What to do... Life's like that...

What Do You Care What Other People Think? - Richard Feynman

2010-05-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

Yet another book that documents the life of one, if not the only colorful scientist of recent years, What Do You Care What Other People Think? is a 200+ page refreshing read. The book has 2 parts to it, the first covering anecdotes and letters from Feynman's life, including a touching story of his first wife Arlene, who succumbed to tuberculosis quite early in Feynman's life. The second half covers Feynman's involvement in the Rogers Commission, that was formed in 1986 to investigate the Challenger space shuttle incident. The penultimate chapter of the book includes Feynman's report in the Rogers Commission - a frank and candid assessment of the shuttle program and NASA that went out as an appendix in the main report that was submitted to the White House. More...

"To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell."

What I Believe - Bertrand Russell

2010-01-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

"A good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge" - Bertrand Russell

"What I believe", an essay outlining Russell's thoughts and hopes, written early in the 20th century (1925) is a 40-page successor to his pessimistic world view outlined in "Icarus" . Perhaps one of the boldest and brightest philosopher and writer the past century has seen, most of Russell's thinking has stood the test of time. The reason being pretty simple, his thoughts far-sighted and their basis not ephemeral. Read more....

Is God a Mathematician? - Mario Livio

2009-12-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

Is God a Mathematician? Is Mathematics the language of the universe? Is it an invention or a discovery? Mario Livio tries to present arguments for and against these questions with chapters from mathematical history, concepts from the umpteen branches of mathematics, anecdotes from the lives of great Mathematicians and verbatim quotes from their journals in a 252-pager thriller. Read More...

Overall, an interesting read that showcases mathematics - invented or discovered. The book concludes with a paragraph from Bertrand Russell's essay The Problems of Philosophy -
Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.

The Meaning of it All - Richard Feynman

2009-11-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice. - Bertrand Russell

A compilation of a series of 3 lectures delivered by Richard Feynman at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1963, this book delivers profound ideas with a very simple style that can be understood and imbibed by anyone, scientist or not alike. The three lectures are titled, "The Uncertainty of Science", "The Uncertainty of Values" and "This Unscientific Age". The first two lectures have a very good build up and are in continuum, talking about the importance of being uncertain, both in science and in morals or values. The third lecture is a little bit more adhoc as the person delivering the lecture admits and deals with some of the problems we are facing in the current age. Feynman covers both the glaring issues and those that are pretty subtle in nature, potentially harmful nevertheless. Read More...

Animal Farm - George Orwell

2009-10-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

"All animals are equal, But some animals are more equal than others"

A breezy read, George Orwell's Animal Farm is one of the well known satires on the former Soviet Union's political state under Stalin. This book was written around the time of the 2nd world war and covers the fall of the Tsars and the rise of Stalin. Each powerful leader who influenced the former Soviet Union is represented by an animal, with 2 main characters - Snowball, a pig, alludes to Trotsky and Napolean, another pig, interpreted as Stalin. Napolean is the central character in the whole book. Read more...

Candide - Voltaire

2009-07-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

A classic along the lines of Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift, Voltaire's Candide is a fast-paced chronicle about a simple, naive and pleasant man in pursuit of his beloved, Cunegonde. Like Gulliver's travels, Candide is also a satire, ridiculing ideologies of the 17th century - Leibnizian optimism, the church and religious fanaticism among other contentious issues. When Voltaire came out with this book, it was banned all across Europe and only a few copies remained as they were smuggled out of the continent. Read more...

'If' - Rudyard Kipling

2009-07-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
The lines in bold are engraved above the players entrance at Wimbledon's center court.

ABC of Relativity - Bertrand Russell

2009-06-08T23:31:00.000-07:00

Science is a powerful potion whose consumption converts a dogmatic to a sceptic, and like travel, is fatal to prejudice and pride. But much of science is not popularized and it's depth and concepts are accessible to only unkempt haired, bespectacled, equation-wielding, greek alphabet ace stereotypes whom we brand as scientists. Bertrand Russell, a thinker, philosopher and mathematician, in this book attempts to explain the mysteries of Einstein's theory of Relativity to the common man, a person who has the thirst for this knowledge, but doesn't have the depth or expertise to understand the mathematical intricacies behind it. The 200 pager ABC of Relativity is one of a series of books written by Russell on different topics in science. This 1925 book, written 7 years after Einstein's General theory of relativity, is a credit to Russell's open-mindedness and foresight, personal attributes that are far ahead of his times. Read More....

