My people :) , being photographed

Before they really noticed me...

(click on image to enlarge)

and after :)

(click on image to enlarge)

LOL :)

na bhooto na bhavishyate

It wasnt easy to leave office early (earlier than other 'normal' days), yet I did manage to.
I wanted to sleep early tonight, hoping to get up early for some morning workouts tomorrow.
Its not that I expect surprises in the news at 12 at night, but driven by new age instincts, I switch on the TV, and after what I saw, I couldn't resist but to create this post.

The top news stories tonight, not one, not two, but so many in a row, can appear so surreal when they come to you at once. Do I really believe what I see?

5. Ganguly selected for the Indian team in SA!
4. In a development in Nitish Katara murder case, Bharthi Yadav appears before the court, after years of wait!!
3. After 13 years, TADA court deliveres verdict in Sanjay Dutt case!!!
2. MP and Central Govt minister Shibu Soren, convicted in murder case!!!!
1. Petrol prices across the country to go down by about 2 Rs from tomorrow!!!!!

You may have some conflicting opinions on the numbering of these points.

Somebody finally realizes he is there to deliver verdicts, an Indian Central Govt Minister is finally convicted, he resigns and (wow) PM also accepts it, gravity once proves a point to fuel prices... its hard for me to decide which one of these is most unbelievable.

But I am sure, today is a day history has never seen and I doubt future will ever find.
If I am seeing these news for real, you will find this post in my blog. Else, tomorrow morning I will anyway realize it was another among those strange dreams I get.

Of news and entertainment

I have been living in a company provided guest house (within the company campus) far outside city perimeters, for the past two months. So outside my office work, it has been almost a complete social isolation, except some brief conversations I have with those people who serve me food at a nearby restaurant (the fact that they also belong to my place and are here for work, has helped significantly). Beyond this, my window to the society around me is the media through television and newspapers. That gives me ample time, opportunity and perhaps some authority ;) to comment critically about them (media), which can be noticed in few of my previous posts, this one, and perhaps some more to come.

One thing I am glad about the media is how careful, creative yet structured they are in presenting information to us, irrespective of quality of the subtance in it. The Times of India, on the top of their front page always publishes brief news topics in three categories - International, India, Sport. This morning's 'International' news reads "Furious at paparazzi, Denise tosses laptops from balcony", then leading us to page 13. Should I interpret that as the most important international news for today? or is it the most interesting? (you may know who she is, then you may as well decide yourself, how (un)important this news is). However, when you see it, what is clearly evident is the objective of this news showing up on the top corner of front page. It is not the news but a picture of Denise (picture is no where related to the incident) showing her cl***age. Buy The Times of India every morning, and they guarantee you a celebrity (never an Indian though) with you during every breakfast.

While they claim being the largest selling newspaper today, does this 'Times..' even know what investigative reporting is? Sometimes they perhaps think they do, when they publish statistics about increase in crime, or changing trends related to gender relationships among youth, or superficial reports on corruption and politics. (What sells most in today's movies - Sex, crime and superficial politics. That is also what sells newspapers you see.) But it may not take too many days for one to notice patterns in their news that show lack of depth in the content!

Last week front page reported the Pawar-Aussies incident with following heading "Push-n-shove: Pawar-play earns Aussies flak". While focussing on the creativity and rhetoric, they unfortunately failed to evaluate what the incident meant to this country and its people. The 'flak' did not come as any surprise, after an incident that perhaps should have resulted in more serious repercussion for the Aussies and their arrogance. But though 'The Times..' reported the incidents, they failed to convey their message if they had any, giving me an impression they did not have any stance on this incident. Though objectivity is a primary rule in news reporting, maturity should help the reporter represent and communicate a message when really needed.

But in all, its not only about a news paper, is it? If they aren't 'the' largest selling, they definitely are among the most selling newspapers. They have buyers. We pay to read them, and also the effort to sort out bits and pieces of news among heaps of advertisements. So does that say anything about us, the readers?

About us, the readers - that brings me to a little passage from an article written by RGK* -
"I will not say that cricket is a foolish game for there must be some virtue in a thing that is linked by so many people. For that matter, everyone says politics is a dirty game and everyone likes it. As a matter of fact cricket and politics are the two major spectacular sports in India. The only difference between the two is that cricket is more seriously taken than politics."
This was written by him over 25 years ago. The subject may have changed partially, but the thought still seems relevant. Doesn't it?

* RGK - R Gopal Krishna had a journalistic career spanning over 50 years and was on the staff of 'The Illustrated Weekly of India' for 28 years, before he retired as assistant editor in 1981.

A dose of meta-philosophy

******

"If the moon, in the act of completing its eternal way around the earth, were gifted with self-consciousness, it would feel thoroughly convinced that it was traveling its way of its own accord on the strength of a resolution taken once and for all. So would a Being, endowed with higher insight and more perfect intelligence, watching man and his doings, smile about man’s illusion that he was acting according to his own free will."

- Albert Einstein

******

There are countless discussion forums and communities on the world wide web today discussing Capitalism vs Socialism.
More often than not, people end up discussing conflicts in ideologies among civilizations (can read East vs West), instead of an absolutistic approach regardless of contemporary contexts (makes me assume, it is this conflict of thoughts that brings most people to these forums, and not exchange of knowledge).

