Sheopory says...

This Is Your Chance

2011-08-16T22:48:00.000+05:30

If you paint, paint. If you sing, sing. If you write, write. If you dance, dance. Heck if you code, code. Do whatever you are skilled at. Whatever you enjoy doing. Utilize that ability of yours to produce something that matters. That propels Anna Hazare's movement*, his fight against corruption, which he is fighting for *you*. Help him help you, at least by doing what you enjoy doing. For you may not get this golden chance again.

For example Kailash Kher sings. He contributed a song to fuel the movement. He did his bit, do yours too.

* I call this a movement and not just focus on the Lokpal bill on purpose. The problem of corruption in India is real. The problem of Sonia Gandhi and co looting our country is real. The problem of citizens of this country having lost hope is real. I don't know, or care, if Anna's Lokpal bill is the solution (or the only solution). But what I do know is that something is happening now. There's a spark. People have suddenly started to question wrongdoings of highest levels of authority. Corrupt ministers are suddenly landing up in jail. The family that has "ruled" us for ages is now beginning to show signs of fear. I can see that because of Anna Hazare's actions people have at least started to talk about these pressing issues over the dinner table. They have given their precious attention to their rights as citizens. And like I have always believed, that if awareness increases, if people just start asking the right questions, the toughest of problems can get solved. Maybe this is just the first phase, and a very important one at that, but I don't see this as just a fight for one bill. I see this as a movement to put and end to this mess, Lokpal or otherwise. All it needs is a little push from you.

We Did It!

2011-04-03T23:11:00.000+05:30

Yes. India has won the world cup. Finally after a long 28 year wait, with countless media campaigns and prayers of a billion hearts backing our team, we did it. We got the cup back!

And its a great feeling. Why shouldn't it be? If there's one thing we Indians take very seriously, its our cricket. It unites us for one cause across the country. One passionate discussion on when to take the power play can turn the remotest of strangers into buddies. One good innings by Sachin can empty the streets of the nation. Like I've said before, we take cricket more seriously than many other and much more important facets of our lives.

Its almost as if we want from cricket what we have stopped expecting from our governments and some other avenues of our identity - a reason to be proud of who we are.

And winning the world cup has given us that reason. Yesterday after we won, the streets were bustling like I'd never seen before. People were shouting slogans cheering India and waving flags with great pride. Strangers were becoming friends. Energy and enthusiasm was just flowing.

Patriotism was all around.

While this energy of patriotism is beating in the hearts of over a billion people, a lot of good can come of it.

This is the moment we are upbeat about India. At least more than on any normal day. The pride is on a high. There's a sudden rush of that "yes we can" feeling, prompting us to do something. For some that "something" could be getting out of the house and just running around the streets waving the flag. For some it could be going to a temple and showing gratitude. For some it could be just updating their Twitter and Facebook.

Whatever it is, people are charged up and putting in effort to do something they consider patriotic, at least at some level.

But what if these actions were made a bit more deliberate? Just ask yourself: what one simple thing can you do, no matter how small, that you think would benefit the country?

It doesn't need to be grand. It doesn't need to be perfect. Something which even seems to be in the direction of making things better is good enough.

For example it could be starting the process of getting your voter id (at least making yourself read how to get one). Or just starting to read the news. Or switching off electric appliances and tap water when you don't need them. Or perhaps just talk about this thought with people around you, encouraging them to think on these lines. I'm sure you can think of more. And if you do, don't hesitate to share.

But just imagine what it would be like if a billion people, with the patriotic rush they are in today, decided to do even one simple thing that would make their country a better place?

If you too feel the power of this thought, just make it real. Take that first step of whatever simple thing you want to do. Because if you do, winning the world cup could just be the start!

Step One

2010-09-22T20:14:00.000+05:30

In my previous post I talked about doing what we want to do with our lives, even if it means going against the flow. Now I will talk a little bit about the "how". And its quite simple really - just one step at a time!

They say even the longest journey begins with a single step. Obvious, isn't it? If you think about it, to travel somewhere you have to take a first step sometime. And that step by itself is no big deal. But that first step is important, in context of the journey, as it sets up the next steps to happen.

When we literally talk about a journey, this saying is so obvious. But what about the metaphoric sense of the word, the journeys we make so often our lives?

Say your journey is to get a bottle of water from the fridge. Its a known, short journey. Its also low risk - even if you don't find a bottle in the fridge, you don't mind "wasting" that journey. There is less hesitation making it, and you probably do.

However lets say your journey is to change your existing profession and move into something you've always wanted to do. This is no "bottle from a fridge". Its unknown and much longer. Also is more risky and has a much higher impact on your life, unsettling many things you're comfortable with. At least a little hesitation, no?

You probably start asking yourself questions like "am I capable?", "what I have now is a fluke, would it work again?", "would I survive?" and so on. These are enough to discourage you about the feasibility of the journey, and based on these you almost instantly decide against as there's "too much effort" needed here. The costs become just too high for the benefit the journey can offer.

But what exactly happened in this thought process?

What you asked yourself were mere questions. Why did the cost of the journey rise? Because the answers are unknown! It's just more comfortable to assume the worst case for all these unanswered questions, increasing the "cost". Why? Because its safer. Like I said in my earlier post, thats how we're built - our defense mechanisms at work.

Now I am not going to debate if this defense mechanism (of assuming the worst case) is actually right or wrong. What I am going to debate is if "assuming" is right in the first place!

Is the bottle in the fridge? The best answer really is to just open the fridge and find out! Of course in this case its easy, as this journey is low cost. But who says any other journey needs to be costlier? At least in the beginning.

When thinking about changing a profession, there are obviously many unanswered questions. And (be it right or wrong) unknowns do increase the cost of the whole journey. But why should one look at the cost of the whole journey right at the start?

Say you are working in accounting full time, but always wanted to be a professional photographer. To transition from your existing state to the desired one, what intermediate steps (at least the initial ones) you think are needed? Buy a camera? Learn photography? Shoot some photos? Establish your portfolio? Are they really that costly that they would need you to change your life? Even if they seem insignificant in the overall picture, they are crucial first steps. They will help you find answer to at least your first question "are you even capable?", knocking down at least one unknown. It may even get you more clarity on this profession overall and reduce other unknowns too, who knows! And whats the worst that could happen? The bottle won't be in the fridge? You find out the answer to some (previously unknown) questions, and decide (this time based on answers, not guesses) that switching to photography as a profession is not viable? What did you lose really? Maybe you even gained from all the fun you had doing what you loved, having a bigger sense of purpose all throughout!

The reason you don't take the second step before the first is simple - its not meant that way! If I ask you to take the first step towards getting that bottle from the fridge, it would be easy for you. Then when I ask you to take the second, that would be easy as well. But had I asked you to take the second step before the first, you would have been puzzled. Obviously. It was not the time for that step, you just couldn't make it.

Each step really is supposed to be that easy! If not, you're probably thinking about the wrong step!

If you really want to make a journey, starting it is not that hard. And if that journey is fun as well, then why fear? What will happen worst case? You will "waste" a few steps? But what would you lose really? And what would you lose by not trying that journey in the first place?

Can We Ever Be Free?

2010-06-20T21:57:00.000+05:30

Liberalism is a great idea. The notion that every man is free to live their life the way they want, that an external body like the "state" does not decide on an individuals behalf the key choices of his life. A wonderful concept indeed that I think most do support.

Lets talk about India, where every person is free to choose their profession, and there are plenty of professions to choose from. But its common to see many students going for just medicine or engineering as their first choice. And they are happy doing that. Probably because thats what everyone does and it works for them.

Now lets change things a bit. Say the liberty to choose professions is gone, and the government now forces these students to take up medicine or engineering. How do you think these very students would react? Would they still be happy? Or would they revolt, demand "freedom"? I bet the news channels would run a 24x7 talk on how the government is oppressing its people, and rightfully so!

What do you think changed though? These students were happily opting for those careers anyway. Just because the exact same options now seems forced, are they not correct anymore?

Lets take another example - money. What is money? Is it a tangible commodity? For example, can someone feed themselves money when hungry? No. Its a promise. A promise that one can exchange for services worth of that money whenever needed. Though that "promise" comes with a caveat - the value of services your money promises can change over time. If Rs 10 can get you a soda today, the same service/commodity may cost Rs 100 some years from now. So it is not something of direct use, and not even a complete promise. Just an assurance really for future use, possibly.

Yet we see people spend their entire life in the desperation to make money. What do they have in the end? Non tangible promises that they never actually used? An assurance, that if they ever do need some service in future, they can perhaps buy it?

Let us analyze these situations a bit.

Why did those students freak out when they suddenly don't have all the options open, even though they know they will never use them? Why did a man spend all his life amassing a promise which he hasn't (and probably won't) used as much? Just to keep options open? Originally why don't those many students actually ever use the other options? Why doesn't that man actually focus on getting some service (aka actually enjoy life), as opposed to just spend a life opening more and more future options?

Because thats the way we're built.

Its our defense mechanism which makes us think this way - future is uncertain, and uncertain is dangerous. The more we reduce uncertainty, the more future options we "secure", even though we know we may never use them, the more comfortable we get. And we like being comfortable, don't we?

But it is this very mechanism that has probably kept us alive since the days of the cave man. Is our society at a stage of sophistication today where we can actually afford to think beyond this? Or are we still living a cave man's life, having the risk appetite as little as we did then? I really don't know.

I was talking to an engineer friend of mine about why he wants to pursue an MBA. The response I got was along the lines of something predictable - it's safe. The job, the money, the usual. When I asked him what he liked doing, and if he'd enjoy the work an MBA does, there was silence. It seemed as if he had never even thought about it. And after some thinking, he said he perhaps would not. Yet, the decision to pursue an MBA was taken.

Are we really living in a liberal world, where even though the key choices of our lives have not been made by the state, but subconsciously made by another external body - the community, our "herd"? Can we ever be free and really make the best choice for us, or should we just accept we are built this way? Depends, on how "comfortable" we want to stay.

People Force

2010-05-16T12:05:00.000+05:30

It was raining quite heavily sometime back. The weather was just like in the hills, the clouds were a majestic sight to look at and building tops had silver linings. It was all just so beautiful!

That is if you didn't look down. Rains in India quite often end up disrupting traffic. Not just because of water lodging, but damaging the roads too. Going over one such hole in one of the newly built roads I couldn't help but wonder - how can one spell of rain destroy a well built tar road? Upon doing some research, I realized that while tar can break down due to rains, for a well constructed one it should usually take a hurricane! So there is at least a possibility that the road was ill constructed.

Now if this was a question of a wall in my house, or the roof of my car, I would just authoritatively go question whoever was responsible for building it. But should I just let this road thing go, even though this too has been built using my (tax) money? Well, that was my first instinct. Why? Because I'd have to deal with the government.

Now this is a problem that needs to be solved.

I've written before about how if we just ask, government will start becoming more responsible. And I've also written about why its important for us to patronize the Right To Information Act. So is there a solution possible, if we put both together?

Meet "People Force" - a forum where people can govern their government. Consider it like a clan, with member citizens from all over the country.

This is how it could work:

People post new grievances like broken roads, etc.
People vote on existing grievances to avoid duplication and reflect severity. They can even subscribe to posts for their constituency and such.
People sign up as facilitators. No official responsibilities as such.

