My Mind Wanders

Farewell Kalij Days

2011-05-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

This glorious time went flying by
we lived in the moment
with our spirits soaring high
filled with rich experiences
which satisfied our hunger
with life lessons learned
we rose from our slumber

these overwhelming emotions
which numb the senses
it's time my friends
to lower our defenses.

the dream is almost over
the end is near
time to bid farewell
to things that we hold so dear

The time has come to leave the herd
all I can do is spread the word
Even if it's time to restrain your tears
is it too much to ask for a few more years?

Chennai <3, just kidding :-P

2011-02-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

Long time since my last blog post. A lot has gone down since then.

For starters my brief spell in Chennai has finally come to an end. Phew! It felt like it would never end.
I had my fare share of experiences while I was in Chennai, and some pretty deep emotional/social realizations (I would like to believe).

My awesome PS mates.

Sriram Raja, the guy who was from Chennai, hated auto drivers for some reason :P. Actually we got into a fist fight with the auto drivers one day, when Sriram told one of the Autodrivers to, "Just drive and stop yapping, You DOG".
Oh the awesomeness :D

The other dear PS mate from Pilani, Swabhiman Chottray, and his stories about his 40 year old male chauvinist virgin roommate were so insightful and yet so scary.

And then there was Ashelesh, the senior* from our campus, who made the transition from veg teetotaler, to a chicken juggling beer drinking dude \m/ who was thrown out of pubs because he looked like he was 15 :P

And then there was me of course. The always lusting for some kind of adventure guy, the marathon guy and whatnot :P

Our trips to Ascendas for chicken frankie and mutta dosa downed with a Coke float were as memorable as our trips to Munnar, Pondicherry, Goa and Bangalore, not to mention how often we bunked office to go watch a movie at the City Center or Express Avenue the newest and hippest place in Chennai.

My roommates and flatmates.

Indrajeet Ghosh, or IJ, Surender aka khanjar aka Surrender, Amit aka chhotu, Aqib, our very own Sir Alex whose conversations about possibilities in the field of Genetics kept me going.

And then there was my mobile phone, that damned thing kept me up at night with flashing texts every now and then. Some of them really moved me emotionally more than most real people can.

However, Chennai phase is over finally.

And now I am back to campus for the last 6 months and realizing the importance of enjoying every moment of it more than ever.

Inventing Immortality : A thought experiment.

2010-09-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

A few days ago as the media likened the advent of the new cancer drug 'PLX4032' to the "penicillin" moment in medical history, it got me thinking.
This new medicine uses the treasure trove of information retrieved after the completion of the human genome project a decade ago to target only the cancer affected cells and destroy them.
The trial cases of this medicine have yielded extraordinary results as it dramatically cut down tumor size in 24 out of 32 patients with late stage malignant melanoma.
The prospect of further achievements in the bio-technology field excites me. Now that we have uncovered the secrets to our own gene, the possibilities are immense.

Just like that, I came across an idea of the "Immortality drug", I don't know how medically sound my argument may be. But I believe it is possible.
If I am sounding too optimistic or over assuming, the possibility of a miracle drug which will increase the life expectancy to maybe 200 years may not sound so far fetched to you.
Lets take that case, for your sake.
Maybe they have already invented such a drug, but they are not releasing it to the public.
Maybe they are selling it only to the high-flying billionaires who love their rich, lavish life so much that they are willing to spend some billions on this just to last a few 100 years more.

Controversy theories! we love them don't we :P

But in this case, it's probably not as crazy as it sounds.
What is the biggest problem threatening human civilization at this point?

The Environment.

Global Warming has been the concern of millions of esoteric environmentalist throughout the globe, however people still don't seem to be able grasp the concept.
The melting of the polar caps is going to drown Bangladesh and many such low lying areas by 2100.
We are currently in the no-win situation in which our population is rapidly increasing and the land and other resources supporting this population is rapidly depleting.
I couldn't spell apocalypse better for you.

Now just imagine what will be the impact of this miracle immortality drug on our society.
People will all of a sudden stop dying, and the concomitant population explosion that will follow will disturb the already delicate balance between the resources and consumers in the world.

As the world will strive to reach an equilibrium between the birth rate and the death rate, land will become the most coveted resource.
And not just land, every resource on earth starting with food, water, fuel to stay warm, basic sanitation will become scarce.
Throwing us back a thousand years, when wars were fought for land domination. When this situation occurs law and order will mean nothing.

Men will become savages to protect his basic rights and resources, population will fall because of wars waged in order to acquire land and fuel.
Then religion will again gain prominence, promising salvation for those war hardened men and a peaceful life for their families.

