beams(gives me headaches. Possible reason why I avoid driving car in the evenings).

3) Giving left indicator when the driver wants to go right(nearly got hit by a bus)

4) Private buses and autos create a mockery of driving rules. Stopping in between roads.

5) People crossing roads at night without any lights.

6) Bad street lights.

7) Roads with potholes.

8) Speed breaker over speed breaker :D (13th Main)

9) Speed breakers not painted

10) ...

My old flatmate: Unique career aspiration -- Bhojpuri film mai villain (why? :P)

Sadak ke kinare uttejanak poster dekh kar mann machal gaya aur bechaari ek buddhi lady ko takkar maar di gayi.

Seriously, getting involved in an accident is a big big headache. My old flatmate was at no fault and took the lady to the hospital yet he had to go through all the crap.

Why are South Indian Marriages kept on weekdays?

2011-05-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

South Indian friends (Tams, Mallus and Gultis) keep their marriages on weekdays and expect you to turn up. Seriously it is really really hard to bunk office and come down for marriage. When asked the people have a standard reason "Mahuratam".

My theory is:
1) South Indian Pandits do not enjoy working on weekends :D
2) South Indian people are "kanjoos". They want minimum number of people to show up.

Why do you love me?

2011-05-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

"It had flaws, but what does that matter when it comes to matters of the heart? We love what we love. Reason does not enter into it. In many ways, unwise love is the truest love. Anyone can love a thing because. That's as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect." -- Patrick Rothfuss (The Wise Man's Fear)

Unfathomable?

2011-05-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

The wonderful and frustrating thing about understanding yourself is that nobody can do it for you.

Remember the feeling:

1) Full of confidence, thinking too highly of ourselves and ending up feeling miserable and full of doubts.
2) Doubtful, zero confidence and pleasantly surprisingly ourselves(eureka!!)

(Evolving) -- 1
(Discovering good and not-so good things about ourselves) -- 2

1-2-1-2-1-2...

humans?

Will let you figure this one out and how it fits in with us being unfathomable ?

Seeing the world through too many books?

2011-05-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

How did we end up this way?

2011-05-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Summary of the recent conversation with school friend

How things were

- In the days of limited talk time and STD calls of Rs. 3, you end up calling up your friend at 11:55 instead of 12 to ensure that you are the first person to wish them on their Birthday
- It was fun to go to the stations to leave the friend after the college breaks even if you ended up paying bribes for wrong parking
- Plan the holidays and college bunks to make sure that you meet friends for one day, if not more
- 8 people sitting in CCD ordering the cheapest coffee and everyone engaged in bird watching
- Going to Rau and Dewas for a cup of tea or eat crappy food at some dhabba
- Watching English movies at Velocity without understanding a single dialogue

And Now:

- A bit busy now. Will give you a call later. Facebook: Farmville :D :D
- In the same city for sometime. Not even bothering to call and we are not even talking about meeting

Is it really your choice?

2011-05-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

She: When people who were meant to be footnotes in my book of life begin behaving like chapters, I have to tear them right off.
He: Is it really your choice?

Maybe he deserves this...

Best advice given to me :)

2011-05-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

"If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It's much easier to apologize than it is to get permission." -- Grace Murray

Life?

2011-04-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

She was sitting in the cafe waiting for him. Lately it was becoming his habit to make her wait.
She ordered a Cappachinno. Her order arrived but still no signs of him. Her temper was rising. She was wondering what is it about the guy that makes her keep wanting to meet him again and again. As she was brooding over the coffee. There came a sudden "Sorry, I am late again...". What is it this time? He lied... totally forgot about the meetup. Actually, he always looked forward to meeting her. He loved to see her angry.

She was not the prettiest of the damsels. But, there was something enigmatic about her beauty which not many could comprehend. People kept wondering why only her and not anyone else. But, but he knew that they won't understand. Maybe the words to describe her beauty were not created yet.

He ordered a coffee for himself. He studied her while she was daintily sipping the coffee. He loved her hair open but she was carrying a ponytail today. His coffee arrived. She asked him "how was she doing?" He was taken by surprise but later steadied himself. Things hadn't been great between him and his girlfriend. He had lost interest in his girlfriend. He just could not take his mind of her. In his past time he would wonder how beautifully she smelled, her laughter was a song in his years. He wondered how lucky his boyfriend was.

He interrupted his thought process and asked her about "How was he doing?" She did not like the mention of he in the conversation. She did not understand the reason. Maybe secretly she had developed a crush on him. But, just to tease him she replied "Just as Mr. Perfect is supposed to be...". Witty was he asked her "Then what are you doing here?" They did not speak and just enjoyed the moment.

He offered to pay for the coffee and drop her home. She obliged and they walked back home. He listened to her banter and wondered how beautiful her lips were. Finally they reached the apartment. She asked him whether he was staying for the dinner. She wanted him to stay and he knew. Just then his girlfriend called him and asked him to meet her immediately. He had to leave...

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Although he was a deep thinker, he had a habit of staring into space and become totally blank. This habit made people wonder. Today also he was doing the same. She was trying to decipher what was going into his head. He knew that people thought of him as a mysterious loner trapped in his ivory tower. But, what did she think of him? Definitely she would not hang out with some weirdo creep. What was it?

She had a habit of playing around with her hairs. He simply loved watching her do this. She had beautiful hairs too. He felt as if he is witnessing a divine enchantress. He totally forgot about asking her why had she asked him to meet her. She noticed him looking at her. There was something disconcerting about his way of looking at her. But, she loved him looking at her.

He had not told her about the breakup with his girlfriend. He loves her, but she doesn't know it. But does he really love her, he wondered? Is she just a way out of his loneliness? Plus she is in love with Mr. Perfect. Wondering he asked her what is the reason of this sudden meeting? She told him that she was moving to other city and she had gotten engaged to Mr. Perfect. Things just happened too quickly... He was shocked and heartbroken. Somewhere in the heart he knew that this was coming. Somehow he maintained his calm. She invited him for a dinner with Mr. Perfect which he refused.

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He gets a call from her that she is in town and would like to meetup. He does not want to say yes but cannot miss out a chance on seeing her. He has moved on. He has a new girlfriend now. They decide to meetup in the same old coffee shop. She had not told him that Mr. Perfect was going to accompany her. Mr. Perfect wanted to meet him. But why, she wondered?

As usual he was late and there were no signs of him. She was relaxing in the comfortable chair. Mr. Perfect somehow did not seem to like the place very much. It was below standard in his opinion. But, she loved this place. She wanted him to show up quickly. Mr. Perfect's company was not that perfect. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. She tried calling him but he would not pickup. She was beginning to wonder whether he would really show up or not?

Is that you? And you must be Mr. Perfect.. She smiled and asked him to sit down. He sat just in front of her and asked her ,"How have you been?" She brought out her fake smile and said, "Great! You?". "Good, good. You look even better than the last time". She was wearing a silver chain, a ring and a bracelet. He wondered whether the two of them had been married...

"So, what have you been upto?", she asked. "I am working and nothing much has changed since last time". He said that on purpose. She introduced Mr. Perfect too and broke the news that the two of them were getting married tomorrow. Then why did they want to meet him, he wondered. Did Mr. Perfect knew that he was in love with her? Did Mr. Perfect want to show Mr. Perfect's gain was his biggest loss?

He ordered his coffee and they began conversing from one topic to another. Both of them were feeling uncomfortable. She was having a lot of fun seeing the two together. She knew that both of them were in love with her. She knew about Mr. Perfect's insecurities of Satish. But, she was not sure that Satish was in love with her until this meeting. She had a lot of fun making the two people feel uncomfortable. She was telling how great time she had with Mr. Perfect or how she loved the conversations with Satish and thought that he was very cute too.

The evening eventually wore itself out. They exchanged the pleasantries and left.

That night, in his expensive apartment, and even more expensive Egyptian cotton sheets. Mr. Perfect competed with the memories of Satish, and pulled out all his tricks. She became very loud. He looked very satisfied and tired. She hugged him and said thank you Satish. They made love again!

Do you understand life?

2011-04-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

Lesson funny

2011-04-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

My friend: "Arjun ko draupadi ko paane ke liye machali ki aankh mai dekhana pada tha. Draupadi ki aankhon mai dekhata rehta to teer kabhi sahi nishaane pe nahin lagta."
Me: Did you mean: "karm karo, fal ki chintaa mat karo"
My friend: Bhavnao ko samjho :D :D

Tagged!

2011-04-04T01:21:00.000-07:00

Last Movie Seen in Theater

Band Baja Baraat. Piracy and watching movies on television :(

Book Being Read

Time for showoff. I have tried a number of books in the past two weeks:

- "The God of Small Things". The first impression -- painful read :(. Will try reading this sometime again. There must be a reason why certain person suggested this book.

- "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Still not done with it. Initially the books keeps you hooked, but after sometime you get bored :(.

- "The God Delusion". This book will surely make you think. It challenges the idea of God. I have been doing some thinking and jotting down what exactly God means to me. You should be seeing this post soon.

- "The Pleasure of finding things out". Nice read :)

Favorite Board Game

- I love chess and Monopoly. I still miss my favorite opponent :(.

Favorite Magazine

- I love Reader's Digest. I make it a point to buy the magazine every month.

Favorite Smells

- Wet earth

- Green tea

- Tasty food usually smells good too :D

- Got a good collections of perfumes :D

Favorite Sounds

- Used to like the chirping birds in hostel

- Sound of ocean

- I love listening to the songs sung by me :D. I have this crazy habit of muting the songs and doing karaoke and recording.

- I love instrumentals.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

- Why can't Bhai open the door X-(

Worst feeling in the world

- Being alone :(

- Feeling of helplessness :(

- My friend had something interesting to say on the first point: "I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone."