Facilitators just get periodic reminders. This could be a summary of top issues in their area, or a meeting of the local facilitators, or something else.
Facilitators facilitate (they don't need to do everything themselves) getting grievances escalated or resolved.
Facilitators get some incentive for their work.

Facilitators will obviously need resources to work with:

A real easy way to file RTIs. Even make this solution available to people.
Awareness of government internals. Maybe a searchable "bible" of processes.

Some concerns, and possible mitigation.

People may just post trivial things, spamming the system.

Charge a nominal fee to post a new grievance. Voting is free.

Why will someone participate in such a forum?

Build confidence by showing some early results. More confidence will just get more participation.
As revenue is involved, seed with few dedicated capable facilitators.
Everyone doesn't need to participate. Even if a few do, it will work.
Publish and push success stories, so people are aware the system can work.

This is just an idle thought at this stage, which at most is just a first step in solving the bigger problem (of us governing our government). But just posting this raw to hear some good other perspectives. Go ahead, tell me!

Movies I Missed

2010-04-04T13:27:00.004+05:30

Last few weeks I just haven't been able to go watch movies on the silver screen as much as I'd have liked. And now I have a huge backlog to catch up! I figured out what I've missed, and filtered my list for the next few weeks. Here it is:

Well Done Abba

I really like Shyam Benegal's movies. He is great at unearthing realities of India, and presenting them to the masses through celluloid entertainment. The actors in this movie are quite a compelling reason too. Seems worth a watch.

Road

I had been waiting for this to come in theaters. And when it did, I just didn't go. How weird.

Shutter Island

Scorsese, Kingsley, Di Caprio, 8.1 imdb - enough reasons already!

Right Ya Wrong

Normally I wouldn't have considered watching this, but with the raving reviews it got, I am just compelled to see what this is all about. Long time since I watched a good Bollywood thriller.

Do let me know if you have suggestions, or warnings :-).

*

Though I have missed some, I also caught up on a few last month. Some good ones I'd recommend watching: Up in the Air, Ishqiya and Invention of Lying.

Rahul Gandhi "shocked" at cut in pocket money

2009-11-06T09:49:00.006+05:30

I am a big fan of FakingNews, and had originally written this for them. But it seems this is too short to be published there, so thought would just share here. Note that this is a little old - around the time of cattle class remarks and Congress's austerity drive. And in case you are interested in more such stories I may publish, you could follow the new faking news label.

Lucknow, Sep 28: In the latest move by Congress on its austerity drive, party president Sonia Gandhi has slashed son Rahul's pocket money by half.

Rahul expressed deep shock hearing this. The news came to him by SMS, during his trip to UP. He soon updated his social network saying "I am shocked. Now how will I buy Diwali gifts for my friends?". Sources say he has already given Sonia Gandhi 19 missed calls, but gotten no response yet.

A senior BJP leader has been quoted saying "This austerity business is all a drama. Congress is not the first. Even Advaniji never buys Diwali gifts for his friends".

To revolt, Rahul has decided to run away from home and never (ever) come back. But Sonia Gandhi has made him jaleebi, and sent "home minister" PC Chidambram to let Rahul know. She says she is confident that Rahul will return.

On Demand

2009-10-11T14:18:00.001+05:30

Earlier this year I was at a wedding in my family. It was after a really long time that so many of us were under one roof. But despite that, me and my cousins found it quite tough to leave our computer. Some on Facebook, some playing games, and some both! Seemed as if it was just too much effort to go interact with people for real, while with greater ease we could virtually interact with people we're more aware of.

It was then I realized how the "on demand" culture had started to consume us.

In life there may be two kinds of things we do - what is easy, and what is right. While they may not always be different, they sometimes are.

Take going to school for example. Back then each one of us would have resisted leaving the comfort of our parents, venturing into unknown/uncomfortable territory. But we had to. And it wasn't that bad. Infact once we took the plunge, it was perhaps one of the best times of our lives. Take another example of studying subjects like history, economics, etc in school. I for one hated being forced to study such boring subjects. But today, I realize their value and appreciate how they have given me the ability to be intrigued.

In both the examples above, frameworks had been established to help us (or force us) do what we did. If it were in my hands, I'd have just done the easy thing back then. Not even realizing what would I be signing up to loose.

Now its not that we always have to do the right thing, or that it won't be easy. Even though I know I need to stay healthy, I would still miss exercise and eat a fully loaded ice cream :-). And its ok. Because there are frameworks to help me realize I'm doing something wrong, so I avoid making it a habit.

But is there any framework preventing us from making our "on demand" attitude a habit?

There are already ad campaigns which patronize us being impatient. How do you now react to a power cut, as compared to when you were a kid? Why is 20-20 more successful than test cricket? And Twitter than Blogging? Even though it can be argued that these may be great changes, what does this tell us about ourselves?

There is no framework to check our "on-demand" attitude. Engaging in all those activities which make things just so easy and ready for us, we are constantly training our brain to work in a particular way. Expect things in that particular way. And when we don't get that in other aspects of life, it tolls us. We loose patience, get frustrated.

So is this really bad? Yes and no.

We are already witnessing diseases related to blood pressure, heart, stress, etc widespreading. More so in an age group which should not even experience them remotely. Families are getting more distant. I already talked about an example. If I could just get some statistics on how much people have started fighting over the years, it may well just add up.

But on the other side, things are getting more efficient. People have more access, and are better equipped to find that slice of he world they like. Its now fairly easy to get immediate happiness.

So the debate really lies in this question - are many kicks of shorter term happiness better than one big longer term feeling of happiness? Because thats what it really is. Despite the increased efficiency, the impatience in general would make us take decisions that will help us enjoy today, while not putting in great thought about tomorrow. And it may just be alright. Technology has given us more options. I guess its for each individual to decide.

Like I recently tweeted, "Next gen may not experience the family unions (and fights!) over limited modes of entertainment, like a single TV". Soon each family member will have their own personal device giving them on demand entertainment. There will be no shared TV. Each will sit in their room/corner and do what they like at the moment. They may not get that warm feeling years later which we do. But would they want it over that momentary joy, which we didn't get? Well, its for them to decide.

When I met my extended family earlier this year, I didn't take much effort to spend time with most. I was busy spending time only where I am comfortable. Where it was easy, and didn't need much patience. When I look back now, who knows when will I meet them again. And who knows what doors I've left unopened, what did I sign up to loose by doing what I felt was "easy".

It was for me to decide. Like its now for you to decide.

Why Obama Won the Nobel

2009-10-11T10:45:00.004+05:30

Obama recently won a Nobel Peace prize, creating some controversy. Some feel people like Gandhi deserved it more, that Obama hasn't done much yet, and so on.

I wanted to put all these controversies to rest.

First, Obama just had to fuel the military budget. Unlike Gandhi, he didn't have much of an option there. Otherwise some rich industrialists would be very unhappy, which no US president can afford. Not to mention each US president is also expected to showcase the military might at least once during their term, a condition Gandhi didn't have to meet.

But Obama's a nice guy. He didn't want to attack anyone for real, like Bush used to. What does he do? This of course! Win-win for everyone - he still gets to "attack", showcase the military might, no one really gets hurt, and at least some money gets fueled into another industry too. What an idea sirji(tm)!

Even now you think he didn't deserve it? Or would you rather have those bombings next door? Hain?

Twitter Highlights - 1

2009-09-26T18:38:00.003+05:30

Like one of my favourite bloggers explains, I too think its a good idea to occasionally post few highlighted tweets on a blog. So here goes. Some of my tweets from recent times.

Just fly Kingfisher, and hope for the good times -http://bit.ly/SDrPT

Pak really needs to figure out a more sustainable economic policy. They will eventually run out of terrorists.http://bit.ly/3tv0C7

If released this fast, isn't jail being a good meeting ground for terrorists? http://bit.ly/JtzPO

No wonder engg colleges have such bright students ;-) http://bit.ly/1A1AjG (via @slashdot and @spranesh)

Ultra WTF: If celebrities can have statues in Madame Tussads, why can't Mayawati in UP? http://bit.ly/HvnqD

Look what http://www.airtel.com redirects to!

A common man sacrifices himself for the benefit of mankind, even in today's age - http://bit.ly/7zikB

If everyone one fine day realizes that "fashion" is just an illusion, would the economy crumble?

If interested, find more at http://twitter.com/sheopory.

We, The Cattle

2009-09-23T22:21:00.003+05:30

I recently criticized Congress for harassing Shashi Tharoor for his "controversial" cattle class tweet. His intentions were benign, and Congress seemed to be making a fuss over nothing.

But then I thought. Why would Congress publicly criticize their own minister? I'm sure Congress is smart enough to understand his intent. Then why?

The answer, to my fear, is likely us. The people of India.

I recently blogged about how we Indians are just taking mindless offenses these days. When Tharoor made that tweet, he may have had the best of intentions. And Congress perhaps understood that. But as the tweet reached Congress, it would reach BJP too.

Given the mindset of Indian electorate and the desperation of BJP, what options did Congress really have?

Not do anything. BJP would obviously make an issue of it (they already did), bring up other Congress mistakes, and rally people to take offense against them.
Criticize Tharoor themselves. They show affection towards people, keep control of things, and use media to show how benign this really was, and eventually let Tharoor continue.

Which seems better?

So what some feel is an immature act by Congress, may actually be a brilliant strategic move. And why did they need to do all this? Because we, the Indian cattle, are still quite immature ourselves.

Now go, take offense!

Movie Review: Magadheera

2009-08-28T23:33:00.007+05:30

Before reading this review, please know that this is the first Telugu movie I've ever seen. And I don't understand a word of the language :-)

Magadgeera in one word - grand! From cinematography to choreography, sets to dialogue delivery, music to fighting sequences - everything is just grand.

The plot itself is typically commercial. Two lovers who couldn't unite in a previous life, are reborn to be united. Bhairav is the royal guard, who is of course (like in a typical southern movie) a stud! Having no shades of grey, everything he does is just perfect. The princess has the hots for him, and he too reciprocates. But (of course) there's an evil "senapati" (defense minister), who too has the hots for the princess. Now when he couldn't get the princess for himself, he makes sure even Bhairav can't get her. As the story unfolds, Bhairav and the princess are killed before union. Now all these characters are reborn in the modern age, and similar events unfold. And this time the "stud" and the princess are united, with the evil dude defeated.

But its not the plot thats important. Its the execution. And what execution it was! Even though I didn't understand a word, I was always engaged in the movie. The brilliantly choreographed action sequences, typical Tollywood unrealistic style, breathtaking visuals, a cute lead lady and so much more made me think twice before leaving my seat (for even going to the restroom!). I was able to follow the story too (with very little help from my Telugu speaking friends). I also liked the sprinkles of creativity in the execution. For example, the interval message said "In 10 minutes, you'll go back 400 years"! Also the way the credits were presented in the end was pretty innovative.

Now there's another angle to enjoy the movie even more - hype. The lead actor is Charanjit, who is Chiranjivi's son. And Chiranjivi also does a cameo early in the movie. I always wanted to see him on screen at least once while I'm in Hyderabad, considering his stature in the region :-). Its also apparently one of the costliest Telugu movies ever made.

But there was one thing that I didn't like about the movie. That almost all Hindi speaking (very few dialogues though) north Indian characters were shown negative. It scared me a bit as I may have well been the only Hindi speaking north Indian in the movie hall :-).

All in all, Magadheera is great watch. Even if you don't understand the language :-). But watch only in a good theatre, otherwise you may miss enjoying its best part - the grandness!