Nature formulated (mainly controlled and driven by instincts) the law of 'Survival of fittest' in evolution of organisms towards better life on this planet. Capitalism builds on this philosophy of being the fittest. Though I havent come across anything that explains the 'Why/How' behind these instincts gifted by nature, it is also some of these instincts which make most successful organisms social beings.

Human, whom we may want to consider the most successful, has built civilizations (from living in jungles to highly evolved societies, living together for one another - socialists arent we??) driven by these instincts. Do we see conflicts among these instincts gifted to us?

There is diversity around the world. This universe is never in perfect equilibrium afterall. There are difference in opinions, mainly arising from the struggle for resources. Shifts of ideologies and opinions are parts of regular shifts across the equilibrium (which I sometimes feel is cyclical, some short cycles, some very long). But in all, is there any point debating which face of a coin is more important in a spinning toss?

However, if you have to even consider what I have said above, then I need to admit, I may change my mind sometime in the future :)

Good morning India!

if News reflect the most important happenings in the world around, I wonder what are we upto these days?

- With hundreds of farmers killing themselves unable to make a decent livelihood, consistently the most important news highlight during last 6 months was the issue of 'Office of profit'!

- The deadliest series of bomb blasts hit Mumbai, that agitated the whole world. Yet, the media seemed to be resolute with their focus on trying to prove 'being the first to report from the spot!'

- We see this (encircled in red) among the most important news:

- Days when all eyes were set on world cup football, the top sports news for us was:


When was the last time I read of any news related to Scientific advances in the country (if we lack it, then atleast about the need of it), news promoting social welfare or news on native Indian sports and games, in one of our leading news papers?

For most of us, a day begins with newspaper of the day asking us questions like 'Who is Tom Cruise dating this week?'.

Good morning India!

les pyrenees

some pics from the Pyrenees, taken a couple of weeks ago

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=552521599&security=DHRaPy

nothing else matters

(click on the image to enlarge)

atleast nothing else did, for that one month. And how fast days fly past good times!

"If this can be termed the century of the common man, then soccer, of all sports, is surely his game.... In a world haunted by the hydrogen and napalm bomb, the football field is a place where sanity and hope are still left unmolested." ~Stanley Rous, 1952

World map has changed significantly sice then, lifestyles have changed, yet football remains the most celebrated activity on this planet! You learn it chasing a ball that barely weighs a pound, and now you see half the world battle it out to show who does it best. There's spirit in the field, desperation running, bodies jostle and fall, and comes bliss when the best prove it, romancing the ball making others look tap dancing around them!

And there it goes, leaving behind memories, Germans firing cannon balls past some great walls, the most skilled Argentinians failing football unable to prove their mettle, Zidane and Henry stripping Brazilians of their loose defence, stark naked; and Italians rewriting the art of war!

But just as life seemed to be returning to callous monotony, witnessing hundreds die in bomb blasts, never ending crisis in the middle east, thousands losing lives on fight for resources in africa, comes my next reason to rejoice; returning home, back to Manipal, and I start counting days. Nothing else matters...

July pics

new pics, pics from July:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srikarpadiyar/sets/72157594201405552

Can I take your rubbish?

The title of this post attracted you to read this, didn't it? ;) There are so many who have loads of rubbish to write, tell, and are looking for someone who'll listen to it.
And if you already knew me personally, it also would've surprised you, how could I, who always just gives rubbish, now talks about taking some? Strange yet an interesting thought flashed through my mind too, for fraction of a second, when I heard the air hostess requesting in her gentle sweet voice. But those were exactly her words. Though it did not take more than another fraction of a moment, for me to handover my empty Coke container and the plastic cup to her, it left me spend rest of my journey musing the choice of words French people make when they speak English.

***

drishTi srishTi

Some glimpses from the last few months

glimpses are various,
and there are many,
some I captured...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srikarpadiyar/sets/72157594159936765/

*******

Came across this somewhere on the net:
- A piece of paper found posted outside a physics lab, "Theory is when you know how it works but it still doesn't. Practice is when it works but you dont know why. In Dept. of Physics, theory and practice are joined together: nothing works and no one knows why! "

Found a video clip where Feynman is sharing his thoughts on 'knowing' beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGcJIihe3G8&eurl=
Physicists are some of the most intelligent people around. They know so much, and about so many things. But unlike others (artists for instance, who do not comment on rocket science), physicists send out their opinions on every sphere of life.
For instance, Feynman here goes out claiming that he sees so much more than an artist sees in a flower. A flower is beautiful, he says, as a whole, and is as beautiful or more, when you get into the details. The cell structure, the complicated actions in it... the mechanism.. and it goes on deeper. No, that isn't exactly beautiful Sir. Its wonderful cause it surprises us, it amazes us. We are curious, we have questions, and every answer we find pleases us, giving a feeling similar to that beauty does. But, it is self-gratification what works behind this feeling and not the inherent beauty of the object. The purpose of colour in a flower is to attract insects for pollination indeed. That raises questions in your mind, Mr Feynman, about the ability of an insect to see colours, while a lesser mortal would instead think, yes perhaps they see colours, but why does a colour attract an insect? Thats beauty Sir. Its in the instincts. You can explain the effects of instincts, the mechanism but perhaps not the reason. So do not dissect 'Beauty'. Let it alone, and relish it. Your pragmatic mind disintegrates it, and it becomes science, not beauty any more.