The civilization will thus complete a cycle and make a fresh start with only those genes which managed to survive this horrific ordeal.

Although the end of the civilization is inevitable, but is it better to expedite the process?

So safeguarding the information about the immortality drug for only the handful elite will be the safest bet for the researchers and their investors in order to protect us all.

Maybe they do have an immortality drug maybe they don't, but you wouldn't know would you?

The Monk who sold his Ferrari

2010-09-16T02:30:00.000-07:00

This is my first book review / summary. Not because "The Monk who sold his Ferrari" was a very interesting read, because it wasn't.
It started off great but at times it got quite dull and repetitive. But one thing this book did do successfully was inspire me to start living better.

The "truths" written in the book, apply not only to overworked professionals who are well into their forties, but also to teenagers and college going students who have yet to face the cold brute hardships of life.

It's never too late / early to start. Start applying these "truths" about life and yourself, NOW.

I had chanced upon some of the concepts discussed in this book on my own, and I believed them to be true. So I am applying a bit of induction here and assuming that the rest of the points given here are also facts, and if not, it won't hurt to give them a try.
Because they are all focused towards making your life better and helping you achieve more out of yourself.

So I will share with you the points which I felt were most useful and usable in today's materialistic and hectic world.

1] Jot down your goals.
2] Analyze and face your fears on a daily basis.
3] Put off immediate pleasures for long term fulfillment.
4] Discover our talents and purpose in life.
5] Courage and Passion towards what you do.
6] The importance of breathing.
7] Constant Learning.
8] Advantages of live (vegetarian) food.
9] Importance of exercise.
10]Read books (Right ones)
11]In the morning : Plan your day.
12]End of the day : Reflect and analyze.
13]Words can have a lot of effect. Mantra.
14]Self Image is your governor. Enhance it using Mantras.
15]Your soul is a part of the soul of the universe.
16]Failure is not starting something.
17]Live a life to serve others.
19]Live in the now, practice ZEN.
20]Be grateful to life.

Some of the points may seem vague and debatable, to know more about them go through the book.
Use what you can out of them, because I believe they will help you lead a truly enlightened life.

(Wow, I sound like Robin Sharma :P )

My top 20 indie bands

2010-09-03T02:51:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I haven't written in a while. But I promise I will write something as soon as I have time and a stable internet connection at home. And my lappy starts working again.
Yea life's been hard.

Anyways music is always there for me. So here is a list of my 18 most favorite bands from my favorite genre.

1)Elsinore
2)The New Pornographers
3)Regina Spektor
4)Feist
5)Fun.
6)The Shins
6)Death Cab for Cutie
7)The bird and the bee
8)The Decemberists
9)Andrew bird
10)The Postal Service
11)Camera Obscura
12)Bat for lashes
13)Belle and Sebastian
14)Casey Dienel
15)Man Man
16)M.Ward
17)Breathe out breathe
18)Rilo Kiley

will add 2 more later

FIFA : You may leave but the Vuvuzela is here to stay

2010-06-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

I don't really hate the Vuvuzela, initially I thought it was a good idea, it gave FIFA Worldcup 2010, the feel of barbaric fights in the ancient colloseums, where the audience could be most aptly described as savages. But unfortunately after a while the constant monotone of the Vuvuzela gets too irritating to handle.
The Vuvuzela has certainly grabbed international attention, and thousands of football fans around the globe are literally begging FIFA to ban these obnoxious instruments of mass disturbance from the FIFA 2010 Worldcup in South Africa.
However FIFA announced that it would not ban Vuvuzela because only a minor population has a problem with it, but the rest of the world enjoys it.
I think FIFA should consider checking the web once in a while, there have been websites with almost 80,000 complaints and petitions against the Vuvuzela. Here is one petition to ban the Vuvuzela http://www.petitiononline.com/2010WC/petition.html
People find the Vuvuzela sound obnoxious and irritating.
There have been complaints against the Vuvuzelas from the referies, players, commentators and the viewers alike. The sound of the Vuvuzela has been described by viewers as similar to the drone of a swarm of angry bees attacking the football ground.

The Anti Vuvuzela campaign, has opened up the market for Anti-Vuvuzela ear plugs, which are selling like hot cake in South Africa.
For viewers at home the immediate solution to escape the Vuvuzelas is to mute the sound and watch the match. However this kills out the commentary as well and people soon lose interest in the match.
Another solution with a little less compromise on the commentary is a 45 minute mp3 which claims to filter out the annoying sound of the Vuvuzelas by the method of phase cancellation, and the software for this is being sold for €2.95 at http://www.antiVuvuzelafilter.com/index.html
However audio engineers have suggested that this might not actually work, because the sound generated by the Vuvuzela is too random, even though it may sound like a constant monotone, the amplitude can vary based on audience excitement, and this variation cannot be predicted so it becomes very difficult for any sound wave to completely filter out the sound of the Vuvuzela.