Favorite Fast Food Place

- Chappan. I want to go to Indore. It has been more than 4 years now :(. Even an ordinary Fast Food Place in Indore is better than some good place in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Agra.

Future Child’s Name

- xkcd Drop table; :D.

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”

- Seriously, I don't care about money. I have promised a Ferrari to my friend. Need just enough money to keep that promise. If something is left after that then world tour. I even want to visit Antarctica :D

Do you drive fast?

- Usually sensible. But, suddenly a crazy gene kicks in. Pondicherry + Boat ride + drive

- I used to be slow cycling champ :D. If you don't know about the slow cycling then ping me :D

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

- No way

Storms - Cool or Scary?

- Cool. Storm + School Days = holidays :D. Unfortunately, things changed in college. I still remember going for a material science class on the famous July 26th when the city was hit by worst rains.

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?

- I hate dye color. Actually I hate the girls who are into lot of makeup and dying hairs. There is something about a natural beauty which is eternal and enigmatic.

All towns/cities you have lived in

- Bangalore, Mumbai, Indore, Ujjain, Maksi, Shajapur, Agra. Actually the list would have been huge but thanks to my father this is not the case.

Favorite sports to watch

- I love watching cricket. I also love watching the epic battles in tennis.

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you

- Highlighting only one nice thing would not be justice to his other nice qualities

Would you like to be born as yourself again?

- I have been having this internal conflict "Chi vs Ku" battle to figure this one out(More on this later).

- Yes I would like to be born as myself again. Having a twin would be good :D

Morning person or night owl?

- Both. I prefer to have a nap in the evening.

Favorite Place to Relax

- Best way to relax. Go to gym or go for a walk alone. It helps me in clearing me mind. I also end up calling people at this time. And anyone who knows me can tell you that I do this daily :D.

Favorite Ice Cream

- Naturals! If you ever get a chance to go to Mumbai do end up trying Naturals.

I know that the people reading this blog are very busy with their lives. So, would not force tag anyone. But, it would be great if you can find time to answer these :D.

Last Movie Seen in Theater

Book Being Read

Favorite Board Game

Favorite Magazine

Favorite Smells

Favorite Sounds

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

Worst feeling in the world

Favorite Fast Food Place

Future Child’s Name

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”

Do you drive fast?

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

Storms - Cool or Scary?

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?

All towns/cities you have lived in

Favorite sports to watch

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you

Would you like to be born as yourself again?

Morning person or night owl?

Favorite Place to Relax

Favorite Ice Cream

Is perfection only in our minds?

2011-03-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

While reading about the FP I came across this interesting piece.

"Look at these two students", said Plato carefully picking words to make the question educational. "Who do you think is taller?" The slave boy looked towards the basin of water where two men were standing. "They're about the same height", he said. "What do you mean 'about the same'?", asked Plato. "Well, they look the same from here but I'm sure if I were to get closer I'd see that there is some difference."

Plato smiled. He was leading the boy in the right direction. "So you would say that there is nothing perfectly equal in our world?" After some thinking the boy replied: "I don't think so. Everything is at least a little different, even if we can't see it." The point hit home! "Then if nothing is perfectly equal in this world, how do you think you understand the concept of 'perfect' equality?" The slave boy looked puzzled. "I don't know", he replied.

So was born the first attempt to understand the nature of mathematics. Plato suggested that everything in our world is just an approximation of perfection. He also realized that we understand the concept of perfection even though we never encountered it. He came to conclusion that perfect mathematical forms must live in another world and that we somehow know about them by having a connection to that "alternative" universe. It's fairly clear that there is no perfect circle that we can observe. But we also understand what a perfect circle is and can describe it via equations. What is mathematics, then? Why is the universe described with mathematical laws? Can all of the phenomena of our universe be described by mathematics?

AXE effect?

2011-03-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

There are some things in life which make you wonder: Is it me or something else?

You take a bus for the first time in Bangalore(in 2.5 years). After just 2 stops a beautiful lady(not someone you come across daily) boards a bus and chooses to sit besides you. You begin to wonder why did she do so when there are so many empty seats in the bus. The only answer that comes to mind is: "TV pe dekha tha. Aaj jaan liya. AXE effect ka kamaal!"

After sometime you start asking yourself: "Should I talk to this lady or not? If yes, then what? Something interesting and something wonderful. Aisa nahin lagna chaiye ki line maar raha hai". Whenever you try to come up with something brilliant or wonderful generally "kooda" ho jaata hai. Shaant rehane mai hi bhalai hai.. bandi ne kuch ka kuch samazh liya to bus mai hi pitaayi. Sab bolenge pehli baar bus mai mooh kaala karwa ke aa rahe ho. Chup chap mooh band karke baithe raho.

Then to your surprise the lady initiates the conversation with you. You begin to think: "AXE effect!". You notice the English accent in her voice. She was an Indian who was born and brought up in Australia who was visiting her grandparents. You are having an interesting conversation with her... You start getting more and more comfortable.

Then suddenly you ask her: "Why did you choose to sit besides me when there were so many empty seats?"(Stupid question). She throws the question back at you : "What do you think?". Then to your surprise you come up with: "When you boarded the bus the phone got disconnected. No music! No phone calls! You looked around for company(long ride?) but had few options. You chose the best one available to you which hopefully did not turn out to be that bad." She was smiling at this. Suddenly, the conductor shouted that your stop has come... And you had to get down. You did not get an answer and keep wondering whether it was you or the AXE effect :D?

God - sense of humor?

2011-03-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

A day in life when everything seems to be working for you. You believe that you can make impossible possible.

Then, you get stuck in a lift at a place where you are used to using stairs. Your timing is just perfect - shift of the person responsible ends who forgets to hand over the lift keys to the next person.

You get stuck in a lift for half an hour and this is the only time of the day when you think of 'Bhagwan'. God must be a funny person..

Put the glass down

2011-03-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students "How much do you think this glass weighs?"

'50gms!'..... '100gms!' .....'125gms' ...the students answered.

"I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the professor, "but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"

'Nothing' the students said.

'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.

'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the student

"You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?"

"Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!" Ventured another student & all the students laughed.

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the professor.

'No' was the answer. "Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?" The students were puzzled.

"What should I do now to come out of pain?" asked professor again.

"Put the glass down!" said one of the students "Exactly!" said the professor.

Life's problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK.

Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything...

It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, But EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to 'PUT THEM DOWN' at the end of every day before you go to sleep...

So, when you leave office today, remember to

' PUT THE GLASS DOWN! '

Marriage: Love vs Arranged?

2011-02-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

One of the questions asked on the previous post("Love?") was on Love vs Arranged marriage?

Arranged Marriage: I am not a big fan of arranged marriages. Arranged marriages are very common in country like India. Most of the people end up in arranged marriage and alliances. They are a big success too. In love marriage people will always blame you "Tumhara decision tha. Ab kahe gaali dete ho? Humne to samjhaya tha. Tab tumhari matti maari gayi thi. Ab bhugato." or "Humne to samjhaya tha, par tum hi pyaar mai andhe ho gaye the." To fir iska matlab ki apani shaadi mai happy nahin to doosron ko blame karne ke liye aranged marriages? Does not make a lot of sense.

Then what? Badon ka maan saman. Parents, grandparents baaki ghar waalon ko jyada gyaan hai. Wo humse jyada mature hain. Duniya dekhi hui hai. Upar se family waalon ka pressure. Abhi tak shaadi nahin hui? Kar kya rahe ho? Kuch chakkar wakkar to nahin? Tumhari life hai. Hamesha har cheez kisike kehane pe karna to zaruri nahin.

Kisi ki aakhiri wish: Talking about the DDLJ scene. Where the grandmother is sick and wants to see her granddaughter's marriage. Should you give in? Baat nahin maani to poori family ki nazaron mai villain. Sab log those who love you unki nazaron mai neeche. Also, koshish karne mai koi buraai to nahin. Matlab baad mai sahi to usse accha abhi hi sahi. It looks more like a blackmail. Somehow, ye idea bilkul bhaata nahin. Buraai kya hai? Unhe ek shaadi dekhani hai, aur kissi ki lifetime ka sawaal hai.

So, what exactly is buraai in arrange marriages. Ghar waale burra thodi na chahenge. Kuch dekhke hi wo log shaadi ka bole honge. Par marriage is a decision that you need to take for yourself. Not a decision that someone else needs to impose on you.

Aisa to nahin hai ki someone introduces me to someone aur sirf dekhke hi haan boldi. I would spend time with that person to figure out whether he/she is actually the right person for me. Love marriage mai bhi koi bharosa to hai nahin ki sahi person hi mile. Burai kya hai? Koi burai nahin hai. Par acchai kya hai? Ek anjaana person who is trying to impress you and you are trying to see the good qualities. Impress hona aur uska jaadu chalana to pakka hi hai. its because you are open to accept the person and vice versa.

Then what exactly are you advocating? Impress nahin hona chaiye. Shayad itane wonderful person se mujhe normal life mai milana possible hi nahin tha. Maybe itane saare wonderful persons ki wonderfulness tumhe bhaayi nahin :P.

So you mean to say that ab apane aas pass sabhi wonderful person ki khoj mai rehana chaiye. Something like what Ted Mosby does? Buraai to nahin hai.

Maybe sometimes you you just need to take a leap of faith ...

Love marriage: You know the person. Tumhara khud ka decision hai. You know what you are getting into(you can never know everything about the person). Ghar waalon se milwao aur unka approval lo. Nahin maane to unka mindset change karo kyunki you want to be with the person.