Whats Your OC?

2009-08-25T23:28:00.003+05:30

Be offended. Be very offended.

After all, it just seems to be in fashion. Barbers to priests, common man to uncommon woman, Hindus to Christians to Sikhs - all have already joined the revolution. Do you want to just stay back and watch? Loser!

I, for one, have decided to move with the times. And so propose a fashion factor - Offense Count (or just OC). Your OC is basically the number of offenses you've taken. But they have to be completely baseless, as logic is not in fashion these days. So if you want to stay with the times, just memorize this one simple fact of life - at the end of the day all that matters is, your OC.

I started to track my OC today. Its 4 so far. Yes, I know it can be better. And I'm trying.

Someone asked me to share the "pics", slandering the language I've been learning since childhood (that bastard!). I took offense.
My code didn't compile. I took offense.
Someone scored a goal against me in foosball. I took offense.
A friend asked me why am I taking so much of offense? I took offense.

So. Whats your OC?

Twitter Tips

2009-08-24T00:10:00.007+05:30

I've been twittering for a while now, and am loving it. I've been asked a few times about it, so sharing what I've learnt so far.

Why use Twitter?

Twitter is nothing groundbreaking (there have been "status update" apps for long). But I feel its simplicity is what has made it into the huge success it is today. Just fit whatever you have to say in 140 characters, and hit enter!
Twittering doesn't necessarily need to be an update of what you're doing. It can even be seen as a utility for micro-blogging. If you're too lazy (or don't have enough content) to write a full blog post, a one line update should be enough to let it out.
If you like to be on the bleeding edge of technology, you got to at least give this revolution a try.

How to use Twitter?

If you're starting fresh, do so with a good habit - use a client. I like Seesmic. But there are others too. Here are some advantages of using Twitter with a client (vs directly on twitter.com):

Easy to share tweets. You will want to do this often, trust me!
Create userlists. You'll invariably subscribe to a plethora of rapidly updating celebrities, news channels, etc. It'll then be tough to follow the updates of those you care about more closely (your real friends, favourites, etc). Userlists are 'groups' you create which you can follow in a different (uncluttered) view.
Automatically shorten links. Since a tweet can't be more than 140 characters, you'll often need to shorten a URL to fit it with your entire message. Most clients do this conversion automatically.
Auto refresh. Whats the point of living on the 'bleeding edge' of technology, if you lag behind in updates of your world ;-). You won't need to hit F5 over and over.
Many more advanced client specific features.

Besides using a client, these tips may be useful:

Don't link Twitter to Facebook. It will just annoy your friends!
Follow selectively. Following many will just spam your 'Timeline' (aka Twitter inbox). Just keep these in mind:
- Twitter is not Facebook. You don't need to be courteous to follow all your acquaintances on Twitter.
- Just because someone follows you, don't need to follow them back. Many spammers on Twitter would use that to exploit you.
- Following sends a notification, but usually unfollowing doesn't!

Happy tweeting! But be warned - there are side effects ;-)

'Kaminey' - the real 'Deshdrohi'

2009-08-22T11:04:00.013+05:30

For those of you who don't know what Deshdrohi is, shame on you! Its of course the epic movie which courageously fought back Raj Thakrey's anti north Indian campaign in Maharashtra.

Or at least it tried. Sadly, it was not understood well enough by the masses to get the appreciation it deserved. But Vishal Bhardwaj (another immigrant from UP) understood it. And boy did he appreciate it. Infact he took it upon himself to complete the message that Deshdrohi started.

Boiling with rage when thinking how, all he could murmur was 'Kaminey'.

That was it! What better title for a movie, which sends Deshdrohi's message in a way the masses will understand. Which summed up what those politicians are, who started all this for their personal benefit. Just perfect.

Now time to get to work. First pick a catchy theme, which will penetrate right through the hearts of the masses. How about this classic piece, which symbolizes a group of 'bhaiyas' migrating to Mumbai:

Good. Now apply a touch of style to it. Hmm. What do the masses consider stylish? Tarantino of course! All done:

Now for a story. How about a labourer from UP? Nah, Deshdrohi already tried and failed. How about his children? Born and brought up in Mumbai, with mad love for the city? Perfect, yet again! But wait, why will the masses side with them? Pity! Make them have a benign disability or something. Hmm. Maybe stammering? Yep, thats it! Vishal, you genius!

Now what we need is an embodiment of politician goon who claims to hate north Indians. Should make sure he clearly says "Politics is business" sometime in the movie. Maybe even show the masses his reality - like he changes his stand for personal benefits. Coolio!

Style - check, story - check, appeal - check. All done:

Kaminey released around Independence day, and has been doing great all over.

Empire just struck back. Your move, Raj.

Indian BBQ Grill

2009-08-19T10:59:00.011+05:30

Those who have one, can perhaps sing about it to this tune:

Who's the hottest grill in the world? My desi grill, my desi grill!
Jhatka lagake it'll rock your world! My desi grill, my desi grill.
**
Ki ek lakh lakh pardesi grill, but aint nobody like my desi grill!
Ki ek lakh lakh pardesi grill, but aint nobody like my desiiiiiii grilllllllll!

Sorry if I ruined the song for you, that was my intention.

A Matter Of Fat

2009-08-08T22:29:00.006+05:30

I'm getting fat. No two ways about it (but with increased size, maybe more).

Here are some obvious reasons why (before you start judging me):

Harsh winters approach us. Like all mammals, I too prepare. Don't you?
Nature has gifted us with a highly evolved body. The least I could do is develop a protective layer above it. Don't you too preserve/cover something you value?
Mankind is heading towards self destruction. Who knows when nuclear apocalypse is unleashed upon us. What you may call fat, I call long term thinking. See?

But enough justification. Now action. Step 1 - unsubscribe from here. And as they say, a good beginning is half the battle won!

Just Like That

2009-08-01T00:04:00.003+05:30

If you don't know what a Hadouken is, you can stop reading now.

Hadouken!

Don't Talk, Just Speak

2009-07-18T10:02:00.005+05:30

India recently gave in to Pakistan's demands of delinking "action on terror" from talks (link). Now this can be a good thing, as the dialogue can move forward and not deadlock unproductively. But the premise here is that a dialogue is the right thing to have in the first place.

I don't think so. I'm not saying war is the option (infact thats a bad option). But with the did-no-wrong mindset Pakistan has, we perhaps need a monologue more than a (negotiatory) dialogue. Here are my reasons:

India is the victim. We have everything to loose. What is there to negotiate? I feel even if we secede a fraction of our country (or anything else) to Pakistan, the result is just unfair. If there is a dialogue, it should be to negotiate how Pakistan settles the damage they have caused.
Dialogue is between those who speak the same "language". With Pakistan not understanding that sovereignty is the basis of any country, how can we even explain to them what we need? Its just unacceptable to hear "the government didn't do it, but someone else from our land". We don't care!
Dialogue is between equals. But we are not. I feel India is much more powerful, for it to submerge. Taking an extreme example - would US have a "dialogue" with (say) Mexico if it were to do what Pakistan has done with India?

So while I perhaps understand the good intentions our PM has behind this move, I'd urge him to rethink our entire strategy once (and not do what we do today :-)).

The Spell Is Broken

2009-06-30T19:19:00.013+05:30

If you know me, you know how I hate reading books. Suspense, comedy, romance, drama, shaama. Basically anything (except techie books :p).

Yesterday my friend Shaunak gave me a book - My Friend Sancho. And in less than 24 hours I finished reading it! This warrants for many changes in life: being more asocial, being pseudo intellectual, adding a new label to my blog for book reviews and the likes. You know the drill.

For a brief review of My Friend Sancho itself, here goes:

The fictional (hopefully, as the lead character claims to jerk off 11 times a day!) story revolves around a crime reporter Abir Ganguly. He gets entangled in covering a story involving an unexpected encounter by the police. As he interacts with the various characters involved (the cops, the victims and the media bosses), he discovers how the details behind what seemed like a routine news headline, can mean so much. It changes his own life, and increases his appreciation of life in the (Mumbai) city.

Overall a good read. I felt the storyline itself was not that compelling, but structured well enough to stitch together short spurts of satire, humour that goes with it, criticism of the system and touching on some sensitive issues - all of which I enjoyed. Not a surprise, with the book being authored by the India Uncut blogger.

New Age Mahabharatha

2009-06-17T17:28:00.017+05:30

We know that India has a history of dynasty politics. Now I couldn't help but draw parallels of the current situation with the one we had thousands of years ago.

Vichitravirya was the undisputed ruler. Dhritarashtra was the elder son, ideally to be the next. Pandu, the younger brother, however came to power first (because of Dhritarashtra's natural limitations). But Pandu soon passed away, forcing Dhritarashtra to take the throne. Now when the time for the next generation came, Duryodhan claimed the right. And why not, he was the eldest son of the elder brother. However Pandu's eldest son Yudhisthir claimed the right too. By a play of power, Duryodhan sent Yudhisthir to exile. Who was right and who was wrong didn't matter, but it was eventually decided by battle. The fiercest of them all.

From another dynasty, we had Indra Gandhi undisputedly ruling India. Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son, ideally to be the next. Sanjay Gandhi, the younger brother, however came to power first (because of Rajiv's disinterest). But Sanjay soon passed away, forcing Rajiv to take the throne. Now when the time for the next generation came, his son Rahul Gandhi claims the right. And by play of power, Varun Gandhi (Sanjay's son) is sent to exile (what else do you call a Gandhi joining BJP!). Who is right and who is wrong doesn't matter. Will there be another Mahabharatha? And what could it cost us?

Perhaps 5000 years from now people will look back at our era with disbelief too, questioning "how could anyone rule in a democracy?" and so on. Such is the irony.

Power To The Geeks

2009-05-10T10:14:00.005+05:30

If you don't know what Konami Code is, I pity your childhood - struggling to finish Contra with just three lives :-). And if you don't know what Contra is...

We already knew about the Google Reader and Gamespot Konami Code easter eggs. Now Facebook too joins the party! And it all just makes me happy to realize that the likes of such powerful organizations in today's world are driven by fellow geeks.

You Had Your Chance

2009-05-05T23:32:00.006+05:30

An excerpt from this post on the low urban voting turnout:

"...when one decides to stay at home and show the middle finger to the democratic process, the process flips the bird back at you."

I completely agree with it. I hope people who didn't vote understand this as well.

India is a democracy. Politicians are expected to be vote driven. If the post's analysis is correct, the next round of reservations/policies the government makes is not going to be for you, if you and your types didn't vote. Its going to be for those who did, who matter more to politicians. This is how a democracy should be. You had your chance.

Ask, And You Shall Get

2009-04-27T21:05:00.011+05:30

I recently twittered about how we Indians are more passionate about our cricket than politics. I'd like to shed some more light with examples, just because this is so important.

Would we accept if (say) Rohan Gavaskar was selected in the Indian cricket team, without any Ranji performances? And if he's made captain? And if Dhoni is kicked out, just because he doesn't agree with Gavaskar much? Don't know about you, but I would be infuriated to see such un-meritocracy in our team!

But how did we react to Rahul Gandhi being pushed for PM? Or when Sonia took over the Congress? Didn't we elected her to power?

When Dravid's team lost the world cup in 2007, questions were asked. We demanded a response from those we held responsible. Some demanded a little too extremely. Actions were taken. Something was achieved. And BCCI is a private organization, officially not answerable to the nation.