It's tricky even for the broadcasters to muffle out the sound of the Vuvuzela as the wave patterns show the Vuvuzela sound has six strong harmonics, and notching it down would make it sound horrible.
Read http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8738604.stm for more information on drowning out the Vuvuzela.

There are however other (free) methods that you may adopt to make your football viewing more bearable, according to another audio engineer, if your tv has a graphic equalizer, you can turn down the 300Hz frequency and bring up the other frequencies, this will drown out the sound of the Vuvuzela, however this may also cause the commentary to sound a bit unnatural and funny, but beggars are not choosers so for now this is one of the best methods we 've got.

Thought Train #1 : Robin Hood Release date to Flaw in Back to the future.

2010-06-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

Thought train is tracing back the thoughts in your head to see where they came from.
It is an interesting exercise and you might be surprised to see how unrelated your initial thought and the final conclusion can be.

So, this was today's thought train

#1 Saw tweet about Robin Hood releasing in India next week.

#2 Googled and found out exact date of Robin Hood release.

#3 Remembered, last time I googled I found a page on Robin Hood goof ups, one of them was :
"A title card identifies the historical period as the "turn of the 12th century," but the story actually takes place around 1200 A.D., the turn of the 13th century."

#4 I began wondering how a year 12xx can be 13th century. The first 100 years. 0-100 AD must have been the 1st century, hmm.. that means the 100-200 must have been second.

#5 I then began thinking about a previous thought I had, on how it would be better if we calculated our money as multiples of 500. Meaning we should count Rs. 1000 as 2 units, this will give a more realistic idea of how much we have and how much we can spend, when we talk in thousands of Rupees.

#6 The idea of century was similar to my idea of 500 Rupee units. I thought we lived in 21st century now, and now when we think back 21 AD seems so long ago, and the technology then was so primitive. Then i began wondering if people in 2100th century (if humans still exist) will think back and wonder how primitive we (21st century people) are!.

#7 I began thinking, how much the technology would have improved by 2100th century, if only there was a way I could see all that in my life time. TIME MACHINE :D

#8 But then I thought that the chances of someone inventing a time machine in my lifetime is very less. So, if someone invented the time machine in the future, he could come back in time and tell us how to make one.

#9 Then I wondered, if he (someone from the future) has already invented the time machine, whats keeping him. Why isn't he coming now, and telling us how to make one.

#10 Then I remembered all those movies about time travel, which postulated how things would go horribly wrong if someone messed with the space time continuum. Which reminded me of the movie "Back to the future".

#11 Then I realised there was a flaw in the movie, if Marty prevented his parents from getting married, his existence would be erased from the future (that was the whole theme of the movie),BUT if Marty's existence was erased from the future, then he wouldn't have returned in time to change the past anyways, thereby actually ending up not changing anything.

In your FACE Steven Spielberg :D

Determinism

2010-03-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

Determinism is the view that every event, including human cognition, behavior, decision, and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences.

Click here to find out more

The two major arguments against Determinism are :

1)The Quantum Mechanical Model
2)The Problem of First Cause

Firstly, I confess
I have not studied philosophy, ever.

While thinking randomly,I stumbled upon the concept of Determinism. I found out that this concept (or similar) already exists in philosophy (Wikipedia \m/), this got me interested in it.

I think my definition of determinism slightly varies from the ones that are usually followed, because it doesn't fail when I introduce Quantum uncertainty in it.

The fundamental question is :

If something is determined (something that is bound to happen) is it wise to say, that it can always be predicted ?

and the answer to the question is NO! , not always

To correctly "predict" an event, one must know all the properties of the system at a given state and also all the rules based on those properties which determine the workings of the system.

And it is next to impossible for man to find all the properties and rules of the universe at any given state, because
he himself is a part of the universe.

So, Quantum theory proves that the position/momentum of a particle cannot be "determined" to an arbitrary degree of accuracy.

I think, here is where most people get confused.

Note that the word "determined" here, means human capacity to comprehend.

The reason for uncertainty in the Quantum Mechanical model is, to observe a particle one needs to throw photons (light) or electrons or something at it, and the study of this photon (which reflects back after hitting the particle) reveals information about the particle under observation.

BUT, as soon as the photons hits this particle, it changes the particle's momentum and position, so by the time light returns to your eye, the position and the momentum of the particle has already changed.