Wanderlust

2009-01-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness"
- Mark Twain

"There is no happiness for him who does not travel!
Thus we have heard.
Living in the society of men, even the best man becomes a sinner.
Therefore, wander!
The fortune of him who is sitting, sits.
It rises when he rises.
It sleeps when he sleeps.
It moves when he moves.
Therefore, wander!"
-Aitreya Brahmanan, the Rigveda (800-600 BC)

(Quote courtesy: Pat and Baiba Morrow - http://www.patmorrow.com/)

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

2009-01-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

“Imagine, along with John Lennon, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Indian partition, no Israeli/Palestinian wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers,' no Northern Ireland 'troubles,' no 'honour killings,' no shiny-suited bouffant-haired televangelists fleecing gullible people of their money ('God wants you to give till it hurts.')”
Preface - The God Delusion.

The God Delusion, a 400 page best-seller by one of the world's most passionate atheists and renowned biologist is an eye-opener into the realm of religion, creationism and intelligent design. Read more...

Tuesdays with Morrie - An old man, a young man and Life's greatest lessons

2008-12-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

I chanced upon this book at a book fair and on recommendation from my better half's friend, thought I should give it a read. A light read, Tuesdays with Morrie covers the last class, a series of conversations, between a professor, Morrie Schwartz, and his favorite pupil, the author of this book, Mitch Albom. Morrie Schwartz, a professor at Brandeis is diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, a debilitating disease causing muscle atrophy that comes with a death sentence, a few months after contraction. His favorite student, Mitch Albom has graduated from college, forgotten about his past, fully immersed in the pressures of daily life and is in hot pursuit of career laurels for a full 16 years before he sees his dying teacher on television and tries to get in touch with him again. Read more...

Refreshingly "Alter"native

2008-11-09T06:21:00.001-08:00

Jamie Alter (I am sure you have heard this name but cannot gather where) is a cricinfo commentator who writes live commentary for the matches played on the international cricket scene. Recently during the 3rd Test between India and Australia, Jamie's commentary caught my eye and I decided to compile a few of his commentary snippets and post it here. Unlike most commentators, Jamie's writing style is very refreshing, mixed with a lot of humor, wit added to taste and a garnish of viewer emails to mete out a great dish for your cricketing appetite. Here are a few excerpts from the recently concluded 3rd test between India and Australia.

Here we go:
"Dhoni's got a helmet on. I had a friend nicknamed Helmet in school." -Jamie remembers his friend from school.

"Sayonara. Not to be confused with cyanide, which is, of course, goodbye in any language." - Jamie says goodbye at the end of a day's play

"Do keep your feedback emails coming in. I'll do my best to read all of them. Nothing senseless or irrelevant please, like why underwater knitting should become an Olympic sport or whether its Younis or Younus Khan." - Soliciting quality feedback

"Tendulkar walks down and speaks to Gambhir. Mastercard, go get it." - Describing Tendulkar's advice to Gambhir.

"Lee switches the angle. Runs in. Stops. Doesn't deliver. Why am I typing like that? I don't know." - Jamie seeks to improve is commentry.

"In the censored words of Bruce Willis, yippee kay yay, we finally have spin. It will be Cameron White, bowling his version of leg spin from over the stumps." - His comments on the late introduction of spin

"Johnson to Gambhir, no run, a lifter, forcing Gambhir onto his toes, he does well to drop the hands as the ball spits up, Haddin collects and Johnson asks Gambhir what time it is ... come on, did you expect me to type what he said? We're a family web site. " - His view on sledging.

"I can see some news channel bringing up the Katich-Gambhir incident and running it for three days with a headline: "Simon Says..."" - Ah!!! he understands the sensationalizing Indian news channels

"Ponting and Lee get together and chat politics, global warming and stocks. A square fine keg comes into place. Mid-off goes back a few paces." - Jamie's insight into the Ponting-Lee discussion. Oops... What's a square fine "keg"?

"Yeah I realize I typed square 'keg' instead of square 'leg'. My bad. But honestly, having a keg there would add up to about the same thing anyway." - Jamie corrects himself with wit. The Aussies are sweating to get Gambhir and Laxman out.

""Australia hasn't had a decent "square fine KEG" since David Boon," says Tony Treeve." - Adds a witty user comment too.

"Why in heaven's name would you bowl to Laxman on his pads? Its not rocket science. I mean hello, he makes a living out of playing those shots in case you haven't noticed " - Jamie is unimpressed with the wayward bowling on Laxman's pads.