But do we recall demanding something on similar lines from a failed government? A government which we fund?

I'm not criticizing Congress or saying that Rahul Gandhi can't be a good PM or those responsible for a failed government should be stoned. My point is simple: expect more from your government. Like you do in cricket. Even if you don't plan to take an action on those expectations, just asking yourself the right questions is enough. Enough to eventually fix the system built of, by and for you. After all if some didn't ask the right questions, would we have even realized the need to get independence?

Just expect. Ask questions. Who knows, India might just win another world cup ;-)

What People Want?

2009-04-04T09:21:00.012+05:30

After watching Outsourced, I wondered what really makes people happy? Why is it that older civilizations like India and China seem to be happier than most developed civilizations, despite a lower standard of living?

Is it the closeness (forced or unforced) between people? Is it their culture, evolved through ages, when development was not the priority and people had time for living their life? Or is it just the importance given to others (the bow of head at greeting for example)? Whatever it be, it works. Keeps people happy. Well, at least till we change it.

Makes one wonder - do people really want fancy cars, big bungalows and air conditioned cabins? Or do people really want people? If you had to pick one, which would it be? And where do you think you will get it?

The Problem With BJP

2009-03-17T22:20:00.005+05:30

This is what I feel about BJP:

They will develop India (unlike Congress which stalls it). They are hungry to prove themselves, they innovate, are modern and can take strong international stands.
They are communal nutcases!

There's more to 2 than it appears. They're communal - thats known. But how far they can go? From the way they handled Gujrat riots, it seems as if the state actually took part in the riots and chose a side. Those who fell on the "wrong side" obviously didn't stand a chance. Then it was non Hindus who suffered the wrath of being on their "wrong side". But what if its atheists some day? Or pub goers? Or just you and me? Reminds me of this famous quote by Martin Niemoller.

However would I risk wanting a ruling party full of nutcases, but who could develop India? Maybe yes. Maybe such is our only shot?

Brain Man

2009-03-13T06:30:00.020+05:30

It is believed that humans are the most intelligent species on Earth. And why not? We have created wonders, societies, religion, philosophy and much more. We have developed technology to control our surroundings (sometimes even beyond limits) for our very comfort. And all this is thanks to our intelligence, to the most powerful gift we have over other species - our brain.

Our curiosity has certainly helped us. We've always had the hunger to explore and percept the unknown - be it our vast surroundings or deep within ourselves. But ironically one of the less explored of these has been the human brain itself. Experts believe that we have been able to achieve whatever we have, with the conscious brain utilizing only a fraction of the brain's neural powers. However the brain is mostly active, with the remaining massif computational powerhouse being controlled by the sub conscious. Tough to put numbers, but its believed that the conscious accounts for only 4% or our brain's excitation potential (not mass), while the rest 96% being the sub conscious.

In short, we control only a margin of our brain. While the remaining part (constituting almost all of the brain) is even beyond our awareness, let aside control!

While the sub conscious can have a longer term effect, most of what we comprehend is bound by the limits of consciousness. For example, your overall behaviour may be influenced by your sub conscious. But your ability to grasp a mathematics equation is driven by your (limited) conscious.

Mankind has advanced tremendously, but isn't it startling to imagine what if we had more than a just minuscule of the brain's resources in our conscious control? The possibilities are limitless! This is where my hypothesis begins.

Lets start with the simple example of Deja Vu. Have you ever had the sensation of experiencing something you've dreamt (or experienced) before? If you do, you're just one of the many experiencing Deja Vu. Then there's the concept of Telepathy - where one can communicate without using any of the 5 comprehendible senses.

But how do they work? None of these are well explained by modern science. One theory (I believe) is to imagine all our brains connected in a telepathic network of sorts (possibly communicating on other dimensions), continuously processing all possible options we'll face and the viable choices we'll make. Continuously processing (using the vast processing powers of) and storing our "future" in the sub conscious. Its then minor glitches like overlaps with the conscious memory that actually result in anomalies like Deja Vu - one possible explanation for us dreaming of a completely unimaginable situation years before it actually occurs!

Now meditation was a prevalent concept in our ancient times, which is believed to be a way to open the doors to sub conscious access. If we do believe the above theory momentarily, is it not even a remote possibility that the sub conscious brain could actually print out signals of our "future" it calculated, on to our body? What if they exist in forms of markings on our palm and such? What if our ancestors (with the elevated access to the brain's potential they had meditated to) unravelled this and documented it as a science?

This is just one example of a today incomprehensible phenomenon our brain is capable of, with an elevated access to the sub conscious's potential. We have heard the story of Sanjaya "telecasting" Mahabharata without physically being there. What if phenomenons like telepathy could actually be controlled? We also hear stories of sadhus meditating for months without sleep. What if we could control our brain could to produce the same signals that actual sleeping does? Like I said above, the possibilities really are limitless!

There is no proof to what I say, but there are increasing occurrences of such "anomalies" where the brain's hidden potential is accidentally unleashed in a few individuals. You may have seen the movie Rain Man - the true story of an individual (better called a savant) capable of accessing all parts of his memory. Let me leave you with a (truly worth watching) video of another savant, who's brain illustrates a glimpse of its tremendous hidden processing power. Oh, and science is yet to explain.

Man Vs Machine

2009-02-01T19:28:00.014+05:30

This post is pointless :p. You have been warned!

Take out the pre cooked chicken nuggets and french fries from the freezer, which were being saved for long. Without fearing the unpredictable attack of the boiling oil drops, fry the nuggets and aloo for just the right amount. Then fry a little more. Soak the oil, hunt for beer. No beer found! Innovate - make do with the vanilla vodka left over, which btw we have been warned about. Turn on the TV, but wait - no Star Sports! Quickly hunt for the package code. Send subscription SMS and pray it works this time. Voila!

Serve.

So much effort was put to prepare for the ultimate sports entertainer - a Federer-Nadal final. Be it their never-say-die attitude, or their ability to come up with the most unexpected return or simply one of the best displays stretching one's physical limits for long enduring hours; their matches are what sport is all about. A real test of character, with emotions flowing to the extreme. Crowd pullers indeed.

The match went on to the expected start, with the first set itself lasting longer than some other complete matches. Nadal got the 1st set, Federer the 2nd and Nadal the 3rd in close encounters. The 4th seemed to be a simple walk for Roger, hinting an easy victory for him in the 5th. But such a game can never go without swings. Like Vardasco said, you need to win 3 points against Nadal to actually get 1! Federer started strong in the 5th, but soon skill made way for fatigue. Mistake after mistake, demoralizing himself to see Nadal's superhuman stamina, it was inevitable for Federer to taste defeat - which's exactly what happened. A clash of heroes came to an end, but a good fight nevertheless.

It was a little sad to see Federer loose though. I have great respect for both players, but I've always found Federer to be the more skilled. Nadal is a machine, who never gives up. But its Federer's skill that adds that touch of class in the game for me. I feel Federer relies more on his brain, while Nadal on his muscles comparatively. It is perhaps this clash that keeps me (and perhaps others) involved in the game. All I hope is that these two continue to cross each others path, for the sake of mass entertainment (hopefully without age becoming a grueling factor). At least Federer followed Arnie's footsteps and said "I'll be back" for next year!

Assholes

2009-01-27T23:30:00.007+05:30

I don't like to talk about discreet body parts on my blog, but just couldn't contain the feeling when learnt about such cowardly attacks (ironically by macho men) on innocent women and children.

We know the obvious reason why such attacks happen, so we have practically two options -

1. Don't give them any attention or publicity.

2. Give them only negative humiliating publicity.

Since I'm compelled to blog about this, I automatically choose option 2. What I now want to do is start a search bomb - whenever someone searches for "assholes", they get either MNS or Ram Sena (which I prefer to call Hindu Taliban) sites as the first result. So please join me in calling a spade a spade (and an asshole an asshole)!

Assholes Assholes Assholes Assholes Assholes Assholes

PS: I really hope these ~~gangs~~ organizations mature someday, lest join hands.

2009-01-26T17:33:00.002+05:30

Another chirp in the symphony the world is collectively composing.

Consumo Ergo Sum (I Consume, Therefore I am)

2009-01-20T22:19:00.002+05:30

I attended a talk by professor Jhunjhunwala sometime back. He explained how the upliftment of rural India was so closely tied to India's development, since thats where the bigger chunk of the country resides. It was an insightful talk. His passion for this cause was truly impressive. But what was even more amazing was the perspective he brought in things, which we seem to overlook in our rush for shorter term gains.

Consumption was one such perspective, which stuck with me. He said that in today's capitalistic world, development is defined largely on top of consumption habits (the luxury to waste). More the consumption, equally more the production and hence the development. Take any developed economy and consumption & wastage seem to be a common denominator. Now countries like India and China are the fastest developing countries today. But they also happen to constitute 1/3rd of the world's population. If they continue according to this definition, would our planet be able to handle this development?

India's development today is prevalent mainly in cities, which constitute a fraction of its population. Can we imagine what would happen if every villager in India starts using paper towels everytime they wash their hands? Or each villager consumes a plastic bottle/metal can by the hour? What if each starts driving a car alone, even for small distances? To develop rural India we musn't need people migrating to cities and participate in such over consumption, but enable the villages themselves to prosper. Since if a migration movement begins, we could end up creating mega populous cities which drain resources in horrific ways.

But how to develop rural India? To begin with, we need to redefine development to be able to sustain it. Historically, we've always looked down at over consumption and wastage in our culture. Most of our philosophies preach living life in simplicity and controlling our desires. Its about time we revisit our own learnings for our own good. Prosperity is not luxury to waste. We must realize that we don't need anyone to approve of us being developed by their definition. We need to live by our own.

The least we could do is reduce over consumption in cities. We should avoid getting trapped in short term evils of greed and wastage, which would only make us slip more and more. We need to learn to share. We need to be aware of the implications the little things we do can have on our planet. Our strive should be towards happiness and longer term moral values, not just the comfort of life. We need to be proud to accept what we truly feel defines being developed.

But we could (and should) go a step further, to actually help villages prosper. Investing some effort to make them self reliant, to make them aware of the world around them and perhaps to make them realize what is the essence of true development - which we all should understand.

Feel free to contact professor Jhunjhunwala to contribute towards his vision.

Games People Played

2009-01-19T09:25:00.013+05:30

I love playing video games. Or at least I used to. The transformation of a few pixels here and there, based on some keys I press in some weird combination is just, well, fascinating!

I recently revived my (very) old school gaming hobbies by installing an NES emulator. Combine that with a couple of XBox 360 joysticks and a good looking monitor, and you have your own little video game heaven :). All that was needed were a few ROMs (you know I can't provide you the link here, go buy!) and there it was - Super Mario, Contra, GI Joe and the likes all over again!

On the PC gaming front, I mostly play FIFA. Infact I like it so much that the only reason why I ever upgrade my PC is so that it can run the latest version of FIFA! Now hunting for NES ROMs stumbled me onto Street Fighter IV. Its not out for the PC yet, but when my NES fixation combined with the PC, I just added another game to the list which would need me to upgrade my PC :). Let me leave you with a little preview, to give you a feel of what prompted me:

PS: For what its worth, you can have a less than perfect experience using Firenes - which allows you to play all these NES games inside the Firefox browser.

PPS: I was recently staying over at a cousin's place who has a TV with HDMI in and a laptop with HDMI out, and guess what we created - NES super heaven!