Okay maine koshish ki. But, things did not work out. Ab kya? Why not give arrange marriage a try? Why not give love another try? Ek baar hi hota hai? Shayad haan ya fir shayad nahin. Par koshish karo. Shaadi kissi se pyaar kissi aur se? Not fair to the person you are getting married to. Shayad haan hi thik answer lag raha hai.

Sab tumhare maafik Casanova nahin hote. Sometimes, you need to be practical. Its not about being Casanova. Its about being with the right person. The best thing about the Ted Mosby is that no matter how many times he is ditched or rejected he does not give up hope and still tries to be with a person with whom he can have a special bond as Marshal and Lilly have.

Would love to hear your views on the same. As for me, I had promised myself of ending up in a love marriage, if I do get married(and that is not happening anytime soon). But for that to happen, I need to figure out what exactly love is. I have a lot of contradictory views on the same. Then why love marriage? Sounds impractical! Not really :D

Side Note: Its ironical that the person who gave me the funda that "Life's is not just about multiplying" currently holds a relationship status "Complicated".

Putting the permissions in place

2011-02-18T05:29:00.000-08:00

Its not a good idea to talk about the contentious issues on blog and sharing the link when you have professors, relatives(aunts, uncles and cousins), acquaintances(orkut) and almost unknown people(orkut) in your friend's gtalk friend's list(it shows 325+ contacts now).

So, why do I need to talk about the contentious issues? Mere sabhi doston ka dimaag bada khrafati hai :(. But, some very interesting points come up with the discussions which I share with aur khurafati dost :D ...

Anyway good friends will be getting an invite soon.

Instants

2011-02-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

If I could live again my life,
In the next - I'll try,
- to make more mistakes,
I won't try to be so perfect,
I'll be more relaxed,
I'll be more full - than I am now,
In fact, I'll take fewer things seriously,
I'll be less hygenic,
I'll take more risks,
I'll take more trips,
I'll watch more sunsets,
I'll climb more mountains,
I'll swim more rivers,
I'll go to more places - I've never been,
I'll eat more ice creams and less (lime) beans,
I'll have more real problems - and less imaginary
ones,
I was one of those people who live
prudent and prolific lives -
each minute of his life,
Of course that I had moments of joy - but,
if I could go back I'll try to have only good moments,

If you don't know - thats what life is made of,
Don't lose the now!

I was one of those who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer,
without a hot-water bottle,
and without an umberella and without a parachute,

If I could live again - I will travel light,
If I could live again - I'll try to work bare feet
at the beginning of spring till
the end of autumn,
I'll ride more carts,
I'll watch more sunrises and play with more children,
If I have the life to live - but now I am 85,
- and I know that I am dying ...

- Jorge Luis Borges

Love?

2011-02-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

Of late, I have been debating this topic with a number of people. Some of the discussions with my views embedded are as follows:

1) "Ye pyaar waar ke chakar sab bakwaas hain. Hindi cinema ne logon ka dimaag kharab kar rakha hai." My reaction to this comment was sabka to nahin par tumhara dimaag zarur kharab karke rakha hai.

Now, on a serious note baat total bakwaas bhi nahin hai. Kuch to sachai hai hi hai. One of my bandi friends was so much into love. Without realizing she started writing the name of her lover. She did not write it once or twice, but kept on writing it on and on. And I was like dimaag kharab ho gaya hai tera.

Its not totally correct also. I have seen some examples(refrain from naming them) but this so called love thing has brought the best out of them. I am talking about one of my hostel friends :D.

2) "How do you know that you have met the right person?"

Rationality would force people to put forth their best qualities in front of their lovers. This is done to attract attention. Par this has a flaw. If one only puts forth his/her good qualities then the other person would not know the habits/qualities which just turns them off. How can one know about these annoying qualities? You can only know about these if you spend enough time with the people. Live in seems to be a good option. When you live day in and day out with a person then you will get to know a lot about the person.

Okay, this raises another question: Is live in actually a good idea? I have seen one of my acquaintances in a live in relationship. I have mixed opinions about the live in relationship. The people who are into it, know that what is right and wrong for them. Who are we to judge them? I know what one of my friends would comment. "Badi modernity ka chaska laga hai tumhe. Zameen pe aa jaao." Par ismein galat kya hai? If you are in a live in relationship there are high chances of physical relationship. Does our society and culture permit that? Our society and culture does not permit that. But, society and culture permitted practices like Sati. What the society says or does is not always right. Then am I advocating for it being correct too? No, what I saying is that individuals and adults know what is best for them and let them leave it that way. Also, the people in live in are being open about their relationship and seriously exploring their compatibility to live a life together as opposed to people who are being secretive about it. Par when you are willing to go through all this trouble then, why does one not consider the possibility of marriage. Divorces are not very uncommon. Also, this will not be offending our culture and society in any way. But, marriage is a too big commitment. Live in is not. If you are seriously exploring the prospect of live in why not give marriage a try? Then, if things don't work out then you can always walk out.

3) If there is a thing like love then, why does this spark go off after sometime?

Seriously, if you are a teddy bear type of person then you need to grow up. You cannot expect the other person to be the teddy guy/girl throughout his life. And, if your idea of love and romance is based on the teddy bear thing then, things won't work for long. Okay, now you may ask that I am not the teddy bear person. Then, still the spark goes off. What is the reason for it? The reason is very simple. The initial spark was there between people is the result of the effort between the two people to keep the spark going. You are interested in him, you ignore some idiosyncrasies of the other person. The other person does the same. You try to keep the things moving. But, after a period of time you hit a moment where these small idiosyncrasies are just too much for you to ignore. Or, the other person is just not in the mood to keep the spark and reciprocate. What do you do then? If you do not like anything about the person the best thing to do is to confront. If the other person is just ready to listen and change then what do I do? Give the other person some time and wait for things to change. If still the things don't change then tell the person that things are not working. What about the wonderful relationship we had over the years. Should we just let it go? Now thats your choice. Is the small idiosyncrasies a bit too unbearable for you to waste the wonderful thing developed between the people over the years? Its for you to decide. And finally, you cannot clap with one hands.

4) GF/BF are the trophies to show off. And complicated relationship status is cool.

I have seen many people like "Yaar ek bandi patt jaaye. Bas...". Why does one need to be so desperate for the love? Mujhe funda diya gaya tha "Seek and you shall find. Tum saale dhoondoge hi nahin to kahan se milegi." Now, why do you need a GF/BF. Aise hi kam happy ho kya? Aache dost hain. Masti mazzak karo. Jab koi pasand aa jaaye to bol dena aur happy ho jaana bhale hi naa sunne ko mile(more on it later). Kahe apana dimaag kharab karte ho? Aise hi apana dimaag kharab karke rakhoge to koi galat person mil jaaye to poori zindagi kharab. And complicated status is something apani samazh ke bahar hai.

5) What is the difference between Love, Lust and attraction?

Lust: Animal Instinct. Its obvious no would not be elaborating on this too much.

Attraction: This is also obvious. It is about being attracted.

Love: Something I don't understand very well.

Finally, my own thoughts. Love is an idea. Its about companionship. Its about the good feeling you get in the presence of other person or the good feeling you get about the way other person makes you feel in their presence. By good feeling I mean to say that you feel good about yourself, general happy feeling, nothing is impossible and the hunger for excellence. May elaborate on this portion sometime later. Not sure...

Anger Management: Needs a break

2011-02-14T08:36:00.000-08:00

I usually come across as soft spoken person. Not many know about the anger management issues I have. My brother has been a prime target these days. Neither he, nor I have been able to figure out my mood patterns. According to him, there is no guarantee when my fuse would go off. The thing that makes it even more difficult for him is that at one instance I am like laughing, dancing and enjoying, and very next moment my fuse goes off.

May be its high time I go back home

Valentine's Day?

2011-02-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

What is the purpose of Valentine's Day? Is it just a great marketing concept which forces the people to spend money on stupid things to express their love or something else? Why does one need a Valentine's day to express his/her love for someone? Why can't it be just on any other day?

If anyone out there has answers to these questions then do let me know.

Reciprocity in Social Networks (Contd.)

2011-02-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

The algorithm for calculating the total number of interactions is as follows:
Let Aj represent the jth parameter in consideration.
Important note: we are modeling the behavior of the person whom we are analyzing. So, Aji would denote the effort/time spend by the person in consideration on the jth person for the ith parameter. Because of this stalking is ruled out.

Example:
1) A0 --> # visits --> c/a, where c is a constant and c is the weight given for each visit and a> c >1.
2) A1 --> # likes --> c^2
3) A2 --> # posts --> c^3
4) A3 --> # photos --> c^4
5) A4 --> # audios --> c^5
6) A5 --> # videos --> c^6
.....
.....

Rational behind the scheme:
- Visiting the profile does not require any effort. Real life analogy: Just observing and doing nothing requires lesser effort.
- Likes - Some effort.
- Posts - More effort.
....
....

Now, if we observe the behavior over an interval of time then calculating the weights associated with the person would not be very difficult.

For a person i = (Sum over j [{(Aji -Aj')/(Aj'*(n-1))}*{WAj}]);

Explanation: Aji denotes the Aj value in the matrix for ith person (We can represent the equation in m*n matrix where m is the number of parameters and n is the number of friends in friends list)
Aj' denotes the mean values Aj parameter.
Division by Aj' to normalize
Subtraction by Aj' to make the overall summation to be 0.
WAj denotes the weight associated with Aj as denoted by c^j.

Now, we would look at the privacy setting Si. Each person would have different threshold for the setting. For each person calculating the threshold would be very easy. For the sake of simplicity we model one to one mapping between the parameter Si and Ai.

We introduce a new function;
Zjk = 1 if a person k has the access to the Aj, 0 otherwise.