"Watson to Laxman, FOUR, edged smack between slip and wicketkeeper! Laxman feels for a length delivery outside off stump and gets a thick edge through Hayden at Haddin, but neither moved and honestly it was Haddin's catch, not far from him at all and he is the man with the gloves ... okay, please don't flood my inbox with anti-Haddin emails now " - Fears his mailbox is going to run out of space

"Katich to Dhoni, no run, dropped, what it would have knocked a finger off Katich, or Aleem Dar's head! Dhoni rocks back and drills a short ball ferociously towards the umpire's head, Katich sticks a hand off it to take some pace off it and save Dar money for a face reconstruction, that was biffed with immense power and Dar goes forward to say thanks to Katich for saving him " - describes Dhoni's straight drive that could take off the umpire's head.

"Well, so much for the they'll-declare-in-20-minutes theory of mine. Thats why I'm sitting here typing, not playing Test cricket. Such is life. Carpe Do'em. (Thats my take on Carpe Diem)." - He is not impressed with the timing of the declaration, but concedes.

"Which will come first? India's 600? Laxman's 200? Kumble's 50? Or my coffee?A lot emails flooding in after I asked the question. Most of them are betting on my coffee. Thanks." - It was Jamie's coffee that came first afterall.

"Jason sends us this chuckle: "I would bet my wife on this match being a draw." Ah! history here. Yudhishtar, the Pandava, who bet his wife Draupadi, in a game of dice in the legendary epic Mahabharata. And Jason, lost his wife btw." - He adds a mythological twist here.

"And even the Duryodhans are out in the sun: Martin from USA: " will take Jason's bet to win his wife and am willing to play the role of Duryodhan to see a result in this match." Tsk tsk..." - and more on the Mahabharata.

"Manu: "So who will be MOM? Gambhir or Laxman? My money is on laxman." They can be fathers only no? Ok ok sick as hell attempt . I know. But don't blame me, blame the lack of smokes. Can tea come quickly please?!" - Cracks a poor joke and blames it on the caffeine or the lack of it.

"That spot outside the off stump, the rough, is what Kumble is targetting. If I were Navjot Singh Sidhu, I'd just say: "Wickets are like wives - you never know which way they will turn!" - Quotes a Siddhuism.

"There's a swarm of bees flocking across and everyone drops to the ground. Bizarre. Mind your 'beesness', annoying insects. Thats one of the oddest things I've seen on a cricket field. With everyone lying down it resemble as calisthenics lesson. Brave Billy Bowden gets up first, checking to see if the coast is clear, following which the rest slowly start to get up. But not Tendulkar, who has his floppy hat wrapped around his face, smiling. Ai la. But its Ganguly who gets up last, in no apparent hurry." - His description of the bee attack on the Kotla.

""Shabash Jumbo," says Dhoni. But methinks this airplane has nosedived." - Pretty blunt on his take on Kumble's form. Jamie's got a gun eh?

"Ishant and Watson share words. After all thats occurred, they're just discussing Facebook messages." - A classic Jamie on Ishant-Watson verbal duel.

"This pitch is a road. Check in and don't leave." - Jamie describes a belter of a pitch.

About Gustis, Metros and Euros - VI

2008-11-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

This part of the travelogue has been long due, finally I have found some time and energy to write it down. Though the details might have faded out, the memories of the trip are still very fresh and perhaps indelible. This is the final part of the travelogue covering the dusk of our sojourn through Italy and France.

Day 8: Paris, France:
We reached our hotel, Hotel Cheverney, at around 1am to be greeted by a very small, stuffy, flimsy-walled and musty room. The air conditioning was broken and the bathroom was pea-sized with no shower curtains or a shower cube (Parisians don't believe in using shower curtain, wonder how they bathe?). We wanted to complain about the air conditioning, but we were pretty exhausted and decided to crash, keeping the window of the room slightly ajar, open enough to let in air and closed enough to ward off a burglar coming in through the grill-less window. We had a good night's sleep and were ahead of schedule too. Though the hotel seemed pretty rundown, it was expensive and the breakfast in the morning was quite good (nothing compares with the Italian places though).

We complained about the broken air conditioning to the front desk guy, who was affable and promised to send in the maintenance folks as soon as possible. After breakfast, we set off on foot through the streets of Paris, guided by a out of scale map (more of a diagram). The map indicated that the Arc de Triumph was very close to the hotel and we started walking towards it. We walked and walked and though we could see the arc it took us at least 45 minutes to get there. The Napoleon built arc itself is huge and very impressive and can be seen from most of the terraces in urban Paris. Though the map we were carrying and the pictures of the city I had seen portrayed Paris as having narrow roads and pavements, Paris is nothing like that. The streets are very wide, the pavements are as wide as the streets themselves. Perhaps you can see the Arc de Triumph from the Louvre or the Eiffel tower from the Arc, but let that not deceive you to believe that these places are walkable, they simply are not and we learnt it the hard way. Weather-wise, Paris was much cloudy and colder than any place in Italy, reminding us of gloomy yet beautiful Pacific Northwest.