UPDATE: I've been asked for this many times, so I thought I'd update this post to explain how to set up Street Fighter on your PC.

Download the Mame32 emulator (Windows or Mac) and extract it.
Download a Street Fighter ROM like Marvel Vs Street Fighter.
Copy the .zip file into Mame's "roms" folder. Do not extract it.
Launch Mame and find the game you want to play (use ctrl+f).
Play!

If you have XBox 360 controllers, install their drivers for XP (they work directly on Vista). You need to enable joystic support for each game in Mame by right clicking, going to Input tab and check "Allow Joysticks" option. It'll also help if you read up on Mame usage guides. Games ahoy!

Do You Trust Yourself?

2009-01-18T10:11:00.006+05:30

Imagine that you're on the brink of making perhaps the biggest decision of your life. Something you've been waiting for and have worked hard towards. This could be a new job, a new house or even a marriage.

Just then, a shabby looking person approaches you and tells you not to go ahead with it! That person claims to be you from the future. He (or she) tells you that after this step, everything would start going wrong and have a disastrous end. This person adds that it was so bad, that he spent his entire savings to get just one minute back in time (hope you didn't think time travel would be cheap :)), to warn himself about this mistake.

You then have your naive authentications, asking him deep down secrets which only you would know. To your surprise he answers everything. You also ask him why didn't he go back even further (before you put in all the effort) and why didn't he look up the stock price for the next day, but lets just say he has very valid reasons for not doing them. And then he leaves.

What would you do?

Windows Without Walls

2009-01-08T23:35:00.008+05:30

Microsoft's latest campaign about Windows is Life Without Walls. And you know what we cannot have without walls? Windows! Or is this animosity for walls just because Wall-E had the boot sound of a Mac :)

PS: I still like Windows (not Vista though)!

Sound of Music

2009-01-06T23:13:00.013+05:30

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
- Berthold Auerbach, German poet.

Thanks to beloved bua, I now cleanse mine in THX style!

Happy New Revolution

2009-01-01T15:15:00.004+05:30

Now that its 1.1.09 in all parts of the world, its safe to blog wishing you all a happy new year!

On the note of Earth beginning a new revolution, here's a cool talk I stumbled upon which articulates how humanity is going through an anthropological revolution, with the world today truly being a stage. Although haven't directly contributed to this historical phenomenon much, still feels great to be part of the company spearheading it.

Ghajini Review

2008-12-31T09:26:00.015+05:30

A good one time watch. Not the best of Amir's works, however certainly not as bad as some say. Here are a few reasons why I feel some people were disappointed by it (also something which if you read in advance may better your experience in case you're determined to watch).

Kollywood Bollywood Mix: This should've been expected, considering its a remake of a Tamil hit from the same Kollywood director. If you've had the privilege of watching some of the more popular Tamil movies (like I've had), you'd realize how far from reality they can get. Only once you get over it and accept that, do you actually start enjoying the movie. The problem however is that this may need some getting used to. In Ghajini you have a toned down version of such unrealistic Kollywood touch. There are action sequences where its best to assume Amir Khan is unrealistically strong (even though the movie tries to explain some of it) and the villains unrealistically predictable. There are unexpected masala songs popping up. There are also out of place social messages. The avid Bollywood viewers didn't accept so much and perhaps the avid Kollywood viewers (who may have already seen original Ghajini) couldn't accept so little :), trapping the movie in between.

Great Expectations: Its never easy for a movie to live up to the expectations of a previously successful movie, let alone two. Directing movies is creative work and can not always confine to the vein of another, particularly when it needs to be localized. So if you go watch Ghajini with pre conceived notions of the storyline or theme, you may miss what this director tries to convey - pure masala :). Like other masala movies its unfair to expect a subtler message, at a deeper intellectual level from this one.

Brand Amir Khan: The guy is perceived to be a perfectionist and we expect nothing less from him. Just him starring in a movie tends to define what we must expect from the movie. Well, Amir Khan is not at his best in the movie, however he's still really good. He looks scary when he wants to, looks determined when he wants to, looks tough when he wants to, looks emotional when he wants to and most of all looks lost when he needs to. The problem is that sometimes he overdid it, particularly the scary part. If you can get over the fact that really no one can be perfect (at least everytime) you would rather enjoy his performance.

The other problem in the brand of Amir Khan is that how did he sign up for a masala flick? Not much to say here other than perhaps an error in judgement. How appealing would an opportunity to play a challenging role like in Ghajini sound to someone who loves challenges in acting? He may have simply not thought/have no control over the direction bit, that actually implemented this glorified idea.

Last Impression: Ghajini comprises of two contrasting parts in the story's timeline. One in flashback, before the "incident". This part is mellow, humorous and entertaining. The other is the darker part, which is scarier and much violent. I personally feel that the first part (flashback story) is a little more enjoyable than the darker part - simply because the latter seemed a little overdone. When one walks away from the theatre (or the handcam print if you're cheap :)), the burnt charcoal taste is what Ghajini ends up being associating with. So some of the reviews may be an articraft of that aftertaste.

If this actually scared you and you decided not to watch Ghajini, you might enjoy this alternative.

Extra Extra Extra

2008-12-01T21:54:00.001+05:30

A little insensitive monetization of the Mumbai blasts, don't you think?

Power of Internet

2008-11-30T09:24:00.004+05:30

That effortful creations like this get shared for free, only in the hope of some appreciation and publicity. Power to the people!

[Link courtesy Joel]

Reality Bites

2008-11-11T08:51:00.014+05:30

Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?

These were the words of a certain Maximus as he tossed his sword at the crowds, after savaging another gladiator to dust. After the scene, we stared at the screen for a moment, wondering how heartless those ancient Romans were, playing with the lives of these gladiators for their cruel entertainment.

Fast forward to the new millennium. We're more civilized. We have made advancements in technology, have better laws and are more cultured than Romans in that ancient era. We're modern. Sure we've borrowed the principle of democracy from our Roman friends, but we've only made it better and better. And the mass hunger for barbaric entertainment? That has vanished.

Almost.

Well, there are occasional incidents, but people don't watch them over and over for the tamasha in it. They only watch them to learn how not to be. Sometimes they need reminders every week (or even every day) so that they don't forget, but thats human. At least no one dies (completely), like they did in the Roman era. We're no longer barbaric to sacrifice a human body for our entertainment. Just the soul will do.

We have truly advanced. Thats the reality.

PS: I too am guilty of tending to contribute towards one particular reality tv show's ratings, but I'm trying to fix that (and perhaps so this post).

Games People Play

2008-07-26T10:42:00.178+05:30

Man is a social animal. While our natural abilities like speech and a curious mind are mostly adequate for our needs, we sometimes need to rely on external agents to stimulate our social environment.

I've found, from my past experiences, board games to be the most harmless of them all :). So let me share few of the interesting games I've been introduced to through my friends (one in particular) which've been great fun for our geeky lot, to perhaps prevent you from engaging with those other more harmful social agents!

Settlers Of Catan

A 3 to 5 player board game of strategy and conquest. The objective is to expand your civilization and reach a final mark. You compete with other players for limited space and resources which makes the game social and interesting. Lasts for 1 to 2 hours, depending on enthusiasm of the players. Downside is that if you haven't planned well in the beginning, you may end up stuck and helpless. However the game's addictive and there's trading involved, so great opportunity for you to extract real world favours for in game trades, particularly if you are losing :).

Power Grid

I was recently introduced to this board game. Although long, this game's very engaging and you may not realize how fast the 2 to 3 hours pass by. Designed for 2 to 6 players, this's an absolute strategy game needing you to think forward and plan, at every stage. The objective is to create cities and gather resources to power them (for some of which you need to bid). The one who powers most cities at one final stage, wins. To be able to win, you need to predict the probable actions of other players some turns in advance and plan your actions efficiently. This stimulating selling point however can even be considered as the down side as after a while this effort of strategy could seem labourious.

Bang!

No matter what the name suggests, this game's suitable for all ages :). Its a 4 to 9 player card game where players secretly assume different western theme based roles (like Sherrif or Outlaw and so on) and play as a popular western character (like Billy the Kid) with each posesing a unique power. The objective for each player is based on their role.The Sherrifs and Deputy need to eliminate all Outlaws and Renegades, the Outlaws need to eliminate the Sherrif and so on. It does need some strategy and coordination amongst the players of a particular role, however there's a great luck factor like in any card game. What makes this game enjoyable is the participation of a larger group and team play. Most entertaining after a couple of beers :).

If none work, there's of course Wii! Let me tell you that most of these games take hours to learn, set up and complete and are addictive. You have been warned. Now stop staring at your computer screen. Go, be social!

Yes Master

2008-07-16T15:45:00.002+05:30

I came across this powerful scene from Great Debaters, where Denzel Washington explains a practiced method for making of a useful slave. Quoting it's essence.

"Break the mind, keep the body."Simply put, the approach aims to attack the slave's culture, destroy their pride, glorify the master's culture, leaving the slave at the master's mercy for all emotional and social needs. While the masters here treat the slaves as mere disposable objects, the slaves develop an almighty image of the masters. Ingenious, isn't it?

Although this was presented in the African American context, I couldn't help but notice its stark similarities with India's own colonization. Whether Macaulay's speech is a reality or not, we can clearly find its sentiments deep rooted in our modern education system even today, where we do happen to glorify the western language and culture over our own. Even today English is clearly the language of the elite, we won't go to office wearing a dhoti, we are out of touch in even writing our name in our own language and I'm sure you'll know many more.

Now that we've gotten our "independence", we still never bothered undoing any of those systematic changes made then, to break our minds, to keep us as slaves. The obvious effect I feel its had is that we still perceive the west as superiors. We still rely on their definition for whats socially acceptable (and what the youth considers cool) and often seek their approval on our own merits.

While its actually great to learn new things from different cultures and the Indian culture's always been enriched by addition from others, its sad (even dangerous) to see Indians today, in some sense, be ashamed of being Indian. On one side we today aspire to be world leaders, while on the other we're loosing pride for the roots that define us. Aping another culture and making ourselves usable by them can only get us so much progress, however we can't be truly developed until we're proud and confident of who we really are.

Of The People, By The People, For The People

2008-07-06T22:50:00.029+05:30

I feel an important virtue of a developed nation is how much it values its people. It’s not that difficult to imagine, as after all if a country values its people, the people naturally develop a mutual commitment towards their nation, perhaps because of a feeling of safety and dependability like one develops towards their family. And we all know what happens if united we stand.

However I find my country doing quite the opposite. An Indian national Ram Prakash imprisoned by our unfriendly neighbor was finally freed after 10 years, however was denied the much awaited return to India because of what seem to be bureaucratic lapses. Based on the excuse given by the Indian embassy, it seems that let alone trying to get him back, we didn't even care for one whole year initially that a citizen's missing from our records in Pakistan. Compare this to what a developed country did in similar circumstances. I'm sure this must've resulted in his family (and some from those who read about him) loosing faith and pride in our nation, at least at some level.

So much for complaining.

While there’s much evidence for the lack of value a common man has in the eyes of our government, there’s now a new ray of hope - Right To Information. An act which legally allows us to demand information from the government or examine the government’s work. RTI directly puts us in charge and seems to be effective because it’s simple to file, inescapable and directly affects the salary of those in question if not resolved promptly.