Tj = Summation over i{Aji- Aj'}*{Zij}*WAj/{Aj' *(n-1)} + 2*WA(j-1)/n

Explanation:
- We are calculating the Tj based on th persons who are given access to the jth parameter by this person. If a person is spending inordinate amount of time on other persons jth parameter without having given the permission to that person to access his/her own jth parameter then the jth person should be given access to this persons jth parameter.

P.S. : I prefer writing equations/diagrams on the paper. So this is may not be very clear :(.

Wants to read "Shantaram"

2011-02-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

Just not able to find the time for this one :(. Some of the quotes from the book which really got me interested to read it.

"Fate gives all of us three teachers, three friends, three enemies, and three great loves in our lives. But these twelve are always disguised, and we can never know which one is which until we’ve loved them, left them, or fought them."

"A dream is a place where a wish and a fear meet. When the wish and fear are exactly the same, we call the dream a nightmare."

"Be true to love where ever you find it, and be true to yourself and everything that you really are."

"Luck is what happens to you when fate gets tired of waiting"

" take everything personally- that’s what being a person is all about."

"Sometimes you have to surrender before you win."

"Mistakes are like bad loves, the more you learn from them, the more you wish they’d never happened."

"Men reveal what they think when they look away, and what they feel when they hesitate. With women, it’s the other way round."

"The world and I are not on the speaking terms. The world tries to win me back, but it doesn’t work. I guess I’m just not the forgiving type."

"Loves are like that. You heart starts to feel like an overcrowded lifeboat. You throw your pride out to keep it afloat, and your self-respect and independence. After a while, you started throwing people out – your friends and everyone you used to know. And it’s still not enough. The lifeboat is still sinking, and you know it’s going to take down with it."

"It is possible to do the wrong things for the right reasons."

Are you looking for the solution for the right problem?

2011-02-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you are just not solving the right problem. How could I be so blind?

This happened to me yesterday. I ended up looking for a solution of a completely different problem from the one which I was trying to address. Ending up computing the ranks of the best friends when, the problem was to look for adaptivity. Its height of stupidity. Would be closing on the reciprocity in Social Networks in the next post.

Opinions and feedback

2011-01-31T11:39:00.000-08:00

Usually, I don't put my blog on the chat status. Interestingly, today I got two very different feedbacks on it. I am not going to discuss the positive feedback. The person giving the negative feedback asked some valid questions:

1) Blog says "You and Me". I only see you and you and no me anywhere.
- Firstly, the name of the blog was inspired by an answer to question "In this world there are two kinds of people ....."
- Although, I do not discuss my posts with everyone. Some of the posts are a result of the discussions with people. So, you see its not just me :P

2) Seemingly sensible stuff: What is the sensible portion in the blog?
- Not a lot. Its for you to figure out whether you find anything sensible or not. No one is forcing you to read the blog :)

3) Who cares for the boring philosophy? Everyone has their own and who cares for others philosophy.
- Not everything in here is philosophy. But, you need to read the blog to figure that out :P. Still if you find me getting philosophical, you are free to comment. Also, if the philosophy conflicts with your own then I am always open for debate.

4) There is nothing interesting on your blog. Why would one visit your blog?
- The limited readership I have had, has died down. Usually I don't post all the stuff I write. Still if I pain you to visit my blog then, its a problem. Otherwise, as a free soul I am free to write all the crap I can think off.

5) Write something interesting, draw the female crowd. Write something which generates awe and inspiration. You are afraid to showcase your creativity as people may see you as preposterous. Take stands and sometimes you do. Are you afraid of being considered cheap, unethical and not moral?
- No discrimination on the basis of gender :).
- Cannot think of writing something which generates awe and inspiration. Not creative enough :(.
- If you have something and which I feel is appropriate, then I would share it through this blog. Maybe this would be the spark this blog needs :D.
- I usually do not voice my strong opinions in front of anyone. No matter how appropriate or inappropriate they may be.
- Don't preach morality and ethics. Okay, I may be cheap in your opinion. But, this is not one of my strongest qualities to boast about.

6) All these thanking posts, tribunals etc . must be personal if addressed to one person. It tends to make others jealous.
- I have a different opinion. Personal thanks is definitely a good thing but, a note of thanks in public forum is a way of saying that I value your opinion and world should know about it.

Reciprocity in Social Networks

2011-01-31T10:03:00.000-08:00

Today I was reading an article about the privacy settings on Scientific American. It got me thinking about some of the privacy settings I would like to have.

I believe in symmetry of relationship. Example: If A has access to the information of B. Then B should also have the access to the information of A.

Now, what is the logic behind this belief? Things which influence this are:

1) Reciprocity: If someone greets us with a smile, don't we end up doing the same? There is a saying which says to get the respect of others we need to give the respect which others deserve. If someone behaves like an asshole whole of the time then, would you care? You wouldn't. And you would not care a thing about how the asshole feels about you. I can go on and on with examples but, my friend has pointed out my tendency to get too wordy too often. In case you want more examples then, drop a comment or offliner and I will make sure to get back to you.

2) A question may arise: If I have my privacy settings which allows others to see the information I share, why do I care who sees the information shared by me? A superstar is followed by many people. Would he care whether the other person seems interesting or not? This argument is true for the case presented here. But, consider this already alternate scenario. Consider two persons A and B. A is interested in B and B is interested in A. But, they don't speak. A has privacy settings which allow B to access the information shared by A(say friends of friend). But, B's privacy setting does not allow A to access the information. If the system had been adaptive, where the privacy setting gets automatically modified by providing the access to A as B had accessed the information of A.

Now, questions may arise:

1) Is it possible for B to keep the information of accessing A's information secret? Now, I would argue that what is the point of sharing the information and just being interested without letting the other people know about your interest. Again, in real life do you always tell that you are interested in others? Actually we don't. Why don't we do that? We are not sure what the reaction of the other person would be and are afraid to make a fool out of ourselves. Atleast, I am and do not believe in the explicitly telling anyone about it. But, thats a different story altogether. But, now back to main point. Okay! Now it reminds me of the orkut had a concept of telling your crush. If the other person also says that he/she has a crush on you then you both are notified and lived happily.... . This feature can be misused. I know few desparate studs who have marked all their female interests as their crush.

Now, how what I am proposing different from what crush feature? The difference is that just marking the person as crush is not enough. I would like to know more about the crush and the person I am interested in. The other person when tries to figure out the information about me, opens his information to be accessible by me. So, in case I find the person interesting I may end up getting to know the person well.

2) If I stumble upon someone's profile then does he get to see all the information about me. Answer is No! Because in case you are interested in someone, you would like to keep on knowing more and more about him. The more you get to know about the person, the more information you open for the person to access.

Now, finally the biggest question of all: How do you implement such a system?

First a look at the how the present systems work. The current systems use something called ACL. Or, access control lists. When you say that this and this person has access to the information available on my wall what it does is that it sets the attribute on the particular person's ACL that he/she has access to information available by me. To put it in more general way. Person B tries to access the information shared by person A. The ACL of the person B is checked whether he/she has the access to the information or not. Depending on the result appropriate action is taken. Now, how do you set the friends of friends access permission? Simple in the social graph run the iterations for two levels from you, and you are done. Another possible implementation would be to find the minimum distance between the two persons in terms of friend graph and you are done. But, the graphs are large and you would not be doing the processing on the fly. It just takes a second or even less than that to access the information on friends of friends. The answer is pre-processing. You compute the things like minimum distances and so on. But, wait I keep on getting the friends request and it would alter the whole schema of the graph. You would have to re-compute. Wait! Its not that heavy operation. No explanations here. As you see there are so many applications of the graph algorithms and lets not get started there.

Back to the main topic: How would one compute the adaptive ACL algorithm that I am proposing? What would be the starting point? This post has already been too long and too boring for many. In case you like it then do get back to me with your thoughts. I will be posting the approach that I had in mind in one of the following posts.

Spending Christmas alone...

2010-12-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

source: xkcd

Have been spending last two Christmas alone. And still have no freaking clue :P

Why I am an Atheist? -- Bhagat Singh

2010-12-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

'Belief' softens the hardships, even can make them pleasant. In God man can find very strong consolation and support. Without Him, the man has to depend upon himself. To stand upon one's own legs amid storms and hurricanes is not a child's play. At such testing moments, vanity, if any, evaporates, and man cannot dare to defy the general beliefs, if he does, then we must conclude that he has got certain other strength than mere vanity. This is exactly the situation now. Judgment is already too well known. Within a week it is to be pronounced. What is the consolation with the exception of the idea that I am going to sacrifice my life for a cause ? A God-believing Hindu might be expecting to be reborn as a king, a Muslim or a Christian might dream of the luxuries to be- enjoyed in paradise and the reward he is to get for his sufferings and sacrifices. But what am I to expect? I know the moment the rope is fitted round my neck and rafters removed, from under my feet. That will be the final moment, that will be the last moment. I, or to be more precise, my soul, as interpreted in the metaphysical terminology, shall all be finished there. Nothing further.

A short life of struggle with no such magnificent end, shall in itself be the reward if I have the courage to take it in that light. That is all. With no selfish motive, or desire to be awarded here or hereafter, quite disinterestedly have I devoted my life to the cause of independence, because I could not do otherwise. The day we find a great number of men and women with this psychology who cannot devote themselves to anything else than the service of mankind and emancipation of the suffering humanity; that day shall inaugurate the era of liberty.

Source #1 : Bahubali's friend

Source #2 : Spirituality on boloji

Thank You! -- Post for Moti san

2010-12-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

Yaar agar tere liye ek blog post nahin likhata to dhikkar hai mujhpe aur meri blogging pe.