This means that we can never determine (predict) the next state of the universe, because we can't ever find out the correct position and momentum of a single particle.

But this does not mean that the particle does not follow rules, in fact if we eliminated the need to "OBSERVE" we would be right on track.

Which means that given the current state of the universe, the next state of the universe is UNIQUELY determined.

It cannot be predicted because as soon as we try to observe it, the properties we are trying to observe will change.

BUT IT IS DETERMINED.

The universe cannot randomly go to any state it wants.

An example of the application of this concept will be, you reading this post was determined at the time of the Big Bang although it could never have been predicted, but nevertheless the universe could not have gone through any other sequence of states which would have prevented you from reading this post today.

All said, this description still does not address the problem of first cause, but this certainly takes care of all doubts linking determinism to Quantum Uncertainty.

The Quark Experience

2010-02-07T02:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our annual technical festival QUARK '10 ended.
It's not a technical festival anymore btw, its an INNOVATION FESTIVAL and India's first in that matter, big deal :-/ .

Anyways, the most memorable thing about QUARK were the messages.
We had this Messaging System set up for sending notifications via SMS to participants.

The intention was noble :P, however like most well intended plans, even this one went horribly wrong.

They sent way too many SMS's, and people had no option to block them, and the students kept on cursing and they kept on sending and it was a big mess.

I mean this was one of the messages :

PJ OF THE CENTURY:
Q.Who is the leader of ducks ?
.
.
.
.
.
Ans. Frog
Why?
.
.
.
.
Bcz frog is Mainduck. (main duck)

LOL, even though i enjoyed the joke, this example serves my purpose of demonstrating how useless some of those messages were, for the participants.

It seems this guy, Nitant Tattar (name changed), who was in charge of sending these SMS's seemed to be really enjoying this, when asked "Why he was sending so many?" his reply was "I control the population", with that he probably meant he controlled the "crowd". But again, who knows.. :P

So now that Quark is finally over, its good to see my mobile phone not vibrating every few minutes, I decided to write

An Ode to The Great Nitant Tatar . . .

THE SMS SONG

That friendly vibration in my pocket
what could it be, ahh just fock it..
that dwelling place wherein my cell abode
I set my phone to silent mode
Whom could it be?
it could be she..

expectantly i reach for thee,
peee peee peee peee
rose from within the crowds
that dreadful sound
it's all around.

big and small
fools and wise
take your phones,
and stand in line
check your messages one more time
just being formal, ain't no crime
friends, family, loved ones who?
you may think, u have a clue
with expectant glee
you stare at the screen
but alas, its just my work
that was another one from TM-Quark

Then finally we got to meet,
the real man behind the scenes,
"I control population" remarketh he
summer breeze and winter chills
did he say, he sells i-pills?
no you fools!,that's not what he meant
What he meant was
he controls thee

FIN!

Radiohead

2009-12-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, formed in 1985.

I first stumbled upon Radiohead on DC, it seemed like an ordinary band, the name didn’t draw much attention at first.

I ignored the existence of the band for a while , but when I stumbled upon it again while chatting with an online friend. I finally tried out one song by Radiohead and kinda liked it :D .

Radiohead (left to right): Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway

Their songs were different from the ones I was used to, which was mostly western classical, pop and some soft rock which followed repetitive trends and those genres had become too predictable for me.

Radiohead came as a nice change, they experimented with their music and the result was a mixture of rock, jazz and punk.

Their music is provoking and has some depth unlike the punk rock bands I find so often (the one in mention is Owl City, try fireflies..but only if you are into that type of music :P )

Some of my favorites in order of likeness are :

High and Dry

This song is about the highs and lows of life. The actual meaning of the phrase "High and Dry" is stranded, without help or hope of recovery, and has nautical origins.

The song is about how sometimes when you think you have everything figured and you feel in control of your life, everything starts falling apart and something or the other starts going wrong, and it feels like the world is spitting on your face.

Creep

This song is close to my heart, I can relate to this song. I am sure many of us have the feeling of not belonging sometimes. This song speaks about that feeling.

Check out this link, you will know what i mean

Click here for Radiohead Creep Animation

Another interpretation of the song can be, a teenage love song, when a boy (preferably one who feels out of place) is overwhelmed by some girl (for the first time) and falls into a trance, believing there is something special and unique about this girl.

However in real life, this girl is generally not so special :P

Other favorites are :

No surprises
Paranoid Android
Fake Plastic Tree
Karma Police

"We write pop songs, As time has gone on, we've gotten more into pushing our material as far as it can go. But there was no intention of it being 'art.' It's a reflection of all the disparate things we were listening to when we recorded it." -Thom Yorke

The end of an era . . .