I had the privilege of attending a brilliant seminar by Parivartan talking about ways in which this act empowers us. If used correctly, this is the ideal stick to poke our government with, reminding it do what it should be doing by itself. This is a unique law which for the first time makes the government rightfully answerable to the people it supposedly serves. RTI has many success stories, however some that I find most inspiring are catching the government with its pants down on road repairs, an ordinary person gets his much needed ration card and busting corruption. I find the last one particularly interesting because it rightfully demonstrates the true relationship that a government and its people must have, empowering a common man to question its servant. I inspire from them because they happen to deal with issues we all regularly face, helplessly. Do read the others, you’ll be surprised with what you can do.

With RTI the government has taken a first step in adding more transparency to their perhaps rusty machinery and valuing its people a little more. However the ball is now in our court. It’s up to people like us to welcome the move by at least creating much awareness about this act if not actively use it (which by the way many youth actually do), to prevent it being from rolled back someday or even hopefully take it to the next level. Let’s not forget that while things worked out for Ram Prakash because of the media attention he garnered, you and I may not be as fortunate.

Taare Zameen Par

2008-06-22T12:11:00.010+05:30

From an article on IIT JEE training.

"...we teach them to eat, sleep, walk and talk only IIT"I feel its the prerogative of aspiring students to join such a training institute at will, based on what they want. However I hope parents reading this article do realize that (even if it is) it isn't the only road to success and they don't impose such a lifestyle on their children, in the spirit of jo jeeta wohi sikandar. Personally, its not a great feeling to see our society laud such an approach and balance the life of a student (particularly at such a young age) on one single exam.

What Will Thackeray Offer?

2008-06-21T09:59:00.004+05:30

They offer 72 virgins. What would be the deal for those who agree to this offer, now that India's already broken records where it matters.

Well Boll'ed

2007-06-09T23:38:00.000+05:30

If you know me, there're no extra points for guessing I'm a movie buff. I've been watching a healthy amount of movies lately, at home and in theaters. One interesting observation that I've made is that the standard of Hindi movies aka Bollywood's gone up by miles, perhaps taking it on par or higher with its American counterpart.

This may bring me in disagreement with some, particularly this TOI article which quotes a Bollywood filmmaker saying "It is sad that our films have lost out to Hollywood biggies in India. The reason is the disappointing content of our films". Based on the movies that I've been watching recently, I'd have to disagree with this filmmaker. At the end of the day what makes a movie industry good is not only if the movies get critically acclaimed but that you (the audience) have confidence that if you watch those movies, you'd be entertained and have a good time (which is what most people watch movies for). When I ever walk into a video library now, there's somehow a feeling of confidence developed inside me when I look at Bollywood movie covers that they'll be good movies as compared to the feeling I get looking at some famous Hollywood movie covers.

The reason perhaps could be that if I look at the acclaimed Hollywood movies I watched recently, I and most people I know didn't find them worthy of the accolades they got. I'm talking of movies of the likes of Little Miss Sunshine, Capote, Flags of our Fathers, Volver, Spiderman, Scanner Darkly, Lost in Translation and so on. On the other hand looking at the Bollywood movies that came out of late included Dor, Metro, Ek Lavya, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Nishabhd (which sparked this post), Black Friday and the likes, which I'm sure did entertain me much more than the Oscar winners and were some heavy performances.

However despite the apparent rise in the quality of film making in Bollywood (according to the article linked above) still the foreign films actually seem to do better. The reason could very well be the notion developed in people's minds about the inferiority of Bollywood movies, it could be the low rates of tickets or it could even be the ease of piracy of Bollywood movies soon after their release, however the unfortunate part is that a well made Bollywood movie isn't able to generate as much revenue as a Hollywood film at or below par, based on which the Bollywood film makers may be forced to rethink and perhaps change their new found quality of film making. Not sure if this chain of well made movie releases in Bollywood is merely a short lived coincidence, however it'd be a bummer to see this standard decline yet again in the search for commercial success.

How to configure a wireless router for Airtel boadbad internet connection

2007-05-12T22:23:00.001+05:30

Contrary to popular belief, configuring a wireless router with Airtel Broadband in India is really simple. I too had some issues (which is why I stumbled on that blog post) however, as they say the most complicated problems often have the simplest of solutions.

I got a new Netgear WGR614 wireless router for myself. I have an Airtel Broadband connection at Hyderabad, which comes with a Beetel 220BX ADSL modem. The router doesn't simply plug and play with the Airtel broadband connection. From, my conclusions the issue is that the ADSL modem acts as a DHCP server and so does the wireless router. Both are configured to take up 196.168.0.1 as the gateway IP and its their IP conflict that doesn't allow the router to provide connectivity through the modem.

I'd suggest the fix to be to go to the new wireless router's administrative page and change the IP series it allocates and assigns to itself. That can be done in these steps (which may vary depending on the make of your wireless router).

Connect the internet cable coming from the ADSL modem to the wireless router as shown in the router's manual.
Once the computer can connect to the router, go to the wireless router's administrative page by typing http://192.168.0.1/basicsetting.htm or http://www.routerlogin.net/basicsetting.htm in your browser. The default username and password is admin and password.
Click on the LAN IP setup link on the left.
You'll see a lot of IP addresses with 192.168.0.something. Change the 0 to 1, making the new IP addresses as 192.168.1.something.
Save the settings which should restart the router.

You can now surf the internet connecting to the new wireless router. You may need to turn off your router, restart the ADSL modem and wait for it to become green and start your router to apply the changes.

Original Prankster

2007-04-01T22:41:00.000+05:30

Its here, today's 1st of April. I know that this post is coming perhaps a little too late, however its never too late to play a prank. If you know me personally, you'll agree with the notion that most of my friends and family expect me to play a prank, particularly on 1st of April. However I decided not to play a prank today and let that be my April Fool's prank on people (if it didn't make sense think of it as I wanted to be lazy on a Sunday). However if I'm not going to play a prank on my friends on the official day, I might as well share some of the pranks that I've played on people in the past, so that it could perhaps benefit someone if needed.

One of the easy to play pranks involves the victim to be your friend and have a cellphone. Ask your friend for his cellphone so that you could play with it. Then find your entry in the cellphone (if its not there then create it) and edit it. You need to delete the characters of your name and replace it with your friends phone number. My friend had stored my number with the name 'Abhishek' and his own phone number is say '12341234'. What I'll need to do is replace the characters of my name 'Abhishek' with '12341234' in his phone book. Now if I ever give him a call, it'll appear to him as if someone's calling him from his own phone number. You then need to scare your friend that Airtel or whatever his cellphone provider is, offers a facility to let you route and charge another number's outgoing calls through your number and that you just activated that feature with your number. If he laughs at you, give him a call from your number and take a photo of his expression.

This other evilish prank was invented as a need as its mother. For background I was in a hostel at Mumbai where there was no TV, no computer and hence no internet. However there was a phone through which we devised a way to make free outgoing calls. We realized that we needed to know the score of the India West Indies match and had no way to know it. Each dialed a digit at random, dialing a valid phone number. I woke up some unsuspecting family and told them we're calling from Star Sports and we've selected their number has been selected in the lucky draw from the phone directory. They needed to tell us the live cricket score in less than 30 seconds to qualify for the bonus question. The entire family got on its toes, with the father shouting "arrey jaldi on karo TV, Star Sports se phone hai". Remarkably within 20 seconds they meticulously narrated the exact score "match India vs West Indies score at 0503 hours is 234/12 in 45.1 overs". I then asked them a really tough question, like what was the name of Sridevi's sister in some old movie and no matter what response they gave me I told them that they're wrong (however I sometimes feel they actually cracked it) so that I didn't raise their hopes. Its an evil, however an easy workable prank of getting some information over the phone.

There're perhaps more interesting pranks that I've played, which I'll share with you by commenting to this post if needed. Till then enjoy your April Fools day and don't forget, that April Fool's day is over in India so no pranks on me (hopefully what I said earlier about never being too late to play a prank doesn't apply to me).

BCCI: Beyond Cricket Controlling India

2007-03-25T02:46:00.000+05:30

The cricket world cup mania is almost over in India, following a dismal performance of the national team, a performance which has sparked many a controversy, with the firey bucket of blame being passed around. As much as the blame game may appease most of the fans, I personally feel it brings shame to the nation that the people responsible for the top game of the country are being pressurized to such a humiliating extent. However this blame game brings forward one interesting question: Is cricket truly a team game? If there's no 'I' in the team its unfair to expect a 'you'. The very fact that people can point out fingers at individuals, finding a you in the team, goes on to show that cricket may not really be a true team game.

However if we can't consider cricket to be a pure team game, then what is? Any team sport that comes to mind does maintain a share of individuality in its performing players. For popular team sports like football, basketball, hockey and cricket its easy to isolate the outstanding players individually (perhaps thats why they got more commercial success) for their superior or inferior performances. However I feel that there's one sport, which seems to have no significance of individual performances and hence no celebrities, which means no commercial interest and hence not many of us thought about it. I'm talking about Chundan Vallam Kali, the local name for Kerala snake boat racing.

Its interesting to look at how this sport is structured. There are up to 128 people who'd row the boat, in complete tandem. This synchronization of the row men is the responsibility of the 8 singers on board who maintain the rhythm with their song, which they also need to sing in complete synchrony amongst themselves. Yes, there's a captain called Kaarnavan (the village leader), however with only one leader in the entire concept of the game, there isn't much scope for cross finger pointing. There's no way you could isolate any one of the singers or the row men (if something goes wrong) and no possible way for Pepsi Co. to isolate a star performer and sign a contract. Its the team as a whole which is considered as the unit entity in this sport.

As much of a team sport as it may be, I'm not suggesting that Vallm Kali be a substitute to watching cricket; the comparison of a true team game and a popular team sport, according to me, is that of socialism and capitalism ideologies, where the socialist flavoured sport has limited scope for entertainment as the masses need celebrities to be entertained. However the sub continental craze for cricket has already done great damage and I feel its about time when the fans look beyond cricket, finding something to distract them and absorb the fact that cricket's only a mode of mass entertainment (based on individual entertaining performers) and nothing beyond that, not worth the mass hysteria and certainly not worth life and death.

Sex

2007-01-23T22:12:00.000+05:30

Great! Now that I have your attention lets move on to look at some interesting gimmicks people use to sell you things that you perhaps wouldn't want otherwise :).

Sex. You're already reading this post.
Make you feel stupid without it.
If stupid isn't enough, there are ways to make you feel worse.
Alternatively they could make you feel really smart if you buy their product.
Celebrity power (there was a better Amitabh ad which I can't find). Believe me, people DO believe anything a celebrity says.
If the kid's cute, the off whitish protection claims (of toothpastes only, be clean) ought to be genuine. Come on guys, have a heart!
You didn't know? No PhD, no lab coat.
If they can afford special effects, do you really think they would lack quality? Rationalize.

I'm sure there are many more such gimmicks that you can find, however all that I can suggest to you is don't get fooled by them. Get fooled by these ones instead :).

The customer is always right, but who cares?

2007-01-21T22:24:00.001+05:30

In an economy driven by capitalistic ideologies, its been long proclaimed that the customer is always right. Being right is one thing, however if someone really cares about the customer being right is totally different.

I feel other than being right, the customers really don't have a lot of say in the way how things go. Let me illustrate my point with an example. The fundamental driving force of a capitalistic economy is profit. Two fundamental metrics of profit are cost and selling price. Its understandable that customers don't have a lot of direct say in deciding what the cost price for a commodity should be. However, I feel its interesting to understand the dynamics that effect the selling price.