Moti has been one of my best friends for past 6 years. Same department, aaju baaju roll number, same wing, khub saari football, Chicken Tandoori aur fir Naturals/Baskin Robins Ice Cream, assignments mai nakal, projects mai kamchori, pizzas, EE Dept. football champs, chinki animations, angrezi movies, FIFA, NFS, Tank, wing cricket, 28k, B'day pe maar se bachana, devi temple, footer, hockey, class bunk, Avantika, Sauce, Pauna doctor, H8-H9 mess, cricket tournament, tennis, BTP kamchori, Pune-Indore, Gee Vee, EDL, Bangalore rooftop, Pondicherry, tv, Activa, eurotrip-amreekatrip, travel-writing, badminton, gym, TGAD, Leopold, Bade Miyan, Lamington, pickup lines, ... bahut hi lambi list hoti jaayegi. Thanks Moti for being there always. All the best for your UK move.

Lets see tu isse decipher kar pata hai ki nahin: Iss blackhole se bhi kabhi light escape karti hai :D

Update on the pickup lines

2010-12-17T05:45:00.000-08:00

Some of the geeky pickup lines:

- “I wish I were your derivative so I could lie tangent to your curves.”
- "I wish you were sine squared and I was cosine squared, together we could be ONE!"
- "You are the fairest of your sex, let me be your hero, I want you as 1/x, as x approaches zero... positively"

Some not so geeky :

- "You are the star that completes the constellation of my existence."
- "So there you are. I've been looking all over for you, the girl of my dreams"
- "Do you have a map, because I keep getting lost in your eyes."

The one that actually worked for one of the acquaintance is:

Situation: Girl waiting outside H-11 for the tum tum (Bus service in IIT Bombay which charges 3 Rs. for a ride).
Our stud comes on his fatfatiya. He asks the girl "Do you need a ride?".
Girl: No thanks. I am waiting for tum tum.
Stud: "Tum tum ko Rs. 3 dogi, mujhe Rs. 6 de dena"
It worked and girl was impressed :D

Bache mann ke sache?

2010-12-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a few incidents which make me highly skeptical about the bacche mann ke sacche argument:

1) In a marriage a couple brought their 3 year old daughter. Another couple had brought their 2.5 years old son. Now, for most of the time the 3 year old girl was running around. All the time her mother was chasing around saying "Beta ruko beta ruko". Now, when the girl got tired. Her father took her in his arms. Now, our 2.5 year old kid gets jealous of the attention which the girl is getting, he also wants the uncle to lift him up. The girl refused to come down. The poor fellow ended up carrying both the kids.

Now, when the dinner time came our girl started running again and her mother chasing her with the khaane ki plate in her hand. The young boy was more cooperative. He happily ate the dinner. But, when his fathers went to grab his dinner the boy suddenly started feeling that its too late and they should probably leave. His father can go home and have his dinner.

2) In my apartment there are many married couples. Many of these couples have small kids. I was observing father playing football with his son. Son used to hit the ball somewhere and his father had to go and grab the ball. After sometime the son was too tired to stand. He wanted his father to pick him up. But, still he needed to play with the ball. He was kicking the ball here and there and his poor father was carrying him and picking the ball.

3) This happened to me. Usually I tend to not tie my shoelaces very well. There is always some loose end. I was going for a walk. Suddenly, one small kid came and said to me "Buckle your shoes". Then his whole group(5-6 children) joined and started circling around me and started shouting "Buckle your Shoes". An old gentleman near me commented that beta inke mummy papa inke saath yehi karte hain jo ye tumhare saath kar rahe hain.

When being rational is not rational? or Thoda pagalpan bhi zaruri hai

2010-12-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a puzzle for you:

Suppose you are playing a game:

Consider a row of n coins of values v(1) ... v(n), where n is even. We play a game against an opponent by alternating turns. In each turn, a player selects either the first or last coin from the row, removes it from the row permanently, and receives the value of the coin. Determine the maximum possible amount of money we can definitely win if we move first.

Now, the optimum solution for this problem is based on the simple technique of looking ahead.

Let us assume that we have two players A and B who are both rational. A has to take the first coin, then B takes the coin and so on. A knows that B is rational and vice versa.

Now, suppose A choose v(1) or v(n) then the situation is reversed and B is the first player and will try to maximize the value obtained by B or minimize the value that A can obtain. This goes on and on recursively. Thus, a binary tree(2 choices at any given instant) structure is formed.

Example: 4,6,3,2
Now we have node a. Node A has two choice either to choose 4 or to choose 2. Now, 4 looks better choice at this point of time. But, if he chooses 4 then B gets 6 which will give him a big time advantage. So, he chooses 2 instead. Now, B will choose 4 and A will choose 6. Finally B will choose 3.

Now consider another problem:

You are a big chain of burgers like McDonalds. Lets say that it has outlets in 200 cities in India(say 1 per city). Now, lets say that the output of the McDonalds is 2 units per outlet. Suppose another new chain gets opened in the city having McDonald outlet. Now, having the other chain outlet in same city will introduce competition and will impact profit. McDonalds has 2 choices:
1) Either to cooperate. In which case the profit comes down to 1 unit for both McDonald and new chain.
2) Go to price war and finish off the opponent. This will cause the loss of 1 unit or profit of -1 unit.

What should McDonald's do?
Now, if we go by the previous argument then McDonald will end up having a profit of 1 unit from the city where new chain comes up. But, new chain will expand and start gaining profit of 1 unit from very city. In the end the McDonald's profit will be cut short by half. If one more player comes up then by the rational approach McDonald's will end up with even lower profits. So, is being rational really that rational?

There is a concept of sending out a message. If, McDonald goes at war with the new chain in the initial stages it will send out a strong message to the budding/aspiring competitors that McDonalds will do anything to keep their Business share. So, this is about making a reputation and sending out a message.

Note to self: Being rational is not always rational

Data Mining on Facebook/Orkut to determine the relationship status of a person?

2010-12-15T05:24:00.000-08:00

In the last post an interesting question had come up: Whether it is possible to data mine on Facebook/Orkut to determine the relationship status of a person or not?

Short Answer: Depends on the person

Long Answer:

To answer the question first we need to answer the question: What kind of information you can get from Facebook and Orkut?
- You can get to know people close to a person.
- The one who invited me to both FB and Orkut is very close to me.
- I would end up commenting on people whom I feel comfortable with. I may comment on a acquaintance once or twice.
- You get to know about the taste of the person.
- You get to know that a person is interested in someone when a "Haddi Pehelwan" gets a comment of 8 packs. (Based on the recent findings)

That is all the information you can get from Facebook/Orkut. Nothing else.

But, there are other things/observations that one should keep in mind:
- Some of my close friends are not FB/Orkut. Phone/Gtalk/Email is the way to keep in touch with those. Example: My wally.
- Sometimes people are so accustomed on talking on phone that gtalk/email is just not an option. Example: Vini. Video/Voice chat can never match the phone ka power. 0 social networking interaction.
- My friend usually pings to check if I am online, then we both end up calling. We have 0 FB interaction.

So, you tend to have incomplete information and making conclusions based on the incomplete information can lead to dangerous conclusions.

My take: No use of wasting time on FB/orkut doing Data Mining. During my 2nd year of college I have tried and failed. Sometimes its very obvious, but at other times...

On Facebook relationship status (Contd.)

2010-12-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

A large number of people in my Facebook friend's list have been updating their relationship status from being 'single' to 'in a relationship' or 'complicated'. Just to make things clear I am really happy for them and I give them my best wishes for the endeavor :P.

Case #1: Why would one want to tell the whole world that he/she is in a relationship or is committed. Possible reasons may be:
1) To attract attention (which I did in my college days --> Mystery solved for many :P )
2) To send a message to the world just like a wedding ring does. Or to tell the people in friend's list who have been trying their luck, "Boss no chance". Or to tell the people (I use people instead of friend because no one can have 300+ friends. And if one does then he does not know that being friends is) that stop hitting on this person as he or she is mine :D.
3) Being in a relationship is cool. By being in relationship we have joined the brigade of the coolest people in this universe.
4) Its like sending out a message to other person that I am proud to have you in my life. I am not afraid to tell the whole world about it.

Case #2 :There are also people that do not want to advertise to the world about their relationship. Possible reasons:
1) They have their family members and other relatives in their friends list and publicizing about these things would really put them in soup.
2) They do not want any publicity. They are happy among themselves and will let the select set of people know about this.

I still do not get what the 'complicated' relationship status means.

Some of the observations on the couples I know:
1) Wingie and fiancee: Kept the whole thing a mystery till his dates of engagement were finalized.
Relationship type: Long Distance.

2) Cousin : He was very open about his relationship. Met his GF when we were enjoying the nightlife in Mumbai(driving late nights, sitting on beach and enjoying with friends). Initial thoughts were that he had not told this at home. Shock of my life: When this girl served me water and tea when I went to meet my relatives.

3) Friend: Very popular among female folk. It would break the hearts of many if I name him here. Here is a conversation from FB wall/chat:

Wall:
F: is single (7 sec ago)
Me: and is ready to mingle (0 seconds).

Chat:
Me: Delete kar dena. But, kuch gadbad lagi thi.
F: Fatti hai hum dono ki.
Me: Let me guess. Guess # 1
F: No!
Me: Sorry! Guess # 2
F: :)
Me: Nice choice!

Fact: My friend and I had not spoken for last 6 months.
This raises an interesting question: Is it possible to data mine on FB to determine whether a person is committed or not? More on it later.

4) Friend: Committed for 4 years now. But, FB status is single. The status of her boyfriend is also single. Good thing is her mother knows about it.

Which category do you fit?