From the Arc, we walked down Champ De Elysses that leads to the Louvre, the walk was anywhere between 5-10 km, on a broad pavement, through the shopping district of Paris. Branded stores dot the pavements. After walking for a really long time, we reached the Louvre, quite exhausted. The glass pyramid and the crowds welcome you to the Louvre, the biggest museum I have ever seen. We got our tickets priced at 9 Euros (cheaper than the Vatican and a whole bunch of things to see too). Every month the Louvre features a theme-based gallery, this time it was based on Egyptian artifacts. Exploring all the galleries in the Louvre is like visiting a country, it is huge, exhausting and impossible to cover. Putting on our "tourist" hat, we decided to cover only things that our friends and relatives would ask when we get back home. No prizes for guessing what these were, of course, the Mona Lisa, the inverted pyramid and all those umpteen meaning-ascribed paintings you can gather from the Da Vinci code. If you are looking for the Last Supper painting, you are looking at the wrong gallery. The Last supper is at Milan in Italy and not at the Louvre. I guess this is a very commonly asked query at the Louvre and there are paper placards that tell the tourists about this fact.

The Mona Lisa is the most sought after thing here, a small painting in comparison to the big canvasses in the neighboring galleries, that has managed to capture the imagination and awe of millions. This particular painting has been give its due by being hung upon a separate wall. Scores of visitors crowd around it, trying to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa from their eyes and more importantly from their cameras. We bought some memorabilia from the museum and headed out after seeing the inverted glass pyramids, a point on the "Rose Line". Later we took a 1.5 hours bus tour around the streets of Paris and treated ourselves to some ice-cream that we bought at a local grocery store (yeah, grocery stores are inexpensive). The bus tour covered most of the popular monuments, buildings and sites giving us a quick summary of what would be interesting to see. One such place we identified was the government building opposite to the Eiffel tower, providing a stupendous view of the tower.

After the bus tour, we decided to take a metro back to the hotel and get some rest before heading out again. When we were in our room, an attendant to fix the air conditioning just barged in without a courteous knock on the door. We were shocked, I thought such things happened only on the silver screen or comic books, but this was drama in real life. The man then apologized and went away. The sad part is our air-conditioning didn't get repaired after that.

The trip was perfectly timed, it was French open time and I wanted to pay a visit to the Roland Garros. After a brief cooling of heels, we set off to Roland Garros, a suburb to the south-west of Paris. A guide at the metro station took a print out of the most optimal route to get there and off we went jumping from metro to metro till we reached our destination. An American woman tennis enthusiast with her son told us about a free shuttle to the stadium, but the shuttle didn't arrive after 10-15 minutes of wait at the stop. We then walked about 500 m to the stadium. A big match had completed, Federer had moved on, but Sharapova had crashed to a 4th round exit. It was not very crowded now as the big games were over. An interesting thing we observed was that there were a lot of "black" ticket sellers and ticket resellers at Roland Garros. Their illegal acts was happening right under the nose of security. Of course there is no "dus ka thees" being uttered anywhere, rather whispering rendezvous about the price or soliciting for tickets. We bought our tickets and walked around the stadium that houses more than 20 tennis clay courts. We watched a doubles game featuring Jonas Bjorkman and a few junior French open games that was happening in the courts on either side of the center courts. As memorabilia we bought a set of Dunlop tennis balls, that are used for the French Open. At Roland Garros we encountered a brief shower, nothing to get us drenched though. As we walked back from the stadium looking for a place to eat I noticed Ramesh Krishnan walking past with another person.

We had our usual meal of pizza margharita at a local joint and headed towards the Eiffel tower to catch a glimpse of it at dusk. The metro out of Roland Garros was pretty crowded given that all important matches were over by 7-8pm. The stadium itself closes at 10pm. We walked under the Eiffel tower, amazed by the huge steel structure, that was commissioned to be destroyed, but was saved because it could be used as a broadcasting station. We took a few photographs from the government building across the Seine, opposite to the tower and headed back to our hotels. After getting back, I observed that this is the same place where the song "Ticket to Hollywood" from the movie "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" was shot.After 10pm they put on the lights and the Eiffel shines like a diamond studded ornament, a sight worth every Euro.