The first version of the selling price should ideally be derived from the cost price, to which an estimated profit amount is added. Now if the customers don't accept this selling price, the market dynamics would perhaps force the selling price to drop. This could clearly mean two things. Either the cost price is further reduced (as a result of optimizations of processes or compromise in quality) or the profit margin is consolidated. If the market force prompting for selling price reduction is not successful in effecting a decrease in the selling price in a relatively short time frame, the commodity could prove to be a failure, perhaps making it to the books of our future economists as a case study for fault analysis. This is one example of where the customers collectively put their foot down and made the market realize their potential power through impact.

Now consider the case where the commodity's selling price was set to a level at which the customers accept it (this could have been achieved at first shot through careful market analysis or iteratively as discussed in the example above if the selling price was timely reduced). More and more customers would eventually start accepting and using that commodity, creating at some level, a dependence on it.

Now here is where the money comes in. Gauging the dependence level the customers have on their commodity, taking the aide of complex economic events like inflation, demand and supply cycles and other things, the price for that commodity begins to rise (really how many times have we seen the price of an established commodity drop?). The rate at which the price usually actually rises is perhaps proportional more on the dependence its created rather than the economic events used for justification. Consumers know that they need that commodity and commonly don't really object to small and steady price rises (this a lot of times depends on the commodity itself though), which doesn't pinch them much (perhaps because its not that noticeable as the sharp initial selling price when the commodity was launched and failed). Hence before the customers know it, the commodity's selling price has also changed beyond their influence.

Lets take a simple case study of movie tickets. I feel the price for a movie ticket isn't determined by a fair addition or profit to the total cost price (the proof is that the few people who make movies seem to make more than a fair profit). It was perhaps decided to be of a level which the customers would accept, even if it meant humongous profits. Now as more and more customers started accepting (and depending on) movie entertainment as a part of their life, the costs started going up marginally, till the dependency was strong enough. Once that happened, we saw a flourish of multiplexes and high end movie theatres. Although they DID offer a better movie experience, the costs of tickets were increased by 3 to 5 folds. From a ticket costing 40 to 60 rupees, the costs suddenly went up to 150 to 200 rupees. Did the movie halls really offer such an experience (increasing the cost price to that extent) that deserved a 400% rise in selling price? Or is it possible that since the foray of multiplexes (and other modes where people can spend on a movie's merchandise), this jump happened and the profits of those involved in the movie industry suddenly went up? Where we stand today, the sudden rise in selling prices of most of the entertainment industry's products have been seen, fought and accepted by customers.

This is an example where the customer, even though he perhaps was right, couldn't really do much in the flow of events. The point of this entire text is that, if the customer isn't really cared for (at least in some industries), is it possible for the customer to not care as well? In the example of the entertainment industry, where those involved are making more than generous amounts, perhaps at the extra cost of the regular customer, is it possible for us, the customers, to return the favour? Luckily enough, it seems that there is. Feel no shame my brother, accept it, for that is the circle of life. Aye aye captain?

We have really come a long way...or have we?

2007-01-15T13:40:00.000+05:30

I remember in my childhood, how flying was considered as an unattainable privilege, which only the most esteemed could avail of. However, as we all might know, times have changed and we seem to have come a long way.

I feel this change certianly has had a positive effect, which however has perhaps been accompanied by a bad side effect. The good side, which seems to be fairly obvious, is that air commuting is now within the reach if the common man. This also reflects the economic progress the country has been making and reduces burden and increases performance through competition on other modes of mass public travel in India.

However, a negative side effect of this rapid development in a populous country like India is that sometimes the providers of these facilities fail to scale to the enormous demands of their commodities, which is suddenly made available to the raging Indian middle class.

Illustrating my point with the example of low cost airliners, I have a personal account to give, when travelling from Delhi to Hyderabad on the dawn of 2007 through SpiceJet. This was the time when these low cost airlines, with only a few number of planes circling the country, are put to test under stressful conditions in midst of flight cancellations and delays due to weather conditions. My flight had already been cancelled one day before and this was my 3rd attempt to fly back to Hyderabad. When I reached the airport, I found that my flight would be on time. This was great news and I quickly rushed into the airport, only to find a huge chaotic collection of queues for the baggage screening. It was the ideal setup to study human behaviour under stressful conditions, where most of the passengers were victims of flight cancellations and long hours of waiting at the airport, rushing in to get their plane first.

After standing for more than an hour, just to get the baggage screened, I was wondering if they would want to display if my flight had been delayed (since a lot of people travelling on my flight hadn't even got to the boarding pass queue and it was already the time of take off). However the SpiceJet staff said no, which caused panic to a few. The condition was so unmanagable, with people sitting on their metal trunks and middle aged Indian women fighting with people about stopping them crossing the queue, that the airline staff simply raised their hands up and let the passengers deal with the hurdles themselves.

Finally I got to the boarding pass queue, which was another ordeal. People of all shapes and sizes fighting with each other, sometimes just for the sake of it. The concept of a queue was reduced to fiction and Spencer's theory of survival of the fittest was spitefully demonstrated. After another 90 minutes, I finally got my boarding pass, according to which my flight had departed more than an hour back. After 40 more minutes, I was able to board the plane and thanked my stars, especially the closest one, for shining brightly.

I can't help but recollect how much this experience reminded me of travelling in a bus in some small village (I have done that on more than one occasion). If I was to gain anything from this experience, it would be the understanding that our country might have made great progress economically, however I feel we still have a long way to go to make the needed civic progress to go with it. The other inference that one could draw here is that sometimes its the exclusiveness of the group involved in some activity, like flying, that makes it seem impressive, the elegance may not nesscarily be attributed to the core activity itself.

Please stand for anthem

2007-01-14T23:48:00.000+05:30

My family had recently come to visit Hyderabad. While trying to show them around the city, one of the places we happened to go to was the laser light show at Lumbini gardens. To be honest, the laser show was a great experience. However one can't help but observe that the entire presentation was revolved around overselling the greatness of Hyderabad. Following the light shown by Borat, we decided to come up with Hyderabad's own national anthem, like Kazikhstan's, which could be someday played at the laser light show.

Please stand for anthem.

Hyderabad, greatest city in the world;
All other cities, are run by little girls.
Hyderabad number one, exporter of precious stone;
All other cities have, inferior precious stone.

Hyderabad, home of fancy numbered cars;
Its length 2 digit, width 2 digit.
Hyderabad Hyderabad, you very nice place;
From town of Hi Tec City, to mosque of Charminar.

Hyderabad, laser show best in world;
It plays Hyderabad, national anthem once.
Hyderabad Hyderabad, you very nice place;
From movies of Mammootty, to worship of Chiranjiva.

Hyderabad, home of decorated petrol pumps;
Also the home of, decorated Image Hospital.
Hyderabad number one, city of decoration;
All other cities have, inferior decoration.

I apologize if you didn't like what you read. However if you did, high five.

Movies to see

2007-01-04T23:40:00.000+05:30

I recently saw The Prestige. Its one of the better movies that I have seen, involving intense acting by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. The plot, as you would read, is about the rivalry of two magicians in the early 20th century. The movie also flirts with the rivalry between great minds of Edison and Tesla, which can be in a way observed from the onscreen rivalries between the two magicians.

Speaking of movies, Borat is something you wouldn't want to miss. In case you don't know already, this movie is a documentary/fiction by a character called Borat, played by Sacha Baron Cohen of AliG fame. Borat is from Kazakhstan and is travelling with his manager to US to learn something great from this country. However during the journey the movie humorously exploits some holes in the US society itself and puts them into perspective with the fictional practices of a country like Kazakhstan.

I also can't wait for Guru to release, a movie by Maniratnam based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani - one of the greatest self made industrialist in India.

Happy 007

2007-01-03T22:55:00.001+05:30

I have decided that from now on, I would have more regular posts on my blog. Stay tuned.

The 4th dimensional world

2005-02-26T02:17:00.001+05:30

We consider ourselves to be living in a three dimensional world. For an instant imagine yourself living in a two dimensional world. Would it be all that different from the world we see around us? After all, whatever we can see, we can represent it exactly on a television screen, or a photograph for that matter. We can represent our 3D world onto a 2D object. Then how do we say the two worlds are different? The answer lies in the fact that we are in our 3D world. We watch the 2D screen from a distance, a distance that can not be symbolized in the screen itself. We observe it from a dimension that the characters in the photograph or the 2D screen can not comprehend.

Consider two people A and B waving to you from inside a photograph. What would they see you as? A 2D figure, like one of them? Here the answer lies of another dimension unknown to a world we see. From that 2D image, each character would see you like one of them, in 2D. But they would see each other as lines. You can imagine that what A would make of B when it turns around to have a look. Similarly B would think that A is only a line. Although they are living in a 2D world but to them their own world is one dimensional or modeled on 1D screen. They would not know what a 2D plane is until you come, from another dimension, to show them what world they are living in. Hence, although they were living inside a 2D world, what they could feel was only one dimension. They could not experience the second dimension until someone came from third dimension to give them the view.

We are presently living in the third dimension or the 3D world. It is not our choice that we can not see another dimension. Our eyes reflect the entire world around us onto the retina, a 2D screen. So how can the 2D object give us the 3D experience? Like the characters in the image lived inside 2D but could experience only a 1D world, we are living inside 3D but can experience only a 2D world. This is the reason that our 3D world can be so vividly represented on a 2D screen like a photograph, television or even our eyes retina.

So what do we have to do in order to experience the fourth dimension? We must first experience true 3D. We have already seen that to know what dimension we live in we must know what dimension we are experiencing. Because of the limitations of our eyes, we can only feel higher dimensions exist but not actually experience it. So even if we discover another dimension there is a chance that our visual world would not change much.

However it is not necessary that a dimension can only be visually experienced. If we analyze all the known dimensions we can say that 1D represents distance, 2D represents vision and 3D represents light. Let me explain to you how. 1D can be experienced simply by observing some length of or the distance between any objects. 2D is the dimension that we visually experience. This is the world to our eyes. Now let us consider a cube. You know its 3D because you can feel it with your hands. But how can you be so sure if you haven't actually seen it? You tilt the cube by a certain angle and see the edges and the skewed 2D planes on the surface. You confirm that its 3D. But all the edges and the planes you saw, you could differentiate between them only because of the different effect of light on each one of them. Imagine that equal intensities of light at all angles were falling on the cube. Hence, if you see the cube from any angle, you would only see a plane of the colour of the cube. It would feel like increasing or decreasing the length and breadth of the plane as you rotate the cube at various angles. This effect can also be vividly seen in a photograph or a painting where light marks the distance of different objects in a direction not contained in the photograph. So finally it is the effect of light that marks the boundary between 2D and 3D. Hence it can be said that 3D relates to light.

Now if we consider another dimension being discovered, it would also definitely represent some physical quantity. That physical quantity could very well be time. This is just an assumption since most of our mathematical and physical equations use time as the basic axis. So if we could discover a dimension that symbolized time, many of our complex mathematical models could simplify. Even if the new dimension does not symbolize time, it would symbolize something else; in any case simplifying many of our mathematical and physical relations, helping us solve the unsolvable in some cases.

So how do we go about finding the new dimension? Let us go step by step.

1) The 0D represents a point having no parameters to describe it with.