On Facebook relationship status (Incomplete)

2010-12-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

Quick Update: Came across this on xkcd. Need to comment on the changing relationship statuses on FB :D. Will be definitely coming back to this :)
Source: http://xkcd.com/355/

Three cups of tea

2010-11-29T06:22:00.000-08:00

"Here we drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything -- even die" -- Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan.

Here the wise man speaks about the importance of relationships while doing business. Just because our protagonist(Mortenson) is building schools is not good enough to inspire confidence among the villagers.

Villagers are right on their part by suspecting the possibilities of ulterior motives. In the modern day Kalyug, who would want to help the others in need.

You cannot force people to believe in you. Getting to know others point of view and making them understand yours is important.

Note: The book can be tasted. But, not worth spending a lot of time.

On Eating and Drinking -- Kahlil Gibran

2010-11-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.

But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother's milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship.
And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.

When you kill a beast say to him in your heart,
"By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."

And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart,
"Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,
And your fragrance shall be my breath,
And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons."

And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress, say in your heart,
"I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels."
And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.

Source: http://www.katsandogz.com/oneating.html (The Prophet)

Thanks: You-Know-Who

Just plugged into the wall...

2010-11-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

Why the title? This line has been taken from the "Superman- Lazlo Bano". Meeting people is always better than communicating over the different media. I will elaborate the advantages/disadvantages/my thoughts on different media used by me. FB being the least preferred media to phone being the most preferred media :). Would love to hear your thoughts on how you use each of this media...

Facebook/Orkut:

Advantages:

- General Awareness: Get to know what people are doing without needing to talk to them.

- Great way to interact and stay in touch with people.

- Full time pass. Interesting videos and articles.

- People get to disseminate information which media tries to block.

Disadvantages:

- More than 300 people in my FB list. Do I really want to tell this many people what I have been upto?

- Privacy Issues: Not all people can keep their mouth shut. Some of the private information goes public.

- People spam you with gaming requests.

Thoughts:

- Too much information. I really do not care for the 300 people in my friends list. Good that you have an option to choose/block/unblock the people who get listed in the news feeds. With this you can get the content rich feed. My funda. I have selected people(small set) who get featured in the top news feed and a little bit bigger set of people who get featured in recent news. I may be missing out on some interesting people. If, I find someone interesting I do not mind paying visit to hi/her wall.

- FB chat is crappy.

- For the gossip junta. Remember college, where people used to do data mining and figure out the persons love interests. I would be the last person to use FB for this :P.

Email:

Advantages:

- Reply when you are free

- Great way to share interesting links

- Groups are interesting way to interact.

Disadvantages:

- People spam you with forwards. (I used to do that at some point of time :P).

- Send you invitation to join what not.

- Too many people mailing you and expecting replies and you are in trouble.

- Large mails. (Culprit :(. Only exception to this rule is that if you are not copy pasting things. Then there are things that you have typed and wanted to say to the person. If you can spend time writing then why not other person spend time reading)

Thoughts:

- Excellent way to interact with busy people.

- Hate it when people act self-important and say that they are busy. Its an excellent way to tell people their aukaat, by telling them you have been busy.

- If UBD, MG, GA and JJ can reply to their mails in a single day. Then, anyone can. It takes 3-5 minutes maximum to reply to the largest of mails.

- Group conversations are interesting.

Chat:

Advantages:

- Trust me a big time money saver :D

- Group chats are interesting.

- Video chat with people close to you.

Disadvantages:

- For social magnates, being visible can end up into lots of wasted time.

- When to remain visible is a problem.

- Its difficult to read

Thoughts:

- If, you do not have an understanding of delayed responses then it can become annoying.

-Great way to communicate with people.

- Improves typing speed.

- In case you are not sure about anything you can google and check your premises before replying.

Mobile/Phone:

Advantages:

- You get to hear voice full of emotions. Better interpretation of the statements.
- If a person picks up the phone, you get to have an instantaneous reply.

Disadvantages:

- Phone ka bill (about which I don't care).
- Phone can be a big pain, when you are lost in deep thought and you are expected to respond.

Thoughts:

- My first preference always :).
- Changing numbers is a problem. I am bad at saving numbers.
- When numbers stick, they really stick. Remembering numbers with all the techniques is fun.

Lesson in Greatness

2010-11-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

I have been watching tennis for some time now. I have seen some awesome matches. The awesome match between Nadal and Murray in ATP Masters helped me in summarizing what greatness is... Murray was playing the tennis of his life. Yet, Nadal managed to ward off his challenge.

When you are doing great or in peak of form then you are expected to win. Anyone can beat anybody else on his/her day. But, true greatness lies in winning even in a situation when you are not at your best and your opponent has hit an apogee.

To put it simply: Making things work for you even when things are not going right for you.

Greatest Devotee + Note to self

2010-11-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

Narrator: Sage Narada was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. All the time he keeps chanting the name of Sri Narayana.

(Sage Narada enters the stage chanting a Bhajan on Narayana or simply chanting Narayana, Narayana)

Narrator: Once, ego entered in to the minds of sage Narada. He started boasting about himself as the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. One day sage Narada went to see Bhagavan Vishnu in Vaikunta.

(Setting: Vishnu will be sleeping in his usual style by resting his head on his hand. His consort Lakshmi will be sitting near his feet. Narada enters Vaikunta)

Narada: "Narayana, Narayana"

Lakshmi: Sage Narada is coming.

Vishnu: O Narada, please come in. You always bring so much of joy to me.

Narada: Srimannarayana, I enjoy chanting your name all the time. Can I ask you a question ? Vishnu: Why that hesitation Narada ? Being one of my dearest devotees, will I say NO to you ?

Narada: That's my question. You said, 'Being one of my dearest devotees'. I thought I'm the greatest devotee of you. Is there any other devotee who will come close to me ?

Vishnu: O Narada, there are many.

Narada: How can there be any devotee equal to me ? I chant your name all the time. Even in my dream, I chant your names.

Vishnu: Narada, please go and see this farmer in the village of Bhakta-graam. His name is Haridas.

(Setting: Farmer Haridas is sleeping with his family. With the sounds of early morning birds, he wakes up. Narada will be watching from the corner.)

Haridas: (looking t his palm) "karaagre vasate Lakshmi, kara madhye Saraswati

Kara muule to govindah prabhaate kara darshanam"

Narayana, Narayana, please make this day a divine one. Let all my actions be offered to you.

Radha (Haridas's wife): Pati dev, I have prepared breakfast for you.

Haridas: Let us offer it to Lord Vishnu first. (places the breakfast in front of Vishnu's murti and offers prayers). Radha, keep some of this food for offering to guests. (Then, he takes his breakfast and after eating says "krishnaarpanamastu")

Narrator: Haridas went to farm. While working in the farm, he chanted "Narayana" few times and when he came back, did pooja to Vishnu and had dinner. Before sleeping, he again chanted "Narayana" few times.

(Setting: Back to Vaikunta)

Narada: (With anger) O Lord Vishnu, you are not fair in your judgement on devotees. I saw Haridas in Bhakta-graam. He chanted your name only 20 times in the entire day. I chant not less than 1000 times. How come he is a better devotee than me ?

Vishnu: O Narada, I will explain to you. Please calm down.

Go to the kitchen and bring some water in a pot.

(Narada goes inside and brings a pot of water)

Vishnu: Narada, keep this pot on your head and balance it. Walk 100 feet like that.

(Narada does a delicate balance with all the attention).

Narada: Now tell me why Haridas is a better devotee ?

Vishnu: Narada, when you were walking while balancing the pot, how many times did you chant my name ?

Narada: No, I did not remember you even once. I was too engrossed in balancing the pot on my head.

Vishnu: Narada, Haridas is a family holder. His work is like balancing the pot on the head. In spite of that, he remembers me so many times.

Narada: (Does a namaskar to Vishnu) Bhagvaan Vishnu, you have removed the ego that covered me. Give me your blessings so that I will never get caught up in the ego again.

Vishnu: So be it, my child.

Narada: (leaves the place chanting) "Narayana, Narayana"

Note to self:

So, how does this story relate to me? During my final year of college, I was visiting my Grandma after a long time. She was complaining of me being careless in calling her and not coming to her very often. My answer was the hectic and super busy schedule.

Then, my mamaji, who was listening to the whole conversation, told me this story(which I had already read in school). He said that remember you are not that busy that you cannot spare 5 minutes in between your busy schedule. Think of it this way, how good your Nani would feel if you had called her up sometime and said what has been keeping you busy? She will understand and only give blessings.

Now, I had initial doubts like: won't people close to me understand that there is something that has been really keeping me busy or should I call them up sometime and talk to them and say that I have been very busy? Or, why don't they call themselves up? My mamaji asked me a simple questions:
1) Do you think that anyone would bother you if you come every time and say I was this busy?
2) Everyone is busy with their lives. And they cannot call you up, as you are super busy. This is one way people stop talking.
3) No egos. If he/she is not doing, then I should also not do it. We value the principle of reciprocity. Try once, try twice, try thrice. But after that do not bother.

I am still very nalayak. Moti, Bahubali, and SS you have every right to complain. Let me try and improve...

My favorite maa-beti pair

2010-11-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I happened to run into my padosan and her mother. They always seem to have some interesting thing to discuss. Here are two conversations which I have heard:

1) M: Bete! You should start seeing X(cannot recall the name).
D: But why Maa!
M: He is so successful. He is well settled and even bought is own house.
D: But, he is so big!

2) M: So are you okay now?
D: Yes Maa. I am okay now.
M: So, what happened?
D: The guy had the courage to speak to me in Hindi. He said, "gaddi nahin chalani aati to kyun chalati ho?".
M: Was it your fault?
D: No! I have been driving for 2 years and have never been in an accident. All of a sudden this showoff comes, drives rashly and starts showing off his muscles. Such a !#@$%^&
M: Did you say that to him?
D: Yes! In kannada :P

Will of fire!