Day 9: Paris, France:

Day 9 was the final day of our trip. We had seen the Eiffel from the exterior, now we had to see it from the top. There are long lines for the 4 elevators that take you to the top. The Eiffel has 3 observatories at different levels and we decided to go to the topmost level of the tower. After a significantly long wait we went to one of the levels. To go to the top you need to switch elevators. It was cloudy and the wind chill was biting. We hadn't taken any protection, like a jacket, something you need to carry with you if you are visiting the top of the Eiffel. The view is brilliant, overlooking the neatly kept gardens on one side, the Seine on the other and the city on the 3rd. After the Eiffel our next stop was to look for a Tintin theme shop, Paris is know to have many. Our research had told us that there was a theme shop near the Cathedral of Notre Dame, perhaps one of the most famous of all the churches in the world.

In Paris if you need directions or help, the best people are the tourists. Most of the tourists are English speaking and while we were a little bit lost in locating the Cathedral, 2 young American girls helped us out. In fact, one of them was from Seattle and had done her internship at the company I work for. Small world eh? We located the Tintin theme shop but couldn't shop anything because of the exorbitant prices and the unimpressive stock. The shop we went into had an entire floor on manga comics, but only a small section on Tintin. We then walked past the church of Notre Dame and along the Seine. There are a bunch of green boxes along the Seine, next to the Louvre, where people sell old journals, books, newspapers etc. Apparently you can find literature dating to the early 20th century at these riverside shops. But they close pretty early and your best bet is to catch them in the morning.

Later we took a cruise on the Seine, the guide telling us about the history of the city, including some facts on how a German general's kind heart prevented the city from being completely destroyed. After the cruise we headed back to our hotels, with very pleasant memories of this beautiful and modern yet archaic and romantic city. We were to head back the next day and for one last time we enjoyed the lights on the Eiffel, a very memorable sight.

Day 10: Paris, France

We got up early, bags packed, ready to go. We had already booked an airport shuttle at 17 Euros a piece and headed back with very pleasant memories of France and Italy, perhaps a very small part of Europe, but definitely a good peek into the continent's diversity, beauty and history. We had learnt a lot about Gustis, Metros and Euros and still the calling of this wonderful continent rings in our ears.

About Gustis, Metros and Euros - V

2008-08-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

Day 7: Torino/Turin, Italy:
We were already a week into our vacation and entering the final phase, the grand finale would be the French capital Paris. But before we arrive at Paris, we had around 24 hours of travel to undergo via Turin, Italy, the city that hosted the 2006 winter olympics. According to the original plan, we were supposed to take a train out of Venice to Turin, reach Turin around 2pm, board another train to Chambery Challes across the Italy-France border. At 12am the next day, we were scheduled to take a train to Paris, a sleeper coach, to reach Paris in the wee hours of the 8th day. I was not too happy with the itinerary, as we would be losing some sleep due to travel and that would translate to a more hectic schedule in Paris. We woke up pretty early as we had to be at the station at 7:45am. Breakfast would start at 7am, but it was not ready at the hotel. We expressed our concern at the front desk and they directed us to their sister hotel down the street. We gobbled up a few slices of bread and gulped down a couple of glasses of orange juice and started trudging toward the station. We reached about 10 minutes before the train could depart. This time around we didn't have an Eurostar train, rather an Intercity express (IC). The coaches are similar to the Eurostar Alta Velocita train, a little smaller individual seating area perhaps, but I thought the trains were pretty fast. On the downside, they stopped at every shanty on the way. But in between stops, the train was super fast.

An old Italian couple sat next to us, the man reading a guide on Italy and the woman reading the newspaper. A very silent couple, who were engrossed in their own little worlds, with minimal interaction between each other. Perhaps that's what happens after 30 years of marriage. The couple alighted at one of the numerous small stations on the way.

The first part of the journey, my mind was racing, thinking about possible ways to reach Paris by nightfall. I sifted through the Eurail calendar, but could not find any connection between Torino and Chambery or Torino and Paris. From Chambery to Paris, I could see plenty of TGVs, the last one leaving Chambery at 7:30pm. This means that we needed to reach Chambery by 7:30pm somehow, but it looked very bleak.