2) 1D would be a straight line with only one parameter, length. It would be a scalar quantity. Hence the concept of angles is not known in the 1D world. A line of any length is made up of infinite points of 0D arranged adjacent to each other resulting in a single 1D object. Hence 1D is an integration of 0D. Also if we imagine living inside the 1D world, we would see each other as points or in other words we would visualize the 0D world where everyone would appear to be 0D points. However we would be free to move anywhere in the single dimension line.

3) The 2D world would have concepts of a plane and angles. A plane is made of infinite 1D lines arranged adjacent to each other resulting in one single 2D object. Hence 2D is an integration of 1D. Also if we live inside the 2D world we would visualize the 1D world, where each one would appear as a line to the other. Although we would be able to move freely in both the dimensions and the plane.

4) In the 3D world we live in we have concepts of solid objects. A solid object, for example a cube, is made of infinite 2D planes arranged adjacent to each other resulting in a single 3D object. Hence 3D is an integration of 2D. Also, if we live inside the 3D world, like we do, although we world be free to move in three dimensions or directions, each person appears to be a 2D image to us.

In general we can say that in the Nth dimension:

1) All objects are made up of infinite (N-1)Dim objects arranged together to give a single NDim object.

2) Hence NDim is an integration of (N-1)Dim.

3) If we live in the NDim world, we would be free to move along any of the N dimensional axis.

4) However we would see each other as objects of the (N-1)Dim.

Proceeding with the general form of moving into the next dimension, we can say that in 4D we would visualize true 3D. But what is true 3D? Consider a cube. It is a three dimensional object but to our eyes, when viewed at any angle, appears to be a 2D image. Now imagine if you could see the cube from all the sides, together. True 3D would be if we could cover every co ordinate of the 3D object with our vision. But as discussed before, that is impossible, with the eyes we have. But if somehow we imagine seeing the cube from all the angles simultaneously, we would be experiencing the 4D world. That is, since we are visualizing the true 3D world, according to the general logic, we would then be living in the fourth dimensional world. If we can imagine such a situation, we would be able to move around freely in a new direction, a direction we have never experienced, never thought of before. That direction, that dimension would be the fourth dimension.

Nature has created us in such a manner that we can feel with our hands simultaneously whatever our eyes can see. Nature has established a beautiful relation between the 2D and the 3D world. Without actually visualizing a 3D object, due to the perfect harmony between our senses, we can experience 3D virtually with our eyes. When we see a 3D object we feel the shape and confirm the dimensional structure after feeling the object from all sides while watching it simultaneously. But we also have to accept the limitations nature has provided us with. The 2D view from our eyes restricts us physically to three dimensions. We have seen and analyzed a logic that can be used to find new dimensions. In this case we have imagined a fourth dimension. But it is actually possible that there is almost no limit to the value that 'N' can take. Nature could consist of hundreds of dimensions but due to our limitations we may not be very comfortable in accepting it.

There could be more dimensions than we could imagine. As we have seen that our physical world, our movements and our vision is limited to three dimensions it can be said that the world we know completely fits into three known dimensions. In the order of dimensions nature has, it may not be necessary that our 0D and 3D are actually in that position of dimensions. It is possible that our dimensions may lie between the 17th and 20th dimensions nature has possible provided in a list of great number of dimensions. In that case we may be sharing the same space in the universe, on this planet, with numerous other creatures but due to our physical limitations can not sense them in any way possible. All our sophisticated instruments and machines can work only in this three dimensional world. It is possible that where you are sitting right now, another creature may be sitting at the exact same place but due to the abstraction provided by nature, both can not sense that.

We have been looking for extra terrestrial life throughout the universe, but it is possible that there is another form of life, right here, but we can not sense it. It is possible that if there are any loopholes in the abstraction provided by nature, at some instances two entities of different dimensional worlds could interact with each other. If such events have happened, the unknown life forms would be termed as aliens, just because it was a simpler explanation for existence of such different life forms. UFO would only be a device to travel through dimensions, probably mad by life forms of other dimensions, similar to humans attempting to create machines for time travel.

Nature is vast. More so than we humans could ever imagine. At times we think of being the masters, but we must understand, that we are merely small threads in the vast fabric that nature is. New, undiscovered dimensions may exist. It is up to us that when do we mature ourselves into accepting the fact.

Another Dimension : A bridge between Science and Supernatural?

2005-02-07T00:57:00.001+05:30

Mankind has come a long way. Humans have evolved from savage uncivilized creatures to more sophisticated thinkers and preservers of society. We have made tools and machines that no other creature could possibly think of. We have made rules and laws to govern ourselves. We have divided our race into many parts, each trying to dominate the other. We are constantly in search to create machines that defy nature. So much so that some work all their lives to find loopholes in the thread of nature.

However we accept that nothing in this world is perfect but Mother Nature itself. No individual part of it is even near to perfection. However we must understand that perfection is a term devised by humans who are also not perfect by any means. We call perfect what we think is ideal from our point of view. Perfect to one may be imperfect to another. Hence perfection is also imperfect.

We have come a long way indeed. We have understood the world in a much better way. Infact we are still learning more everyday. There is still a lot to know, lot to learn. Whatever we have analyzed, whatever we have learnt about this beautiful world is through the five windows that nature gifted us with. If we accept imperfection in all of us, then why do we assume that our gifts, our five senses are perfect? We don't. Then what about what we have learnt, what we believe, what we have concluded on the basis of what we felt? After all, our sense organs are also bound by the limits of imperfection. They are merely organic tissues arranged in a particular manner to perform a desired function. For example our eyes are just reflecting an electromagnet wave on a membrane which sends electric signals corresponding to the intensity of that wave to another set of tissues. We can not be sure thats perfect.

What has happened through our history of existence is that we have analyzed the world around us to more and more depth. We have formed theories that give an explanation of many phenomenons. But all that we have done is on the basis on what we have experienced with the help of our sense organs. Our race believes whatever we see, feel, hear, smell or taste. All these have their boundaries. We can not be sure that what we have actually seen is true. Maybe there is another taste in all foods that our tongue can not detect. We already know of frequencies we can't hear or see. So there is a good chance that whatever we see and hear might only be a part of the actual happening or in other words incomplete. Hence the vast analysis of our surroundings, the natural phenomenon’s, and our beliefs may not be considering a key factor, one that we can not sense. That all our analysis was based on incomplete data and is venerable to be fallacious.

But we have already formulated our beliefs on what we know, what has been given to us by our ancestors. These beliefs are very strong. If a man comes and says that he saw a ghost would be laughed upon. But isn't it possible that there could be some exceptional instances when a humans eye was tuned to see frequencies unheard of. Or the existence of another dimension which a normal eye can not sense. After all, imperfection is also not perfectly distributed. Some may have more efficient organs or arrangement of tissues than others whatever be the reason. We already see an example of different arrangement of tissues in a human body in ones face, hands and brain intelligence. There is a reason why some people are smarter than the others.

Let me explain by what I mean another dimension. We know that bulls are colour blind. They see the world in shades of black and white or what we may call grey. In a society of bulls no one would believe in the existence of colours. No one would believe that there is a shade other than black and white. Then one bull, somehow genetically inherited more developed eyesight over generations, saw colour. What the bull saw is perhaps yellow or green. Though none of the other bulls would believe him but it would be true. We know it. We know it because we have seen it. Yellow would be a new term for the bull society to accept. It would be like a new dimension added on to their visual world. So there is a chance that there could exist another dimension that we haven't seen in our world. An unknown to us that may explain many stories which would normally be considered fictional.

Another aspect of our life is super natural. What is super natural? Any event or happening that our laws about nature can not accommodate, anything that violates our beliefs is termed as super natural. Something we normally say does not exist or dos not happen in our world. But then, isn't the colour Yellow a supernatural event for the bulls? The rainbow, the colour spectrum is something that would not have fitted in their world and hence termed as super natural by them. So a rainbow would be referred to as a ghost by the bull society. But to us that is a part of life. Many say that cats and dogs can see ghosts. Wouldn't it be similar to us seeing colours? Our world is completely placed inside the three known dimensions. Anything we know of can be represented in this three dimensional world. But what if there is another world in a different set of dimensions? A set of dimensions that we can not sense. Such that both exist in parallel, without having knowledge of each other's existence.

I am not trying to say that there are ghosts or that they live in the fourth dimension. I am just trying to give an example of the possibilities that we don't accept. There might be much more than four dimensions. Who knows? Each dimension may explain something we were scared of the way early man was scared of lightning just because he could not explain it. I am trying to say that we must not simply discard super natural because it doesn’t fit our beliefs. There is a good chance that our beliefs may be too small to accommodate it. Everything is a part of nature. Super natural is just a relative term, maybe different for all species, that defines their scope and capabilities and whats beyond what nature has provided them with. Humans have been given the power to think and analyze better than all other creatures discovered so far. We must hence think of all the possibilities and not discard anything that we may find impossible. We have to be open minded and accept all beliefs with grace rather than disqualifying certain possibilities just because the so called imperfect science we have today does not explain them. So the next time someone says that he saw a ghost, don't take it lightly. He may be gifted with an ability or a sense that we could possibly not even get close to during the course of our lifetime.

whats cooking?

2005-02-07T00:45:00.000+05:30

There has been a thought running in my head of late. it doesen't make
any sense so anyone not willing to waste their time please close this
blog now. for those who wouldn't mind sparing a couple of minutes read on.

the thought is a possible plot by microsoft to deploy a secret task on
a mass scale delivered by their software products. something like a
trojan horse but much worse. the following arguments may lead upto the
belief.

1) microsoft windows is used on most computers. since its the OS it
has all the possible access rights to the resources of the computer.

2) windows follows a policy of intense secrecy about their products.
no code of their products, or even their detailled design
documentation is ever made public. when an instance of their code
being leaked was witnessed, ms took strong steps and indivusially
caught hold of all those who were a part of the process.

3) the secrecy policy by windows is not only limited to their code but
also the working of their software. unlike in unix based OS, one can't
possibly determine whats going on inside the operating system during
its operation. most of the detail is hidden from the user on the name
of complexity. even if a developer wants to see whats actually going
on, there is no direct way.

4) microsoft programs are unusually large and consume a lot of
resources while execution. they take a lot of time to execute basic
tasks. now we all know that most of the programmers that make it to
microsoft are the elite in their respective feild and are highly
skillfull. one can't expect a procedure coded by such programmers will
be flawed and illogical so as to take longer time and resources to
execute. microsoft came up with many software engineering policies and
rules. their project management and software design methodologies are
known to be amongst the best. hence bad design being a reason for the
inferior performance can also be discarded.

5) if the coding and design flaws are eliminated, which is a more
probbable scenario considering the talent of microsoft employees, the
reason for slow performance can only be intentional. possibility of a
background application performing some task unknown to the user can't
be discarded entirely. considering the volume of computers operating
windows the total impact of the application can be enormous and on a
global scale.

6) Lately all microsoft products require to be validated from the
internet. a computer hence not on the internet may not be able to use
those products. imagine with the access windows has to the local
resources and the internet, if a secret application is being executed
what a gigantic network could be formed of such computing nodes and
the impact an application of such large proportions could have. the
impact could be both, positive or negative for the entire computnig
community.

all i am trying to say with the arguments proposed that there is a
slight possibity that we may be in for a surprise by microsoft. i am
open to all your suggestions and replies because its just a thought
and i would like to know how each one thinks in genrel about ms
policies. thats the main purpose of this text.