2010-11-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

"You should give up on me ... ON ME GIVING UP!!!" -- Naruto

My Perfect Lady : Part 1

2010-11-20T22:55:00.000-08:00

"All my fellows, why license is not deposed on the beautiful eyes of a beautiful lady/ They fire at men like a bullet. They cut as surely as the sword." -- graffiti from Buddhist stone craving, in Satpara valley, Baltistan.

Why Eyes? Eyes are the reflection of person's heart. Explanation later.

2010-11-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

Friend: What is the reason for increased blogging?
Me: Tagade waala writer ban raha hun. Banne de :P

"When your heart speaks, take good notes"-- Judith Campbell.

Bhai Bigger Cricket Fan?

2010-11-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Bhai's comment got published on Cricinfo. Now he has one more reason to boast about being a bigger Cricket fan.

And an impassioned plea from Saurabh: "For the love of God, I hope this is a extremely low scoring test ! I just love them. Batsmen and even bowlers belting centuries does keep you engrossed, irrespective of how big a cricket fan you are. Whereas wickets falling, sides getting bowled out for 100s or so, keeps everyone interested. Curators please , please , please give us a dust-bowl."

Future?

2010-11-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

My friend visited me some time back. He threw up a question: "Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? What have you thought about the future? Is Phd. still on or not?".

So, here is the conversation:
Me : 10 years down the line is a long time.
Friend: But, you must have thought something. Phd. or MBA or startup?
Me: Still 10 years is a long period. Not apping for Phd. this year for sure.
Friend: So, you do have some long term plans.
Me: Long term plans just don't seem to work for me. I have plans for a day, 2 days, a week, till January and till Feburary beginning. But not any longer than that.
Friend: You are thinking too short time.
....

So, question to readers: Have you planned something? Care to share...?
If you want to know what my daily plans or monthly plans are then ping me. This is not the right place to be talking about these things.
And btw. Thanks Friend for getting diwali goodies for me. Will post the pics in sometime :).

Dare to Dream -- Ruskin Bond

2010-11-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

Build castles in the air
But first, give them foundations.
Hold fast to all your dreams,
Make perfect your creations.

All glory comes to those who dare.

Failed works are sad lame things.
Act impeccably, sing
Your own song, but do not take
Another’s song from her or him;
Look for your art within,
You’ll find your own true gift,
For you are special too.
And if you try, you’ll find
There’s nothing you can’t do.

Note to self: Buy "Book of Verse"

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening -- Robert Frost

2010-11-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Gyaan ki baat...

2010-11-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

If someone wants to be in your life they will work to be a part of it. So don't bother saving a spot for someone who won't make an effort to stay!

Love Quote

2010-11-15T18:54:00.000-08:00

"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. " -- Roy Croft

Smile :) -- More than words?

2010-11-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

Here is an incident from our Mysore trip:

On our way back to Bangalore, we stopped at Kamath's for dinner. There was a long queue and had to wait for nearly 30 mins to get a place for dinner. When we got our place, my Kannada friend immediately spotted a famous Kannada actress(do not remember the name) sitting next to our table(she had retired 4 years back and was not looking very pretty). So, my friend was super excited and wanted to get an autograph from her. We urged him to get the autograph but, he was afraid of the big muscular man sitting next to her. He asked that if anyone gets an autograph for her then he will sponsor that persons dinner. Being the super chillad log Sai and me decided to get an autograph from her.

So, we went to her table and started a conversation.

Us: (acting super excited) "We have been watching your movies since our childhood. We are your big fans. Would you mind giving an autograph for us? It was a dream for us to meet you."
Actress: Ohh! Is it? Good that people like you still remember me. Sure, I will give you an autograph... Pen?
Us: Sorry... In the sheer excitement we forgot the pen. (We borrowed it from the nearby waiter who was taking the order).
Actress: (While writing)So, which one of my movie do you like the most?
Us: Ummm.... There are so many of them. Actually, we like all the movies.
Actress: (handing the autograph. She said something in Kannada). !@$%$%$%$^#^.
Us: :) :)
Actress: (She understood) :)

Online behavior?

2010-11-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some insights into my online behavior:

1) Always online: Whenever I am at home I am mostly online either visible or invisible. Got into this habit since my college days. I am mostly listening to music, reading books or browsing.

Q.: Am I not bothered of being disturbed?

Ans.: No. Not a lot of people bother me. I speak to around 4-5 people on messenger although I have a contact list of 314 people. There would be a set of around 7-8 people with whom I speak once in a month.

2) Weird timings: I love my sleep. But, when I am thinking over something or something is bothering me or I am really focused my timings get erratic. Sometimes, my laptop starts up because of my hands unintentionally disturb my sleeping laptop(My laptop is a total dabba. It cribs whenever it gets a chance).

3) Online-Offline multiple times: My server class laptop gets heated up and starts crying. This crying generates a lot of noise. So, I put the laptop in sleep mode.

Q: Are you sure that you are not trying to attract people's attention?

Ans.: No! First of all gtalk is not as cool as yahoo, which showed whenever a person becomes online/offline. Secondly, you need intention and willingness for two persons to speak. And, when you have that you do not need to attract anyone's attention.

4) Weird Status messages: Not all my status messages are weird. Most of the status messages are meant for me to remind me of things.

Q: Not meant to attract people's attention?

Ans.: I keep on updating my status messages regularly. They can attract attention once or twice, but not always. Also, after sometime people who get attracted to your status messages realize that you are attention seeker and start ignoring you. Now, knowing these facts why would I keep on updating the status messages?

If I am dying to talk to some friend then I would rather call than waiting for he/she to notice me. And what if you don't have their contact numbers? I don't mind asking people for their contact numbers. And I am not a bugger with whom people would refrain from sharing the contact info.

5) Voice chat/video chat: I prefer calling people close to me. VC is only meant for family or people really really close to me.

6) No messenger while working:

Q: Since, not a lot of people bother you then why not being online in office?

Ans.: I have no issues doing so. Only problem is that I would not be good at giving prompt replies. At times, when I am too engrossed in my work I loose context of conversation, which makes me look bad.

Need a Girlfriend!

2010-11-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

One of my friends is getting married this month. Let her name for the blog post be X and her fiancée be Y.

Me: So, finally you are getting married. Mujhe nahin laga tha ki tumhe itani jalda suitable match mil jaayega.
X: Yeah! I will be finally getting married and moving to America. Its high time, you should find a girlfriend for yourself.
Me: Now where did that come from?
X: I have been wanting to tell you that for some time now.
Me: And why would you want to tell me that?
X: Arre! See you already 23+ and still you haven't been able to find a girlfriend for yourself. Such a loser!
Me: You had a boyfriend?
X: I met Y after the engagement and he is my boyfriend :P . Loser!
Me: Matlab girlfriend mil gayi to mai champ otherwise loser.
X: Haan
Me: Drunk?
X: Nahin! Its high time! You should get a girlfriend for yourself.
Me: Remember my theory on not having a girlfriend before 24.
X: Patati nahin to saaf saaf bolo :D.

Why I do not need a girlfriend?
- Getting a girlfriend for a showoff does not make sense.
- Having a girlfriend and boyfriend is considered a status symbol. Mai gareeb hi accha :D.
- Non-believer in tagging custom.
- When I meet a wonderful bandi, I will try ...
- Koi bhi patati nahin :D

Walk the walk!

2010-11-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

It is strange how two people having very different walking speeds end up walking together, without needing to make any conscious effort to achieve synchronization.

Coincidence?

2010-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

I was talking to one of my friends. We were recalling an incident at the movie theater, where 3 friends coming as a part of 3 different groups end up having seat numbers C-10, D-10 and E-10.

( Lesson: Using nick-names is not always good. I was calling my friend and shouting Bahubali! Bahubali! People around me were giving me a strange look)

We had been planning to meetup for sometime. All three of us were too busy and occupied with our work life. None of us were able to find time for the others. It is ironic how we can find time for movies and not for friends :D.

Cheesy language in PG Woodehouse

2010-11-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

'After what has happened,' she said, 'I suppose I ought not to be surprised at finding you capable of anything, but - are you really chooing this moment to - to propose to me?'
'To employ a favourite word of your own - yes.'
'And you expect me to take you seriously?'
'Assuredly not. I look upon the present disclosure purely as a sighting shot. You may regard it, if you will, as a kind of formal proclamation.I wish simply to go on record as an aspirant to your hand. I want you,if you will be so good, to make a note of my words and give them a thought from time to time. As Comrade Cootes - a young friend of mine whom you may not have yet met - would say, "Chew on them."'
'I...'

Should I give up eating non-veg?

2010-10-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

My friend Pee Dee has been urging me to give up eating non-vegetarian. Some of his arguments are as follows:

1) A lot of atrocities are being committed on animals, which are reared for food.

2) Just like we humans they also feel the pain.

3) Human is not "The Superior" being.

4) Aliens eating human or humans eating humans argument.

5) Don't have any heart and don't want to think.

Here is what I feel:

1) How do you know the plants do not feel the pain? Scientifically proven? So, for brain dead people do you advocate Euthanasia? Also, there are many instances of science being wrong. Your argument of eating plants, just because they are not like us contradicts the alien theory.

2) Our balanced eco-systems had animals eating animals. Do you think that God would have been that cruel to allow such kind of atrocities on the animal? Why not man eating man then? Have you seen animals eating animals of the same specie(African tribes being an exception)? Reason is simple, no trust.

3) Utility Theory: Keeping animals for the good they bring to human society. Now, should you be supporting someone terminally ill(no chance of survival) with expensive medicines? Yes you would! ...