Our train took around 5 hours to reach Torino. Torino has 2 stations, Torino Porta Susa and Torino Porta Nuova. Porta Nuova is closer to the city center. Our 7:30pm transport that was supposed to take us across the border into France would depart from Torino Porta Susa. So I had made up my mind that if Porta Susa came first, we would get down there and look for an earlier connection to Chambery in France. At around 1pm, we reached Porta Susa and got down. We expected it to be a pretty big station, only to find out that it was a station that had only 3 platforms. We got down and I went up to the station master to show him our tickets for the next connection. I also tried to express our concerns about reaching Paris only early next day. He couldn't comprehend my English though he tried his best. He saw our tickets and told us that our next connection was not a train, rather a bus that took us to Chambery. The bus journey was supposed to be 3 hours and we would reach Chambery only at 10pm. I was very disappointed, first of all we would be reaching late, upon that we need to travel by road, unacceptable. I tried to ask him if he knew any other way of getting there. He told us "hard luck", this way was our only chance to cross the border. There were other trains, but they all go via Switzerland, and we didn't have visas. Since we had around 6 hours to spend, we came out of the station to find out that there were no good eating places nearby too. We again went back into the station and asked the same person for a cloak room, he gave us a negative. He directed us to the Porta Nuova station that was 10 minutes away. We boarded the next train to Porta Nuova, a spooky and empty train.

Porta Nuova is a pretty big station. We found a cloak room at the station, it was pretty expensive. The charges are around 3 euros/bag/hour. We dropped our bags and went out for lunch. We found a couple of places and had pizzas at 2 of them. The first one seemed pretty upscale and a Pizza costed around 7 euros, but the second one was a kebab house where the pizza was around 4 euros. Turin seemed to be less affluent and less vibrant too. Unlike the other 3 cities we had been too, the number of tourists were very few here. As a direct effect of this, lesser people know english and there are lesser businesses that thrive on tourism. After lunch, we went to the station and my stubbornness to reach Paris by nightfall became stronger. I marched to the enquiry office at the station and explained the situation. The person knew English, pulled up a timetable on his computer screen and showed me the options I had to get to Chambery. I had 2 options according to him, 1) Take the 5:00pm train from Porta Susa to Chambery 2) Take the 7:30pm bus, the one we had reservations for. I was determined to take the train, with the hope that I would get a ride on the TGV to Paris from Chambery. But, there was a catch, he told me that the train would reach Chambery at around 7:25pm. I calculated the possibility mentally. The last TGV to depart Chambery is at 7:30pm, that gives us just 5 minutes to look up the train location, run to the right platform, hoist our and board the train. I thanked the guy at the desk and broke the news to my wife. I wanted her to be mentally prepared to sprint across the platform and board the other train. Of course, plan B was to wait till midnight at Chambery, Turin or Chambery we had to wait if things didn't go our way. But by chance we made it, wow, 11:30pm we would reach Paris, a night's sleep and plenty of joy seeing Paris. The odds of this was low, but we had nothing to lose.

We boarded the next train back to Porta Susa and I went to the ticket counter to ask for reservations to put us onto the 5:00pm train. The old man at the counter said that the train was full and we couldn't take that train to Chambery, my hopes were dashed. I discussed this issue with my wife. We were pretty disappointed. But my persistence self told me that I should gate crash the train, what would happen in the worst case? The ticket collector can't throw us out, can he? We had our passes, that were applicable on any train in Italy and France, we were legally safe. At worst, we may have to stand all the way till Chambery, a two and a half hour journey. I was prepared for it, if it helped us reach Paris that night. The platform was now getting crowded with people who wanted to board this train. The electronic board splashed a sign, indicating that a train to Paris would arrive at 5pm. I didn't know that the same train would go to Paris. But what time would it reach Paris? Since we didn't have our reservations, we didn't want to stand for 7-9 hours and decided that we would get down at Chambery at any cost and catch the TGV that would take us to Paris quicker.

At 5pm a red train, streaked with blue and marked as a TGV arrived at Porta Susa. I couldn't believe my eyes and then it dawned on me that it was the same train that would become a TGV from Chambery to Paris, arriving in Paris at 11:30pm. I didn't want to squander this chance, with my wife tagging along, I rushed through the crowd to the 1st class coach and boarded the TGV. Most seats were full, except for 4 seats that were occupied by Trinitalia ticket collectors. As soon as we boarded the coach, they gave up their seats thinking we were having reservations. In a few minutes, the train started rolling towards Chambery. A ticket collector asked our tickets and we had to shell out 18 euros per person as special train fees since this was a high speed train. I was relieved and my dream had come true. I would be travelling on a TGV to Paris, south to north of France in 2.5 hours, amazing!!!!. My persistence and determination had paid off and I had a twinkle in my eye and a glee on my face.