On a second thought, I perhaps did not get your joke Mr Feynman!


DVG writes in his Kagga (in kannada though, and I would not take up an (mis)adventure of translating it in part or whole)
' summanobbamTiyemtihudu? bEsaravahudu
hommuvenu kOTi roopadali naanemdu
bommaneLasidanamte, aa yeLasikeye maaye
nammiravu maayeyali mamkutimma '
***

Verbose...

"Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood" --Oscar Wilde

He understood them very well indeed, goes without saying.


**********
A few months in France communicating to the French, has put all my team members' geography knowledge to test . For everytime I have to tell somebody my name, I start with 'S for Sweden, R for Russia, I for India...' till... 'R for Russia once again' . The longer your name, more countries you know.
But my dear friend (LoL :-) ), the only lady in the group had her own way.
On a weekend plan to the mediterranean coast, my friend (also the most enthusiastic among all of us) was booking hotel rooms for a bunch of us, over telephone. First few minutes just go out in trying to make the french person speak in English. Later, when nothing worked (as it happens in most of occasions here), she had to go down to spelling alphabets in her name. Voila, '.... for... ...' ...'H for heart... ... ... L for Love...' . Reaction of the person at the other end, would've been a sight to watch. The choice of words, just says so much, doesn't it?

***********

Choice of words, reminds me of another incident that occurred years ago during my Chemical Engg days at college. At his Mass Transfer lab viva-voce, my good friend was asked to 'define' Vacuum. Huh, now what’s that to define! “Pressure less than 760 mm of Mercury” he promptly replied. But the Professor questioning had some plans. “That’s a technical measurement. that doesn't explain the term. Explain it like you would do, to help a layman understand, …but briefly!!" the Professor made it clear, flaunting a little mocking smile. Though a little shaken, but not stirred, my friend had a befitting and a crisp reply - "Sir.... it sucks!"

***********

beholding beauty

some snaps taken during last few months.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/srikarpadiyar/sets/72057594127895535/

a wish to be forever young

Lost as always I am, in a whirlpool of thoughts, some coherent, others eddy, discrete and diverse. Don’t know why these random thoughts even occur. However, this phenomenon, the triviality has been along forever. How can I forget those numerous trivial topics I used to discuss with my friends? We used to stand on opposite sides of the gate in front of my house, every evening after the day’s cricket session during my school days. We spent hours at tea shacks late in the nights during examination time in college days. While I recollect those days, I am still able to see my friend standing across the gate at dusk, or sitting on wooden bench under the gas lamp at tea shop. I recollect how much involved we got into such topics during those discussions. But the topics somehow may seem very unimportant to me now, in my present. I rekindle some of those topics now, when alone, and the maelstroms of thoughts take over, often leading not any further.

My manager had an interesting way of explaining this deadlock of thoughts, in a kind of technical approach. He said, thought processing progressed like a flow chart, branching to different 'YES' and 'NO's. However, different people traverse in this flowchart differently. Some prefer to mostly traverse along the YES branches. Few others encounter mostly the NOs. But in my case like a many others, he says, we tend to move either ways and at some point down in the flow, get into a indefinite loop of YES and NOs into some complex algorithms ending up with a ‘Not responding’ message from our limited ability processors.

Tracing back two nodes above in this flow of thoughts, to the trivial thoughts; thoughts about people we see, some whom we remember in our cherished memories, some whom we may forget due in time, a few who inspired us, thoughts about events unanticipated, decisions we had taken etc, all these thoughts perhaps are not really trivial and unwarranted.

I try to get into a new pool of thoughts, and try to evaluate the former in a new perspective. I try to understand and reason some patterns in my thoughts. Some thoughts seem be directly coming from my memories or stimulated by them. Some seem to be related to my aspirations, ambitions. But there are so many of them, I am unable to classify so clearly. I place them into a third category which I assume is what we call the Present. A Present, that must help appreciate and evaluate the past, and bridge past to the future which is shaping up in my aspirations. But these thoughts of the third category rarely stay long. Some of them are so exciting, interesting and apparently important, but hardly last. Why don’t these interestingly important thoughts last longer? Or, are only the ones that last, actually important?

This uncertainty reminds me of a few lines about a lonesome young man, by Forester, in his ‘A Passage to India’ – “…his belief in life to come would pale to a hope, vanish, reappear, all in a single sentence or a dozen heart-beats, so that the corpuscles of his blood rather than he seemed to decide which opinion he should hold, and for how long. It was so with all his opinions. Nothing stayed, nothing passed that did not return; the circulation was ceaseless and kept him young…” That can be so relieving!! It is normal. It’s a symptom of youth. A part of growing up (or a signal to those like me, who are yet to grow up :o) )