4) Equal Rights for animals: Just like we have rights for humans, we should have rights for animals too. But, suppose a mouse gets eaten by the snake. Would you be punishing the snake for not eating the grains? Also, if everyone keeps eating animals then god save plants.

5) Yes, I don't have a heart and don't want to think.

Conclusion: Not giving up non-veg.

Decisions: Something to think over

2010-10-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

In hindsight all our decisions fall into either of these categories -good or bad. But at the heat of the moment was that not the only reasonable, and absolutely crucial thing to do?

PD(Lub Dub :P) and Animal Rights!

2010-10-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Lub: To hell with blog, when animals are dying for selfish reasons. Blah blah...

Chirag: you don't listen to me and expect me to listen to you :P.

To hell with your animal rights :D.

Note to PD: Writing tempo tending to 0, will be putting up something by tomorrow. Come back tomorrow :D.

Turn back time?

2010-10-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Many times in our life we say that kaash ye kiya hota....

Suppose God grants you that wish then what would you like to change?

Well for me this kaash comes just too often. I am not good at making choices. Ofcourse everyone makes wrong choices. Good thing is I am learning what not to do :P

Why making decisions is tough?

2010-10-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

Heisenberg Uncertainity Principle states by precise inequalities that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum, cannot simultaneously be known to arbitrary precision.

Does the same apply to choice and outcome?

Confusion?

2010-10-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

"Imagine what would've happened had Mr. and Mrs. Ramesh Tendulkar enrolled their son in a JEE coaching class "

2010-10-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

"If you want to accomplish something then you would keep wanting to accomplish it, because you know if you stop wanting to accomplish it, its less likely to get accomplished"

Blog display pic?

2010-10-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Some people have asked me: what is the reason for putting up this cartoon pic. Others who know Bleach anime have asked me why put up the "Vaizard" pic.

Reason is simple, at times I have noticed myself being two completely different persons. Details later :)

25 random things about me :D

2010-10-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

1) Love sleeping: Need two pillows and some little space to sleep. In college I used to sleep with my clothes and books :D.
2) Complete foodie: I enjoy almost everything(India). The list of food items I like is very long. During college days, used to go out with Moti san and have only Chicken and Ice cream :D. I enjoy plain milk (without anything , not even sugar!) and plain bread (no butter/jam/cheese).
3) Big time anime and cartoon fan: I watch anime, read manga, read cartoon strips. But, somehow I cannot see any movies containing this stuff.
4) Love taking hot water showers.
5) I like reading news: Newspapers and Internet.
6) Big music buff: I spend hours listening to music. Without good music, coding or writing is out of question.
7) Sensitive to noise: I prefer a very quite environment. My parents used to complain about my intolerance for any noise and super duper tolerance to music(Actually when I am really concentrating, I forget the presence or absence of music).
8) Sports fan: I have tried my hand at many sports like basketball, volleyball, cricket, badminton, tennis, table tennis, foosball, hockey, chess, carrom and football.
9) Super Lazy: During my NSO class my friend and I were given a punishment to run 5 rounds (each 400m) for coming late. We took nearly an hour :D. Basanti :P
10) Careless: For end-sem I asked my friend to write a cheat sheet for me :D and explain me the stuff.
11) I don't like being photographed. Problem is all the girls will run crazy :P.
12) Afraid of heights: You can never make me sit on balcony wall(even on 1st floor).
13) If not an engineer, then mafia or politician. I have talent :P
14) Short tempered: For many people it would be hard to believe. Wait till you see my angry side.
15) Keen observer: I will observe the smallest or most trivial of things and miss out the most obvious one :D.
16) There is never a single question. Whenever I ask you a question, I will be mostly setting up or trying to get at something :D.
17) There is always a reason or theory. I came up with the girlfriend theory and even supported it with diagrams. Ask Sanjay for details :D.
18) I have done some very stupid mistakes, but I keep learning from them.
19) I love walking + talking on phone. I call up my friends. I know there will be some of you who will crib about the previous statement. My brother pays my mobile bill :P.
20) I love watching sitcoms/movies on television.
21) Many times I will be lost in thought. People think I am drunk or on dope :P.
22) Destroyer: all my toys, books, window glasses :D
23) Very good listener. Par funda "Suno sabki karo mann ki " :P.
24) I live in a world of extremes. Either I am super lazy or super hard working :D.
25) I have let many people down, once too often. I hope to bounce back and make them proud.

Lover's Dilemma :D

2010-10-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

Pickup Lines: It never works

2010-10-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

Source: xkcd

Is it possible to predict the future correctly?

2010-09-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

"Paul the Octopus" has recently come in the limelight for predicting that Spain will win the World Cup. Is it possible that he can see the future or is he just lucky? The question is hard to answer.

Some people believe in the framework that R = f(C, E), where R is the result and C is the choice and E is the effort. These people believe that R is not dependent on anything else, which is wrong. Choices of others tend to affect us. It is not easy to express a direct quantifiable relationship of how others choices tends to affect us. Why is it difficult? Consider the two scenario:
1) Child asks parents for the permission to go out to play. Now, the decisions made by parent tend to directly affect whether a child goes out to play or not.
2) Exams are going on but, children want to play cricket. Some parents allow their child to play and others don't. If the proportion of parents willing to send their child outside is large, then a successful Cricket match could be played otherwise, no game can be played.

There are people who talk about "Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer.". The people who are directly connected to us tend to affect us. The people who know our friends tend to affect them which in turn affects us. Some people tend to affect us more than others. So, you see its a complex complex world and its hard to determine how something or the other will affect us.

The results we get is not a single outcome of choices we make, but also an outcome of choices that others around us make. So, in my opinion its not possible to predict the future.

New posts soon

2010-08-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

Have not been very active on this blog. I will start posting again.

Is IPL really that important for Indian Cricket?

2010-04-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

IPL 3 is a bigger success than the previous IPL's. Many questions have been raised about how good or how useful is it for Indian Cricket?
Like last year there have been instances where players have picked up injuries which may affect India's chances in T20 world cup. So, should all the big players participate in this "Cricket ka Maha Sangram"? To answer this question let us sum the good and bad things that IPL is bringing and then make a decision.

Good Things:
1) Talented players like Rayadu, Tiwari and Vinay get noticed. Other examples: Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.
2) Players like Yuvraj Singh, who are coming back from injuries have a chance to get back in form by playing against some world class bowlers.
3) Young players get a chance to play with all time greats like Sachin, Hayden, Gilchrist, Ganguly and Warne. There are many things one can learn. Also, cricket is about handling pressure. Youngsters can learn how these greats keep their cool in pressure situation.
4) People get to see cheerleaders and good game of cricket.

Bad Things:
1) Cricket Fatigue. Too much cricket. With more teams being added, people will eventually loose interest. We have so many teams in football, but do we loose interest? Then why cricket?
2) Injuries to the player. Sehwag got injured last IPL season. He could have got injured during practice sessions/matches. Should the players give up that too?
3) Too much TV and less work :P. We need to figure out a solution for this problem.
4) Too much commercializtion. No free lunches :D. Nobody is there for charity:P.

So in my opinion IPL is really important for the Indian Cricket. It promotes young talent and is fun to watch.

Many players

Dance India Dance -- definitely worth watching!

2010-02-26T09:46:00.000-08:00

I recently came across Dance India Dance which comes on Zee TV. There are some really very good dance performances.

Batting at 6 allows you some rest

2010-02-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

"I would love to bat at number four. I know I would not get that till Sachin retires. But I can wait," Sehwag said, despite his enormous success at the top of the order. "I still would like to bat in the middle order. It's difficult to field one-and-half days and then come out to bat in 10 minutes. When you bat at No. 6 like (MS) Dhoni, it allows you some rest. I have been successful as an opener but who knows, maybe I would have been more successful in the middle order."

India beat SA and retain No. 1 test spot

2010-02-18T07:26:00.000-08:00

Indian team finally managed to level the series courtesy some good bowling by Bhajji Singh. In a nail biting finish SA almost managed to save the test match.

Gary Kirsten's prediction, "India need 40-50 overs for victory" was proven wrong.

MNIK: A movie worth watching

2010-02-13T10:06:00.001-08:00

MNIK - "My Name is Khan" a movie worth watching. It contains a beautiful message. SRK is back!

To Do List: Ride Sukhoi 30 MKI

2010-02-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

Decision - Right or Wrong?

2010-02-08T07:19:00.001-08:00

For me making a decision has never been easy. I always want to make the right decision. But does something like right or wrong decision really exists? Right and wrong decisions are a kind of hindsight bias or in other words our tendency to contemplate or rue on what could have been?

At the time of making a decision we have certain information available to us. We use this information and evaluate the possible outcomes. We tend to choose the option which would result in the best possible outcome. So, in the end if things don't turn out right, it is the incomplete information or our ability to simulate and correctly evaluate the wrong outcome that needs to be re-looked and not the wrong decision/choice.

Paradox of Choice

2010-01-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

Shopping is becoming more and more difficult. With so many choices, it is becoming more and more difficult to figure out the 'BEST' choice.

Indian National Anthem -- Republic Day Special

2010-01-25T07:04:00.000-08:00

I love this song. Fame cinemas(Bangalore) have come up with an innovative concept of playing National Anthem before every show. It is one of the few times you are reminded of being Indian.

No wonder so many people are getting married so soon

2010-01-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

Source: phdcomics

Happens to me all the time :D

2010-01-21T06:53:00.001-08:00

Source: xkcd comic

No wonder I am bad at writing software:P.

Love -- Irrational human pursuit

2010-01-21T05:55:00.000-08:00

Source: xkcd comic