There is a TGV from Milan Centrale to Paris. It takes around 6 hours to reach Paris morphing itself to a high speed train
from Lyon to Paris. The TGV travels via Porta Susa, the Italian alps and Chambery to reach Lyon. The section when the train goes through the alps is fantastic, snow peaked mountains and wild flower meadows dotting the scenery. We pass very close to the winter olympics village near Oulx. The train is very slow as it passes through the umpteen tunnels and bridges. Though we perceive that the train moves slowly, it reached Chambery on time at 7:25pm and after some brief custom and visa checks, the train proceeds to Paris. It reaches Lyon around 9pm and after that it literally flies towards Paris, the scenes changing like a fast forwarded movie. The TGV restrooms are not as clean as the ones on the Eurostar trains, but who cares about the restrooms, the speed is exhilarating. At 11:30pm, the train arrived at Paris - Gare De Lyon. We had no clue how to go to our hotels, we tried asking the ticket collector, but he was as blank as us. No information desk was open at Gare De Lyon and we directly went to a transport ticket desk. Paris was pretty cold, my wife shivering with each gust of wind. I was used to this, typical Seattle weather I should say, and having stayed in Minneapolis, I shouldn't be complaining. The station at Paris was huge and we were like blind mice lost in a maze. At last we found this transport desk, I shoved the attendant my hotel reservation and told her that I need to get there. She gave me 2 metro tickets at 1.5 euros a piece and dismissed me from her presence. I have 2 tickets, but how do I go, where do I go, what do I do with these 2 tickets, I had no clue. People around were not helpful too, everyone had a typical metropolitan air about them, an attitude wanting independence.

I went up to a map and started staring at it. For a moment it seemed that we had no hope of getting to our hotel other than hiring a cab. But then at the corner of my mind, I happened to recall a metro station by the name Porte de Champerret that was close to our hotel. We looked up the metro map to locate this station and decided to take the metro, a north line to Saint-Lazare and then a west line, line 3 to Porte De Champerret. The Paris Metro is the most amazing innovation I've seen on this trip so far, surpassing the TGV or the canal system at Venice. The Paris metro is like a grid, criss-crossing the city's underground. RER lines move N-S and the Metro lines move east-west, overlaying a mesh on Paris. Frequencies are high, a metro within 2-3 minutes at any station. Security is high too, you need not break a sweat thinking about your safety. Surveillance cameras are everywhere, even in the deserted stations. Lot of people travel by the metro everyday, perhaps Paris's lifeline.

About Gustis, Metros and Euros - IV

2008-07-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Venice, Italy:
The weather in Florence was still a little gloomy, with the occasional shower dotting the day. We woke up by 6:30am and got ready to leave this town. Our train to Venezia/Venice was to depart at 10am. With our heavy bags and reluctant souls, we started trudging along the Arno towards the Santa Maria Novella station. I had identified a shorter route to the station, but still, it took us around 40 minutes to get there. On the way, there was a brief drizzle too. Nevertheless, we were before time, only to start gazing at the announcement board. As we were waiting for our train announcement, we could see an Indian family discussing some serious stuff. After a few minutes, a lady from the family dropped by and asked us if they needed to reserve seats on the train. We had our reservations and told them that it would be better to be safe and get them, rather than not get seating on the train and be sorry. When the announcement was made, it was announced that a train would depart to Bologna at the time our train was supposed to be. Again, don't go by the final destination of the train, but go by the time. We boarded the train, got our seats without any problems. No hassles with the ticket collector this time and everything went on smoothly. A clergyman was sitting in front of us and after a few minutes he left his seat and went out. For half hour he was not to be seen. My wife was getting worried and wanted to check his luggage to see if there was a bomb in there :-). Anyways, he did return and continued reading his academic papers, while we were playing rounds of hangman.

The train takes around 3 hours to reach Venice and passes through Bologna and Padova. Our reservations indicated that we need to get down at Venice Maestre station, while my research told me to catch another train or use the same train to go to Venice Santa Lucia. Remember to alight at Santa Lucia, this island is the "real" Venice. Venice's mainland station is Venice Maestre. The journey from Maestre to Santa Lucia is around 10 minutes and is very picturesque. A single road and railway line goes amidst the calm waters of the Adriatic and ends up at Venice Santa Lucia. The island of Venice is very different, narrow walkways, bridges over umpteen canals, boat buses, boat cabs, gondolas and numerous tourists fill this place. We reached around 1pm in the afternoon, to be greeted by hot weather and a blazing sun overhead. A map costs around 2.5 euro at the tourist information desk. Hmmm... pretty expensive eh? Was this a portent to what was in store? We picked up the map, but couldn't locate our hotel. We asked a security guard nearby, who told us that our hotel was very close by, perhaps 10 minutes by foot. We were pretty pleased and started coming out of the station. Now, as I mentioned earlier, Venice has lots of bridges, and to go across these there are lots of steps we need to ascend and descend. To make matters worse, the heat was unbearable and the station itself didn't provide any respite, as it had a fleet of 20-odd steps to descend. With our heavy bags we started descending the station stairs and crossed the Grand Canal (The largest canal that divides Venice into 2 halves). After numerous other canals our 10 minute by foot took us around 30 mins and we found our hotel, Hotel Arlecchino.
The hotel was very very small and our rooms were not yet ready. Apparently in Europe, the check in time is 2pm and the checkout is at 11am. After making us wait for another half hour or so, the bell boy led us up some lifts and then up some wooden stairs to go to our room. The hotel room was extremely small with really small windows, that hardly let any light inside the room. But on the brighter side, the bathroom was very long, but narrow and must be 1/3rd the size of the room itself.