2009-12-14T04:05:00.000-08:00

I was lying on the roof of my house, alone and thinking.
Gazing idly at the stars, they always made me ponder about my significance in the grand scheme of things

That morning, I had given the last of my Engineering Entrance Examinations.
The atmosphere had changed all of a sudden, after days (mostly nights) of hard preparation for these exams, with only one sight in mind, I had sacrificed most of the final two years of my school life to pursue this singular goal, and now, all of a sudden, it was all over . . . and i was jobless.

I was confused, all the pressure that had built up, all that tension and apprehension that was cluttering my head, like a constant buzzing noise that you cant get rid of, was suddenly gone and I was completely free.

I hated this new feeling, the idle feeling of aimlessness. For the last two years, this was what I had been waiting for, the end of the examinations, and now, when it had finally ended. I wanted it to continue.

I had nothing to do, i was goalless, aimless. These exams had been a guideline for me to push my limits, to live more of life, and when i lived more of life everything had meaning. When we find ourselves pondering about the meaning of life sometimes, that is when you know, there has to be a change.

I want to live my life to its full capacity, i need to make a change, i need to break out of my shell, and push my limits, test my potential and raise my head above the swarming heads of people in the crowded streets of life and find my true goal.

I was lying there, thinking, gazing idly at the stars.

Exam Blues

2009-11-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

Test 2, this time right after Waves, (and yea winter was never that hot!)
Didn't even have time to do the minimal preparation I used to have before the other tests.
We are BITSGians of course, we know it is better to study beforehand and not wake up nights, burning the midnight oil, (in this case boiling water for the midnight maggi) before exams trying desperately to finish our courses..
we know this..

but where is the fun in that..

We are not thrill seekers, we do not wish to test our vessels, see how much we can push our mind and body to learn the most in the least possible time, believe me, we are none of those.

We are here to have some fun, and as i have learned in my 20 years of experience..studies and fun, rarely go together ;).

So, we try to reduce the studying part of our lives to a minimum.

BUT That's not all, we study two days before the exams, and even in those 2 days of compressed learning we have to watch our favourite tv shows, check out our profiles on the millions of social networking sites we are a member of..read jokes, blogs and even learn a few things, which are of no use in any case.

So, here I am once again, (Test tomorrow) and me, writing a new blog entry, yet to start preparation for my exam.

This is the BITSGian way, better get used to it :P

An Evening of Bliss

2009-07-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

There was nothing out of ordinary about this evening,
the air was heavy with humidity, there was a slight wind blowing, the streets were crowded as usual..ppl busy with what they do best...being busy..

Yes there was nothing unusual about this evening, except one thing...
The evening light, there was something strange and beautiful about it,
It was omnipresent, as if it had no direction, it had no source nor a destination, it was just there..
Maybe it was the steely gray clouds covering the sky, or probably some other reason i still can't put my finger on.
But there was a soothing presence about this light,

As i walked down the road, to the park...
i felt content and at peace with myself and my surroundings, the light had a presence and it was affecting me.
Everything else the light fell upon, seemed more beautiful, and i remember thinking to myself "is this what heaven is like ?, if there is one at all", because if it was upto me I would have frozen that moment and stayed there for eternity...

I started my jog as usual, however unlike other days, today i was getting a bit more tired, the pain in my upper abdomen from yesterday's crunches hadn't left me. And after I completed my first round of the park, my steps grew heavier steadily with each drawing breath, and the humidity in the air didn't help much either, i was sweating bullets.

After finishing half of the second round, and by this time it was becoming exceedingly difficult to continue jogging.
and my feet felt lyk they were on fire, i decided i should call it quits for the day..
but suddenly i realised, I couldn't quit..everything around me was too perfect for me to quit...

I came back home, by this time the twilight was gone, it was dark and people had turned on the lights in their houses, I was feeling a little sad, as i knew my Evening of Bliss had ended, and i didn't know if it wud ever come back to me again.

I got rid of my shoes and looked outside of my balcony, I was watching some children play in the garden infront of our flat, and there was this strange scent in the air, it was the smell of ozone..I remembered I had read sumwhere that this smell indicated an approaching storm..but that didn't matter.

There was a freshness in the air brought about by that scent, everything seemed clearer..the lights in the houses looked lyk little diyas from the distance, even the street lights seemed more beautiful. The moment was perfect.

I realised then, It wasn't the soft evening light, nor was it the fresh scent of ozone which made the moment perfect for me..

It was me...

Lyf is Beautiful..enjoy every moment [;)]...