The man at the concierge gave us a map and marked the guided tours we were supposed to go the next day and the gondola ride that was supposed to happen the same day. After a quick shower, we started exploring Venice by foot. The San Marco square is the heart of tourist activity in Venice and opens up to the bay. Navigating in Venice is a nightmare because of the narrow alleys, clearings amidst buildings and the many canals that criss-cross the city. The streets are unmarked as well. If you observe carefully, signs to the San Marco square are visible on buildings on main stroll routes. The beauty of San Marco square has to be experienced. A huge bell tower and a wide clearing with restaurants lining the square. Hundreds of pigeons flock the square, perhaps the feeding tourists their main attraction. The square leads to the boat docks at the waterfront. A huge poster of Roger Federer lines the passage that leads to the docks. The spectacle called San Marco square has been brought to life with a photosynth demo at http://labs.live.com/photosynth/. Try the tech preview on this page to experience it. On the way to San Marco square we observed an ice cream shop selling ice creams at 1.70 euros for 2 gustis, perhaps the cheapest ice cream we've had so far. An American student/visitor seemed to be owning the shop. Venice has many North African people selling leather bags on the streets. We tried to bargain for one of the bags. The bags seemed to be of very good quality and some of them were branded too (though I wouldn't trust the brand name). The person selling us the bag started off with a price of 110 Euro, we bluntly refused the offer and walked away. He came running behind us and asked us to quote a price. Ultimately, we bargained a big leather hand bag for around 30 Euros (Afterthought: perhaps we could've bargained for lesser 20 Euro, 10 Euro... perhaps :( ).

The walk from San Marco square along the waterfront is very serene. As you move away from the square the density of people decreases and the only thing is the sun beating down, the breeze blowing across and water splashing against the banks. At the far end of the water front is the Lido beach that has a wooded park with lots of benches, perfect for a siesta. We spent sometime there and at around 6pm we went to the Gondola starting point at Santa Maria Gigolo.
We were taken on a 45 minutes Gondola ride, a fleet of Gondolas on the waters of the Grand Canal. By now, the heat had subsided and dusk had set in, it was very cool and our ears were occupied by a singer on one of the Gondolas singing out opera-ish songs (perhaps in Italian). Boats and Gondolas form the spine of transportation in Venice. Our Gondola travelled through smaller canals and doorsteps of many apartments, hotels and residences. Just like blind street corners, blind canal corners have huge convex mirrors to avoid oncoming water vehicles. We then bid goodbye to our Gondola "driver" /oarsman and went looking for a place to fill our hungry bellies. Contrary to the omen about a very expensive Venice, we found food at Venice pretty inexpensive. A Pizza Margharita (our benchmark for food prices) was around 4.5 Euros. We were pretty pleased and had Pizza, before heading back to our hotels. The streets of Venice become really deserted after 6:30pm, I was not sure about it's safety, so we hurriedly stepped towards our hotel, just to be safe than sorry.

Day 6: Venice, Italy:
We started the day early as usual. We rushed to San Marco square, whose pier from where we were supposed to take an excursion to some popular islands like the Burano, Murano and Torcello. Accompanied by 6-8 more tourists, we set off the shores of Santa Lucia onto the "freeway" - like boat ways towards Murano. The bay at Venice seems to have specified "lanes" for boats that travel to and from the piers, just like the lanes on a road. Sticks that are pierced into the ground form the medians and the kerbs. The guide on our boat spoke fluently in English, Italian, French and German. Her accent was so Italian, that it was difficult to pick her up when she spoke English. So with ears strained towards her speech and eyes enjoying the waters around, we reached Murano island half hour later.

The boat took us directly to a glass factory. Murano is known for many glass factories that manufacture exquisite glass items like jewellery, chandeliers, decorative glass among others. A master glass artist gave us a small demonstration of how glass is blown and shaped. He made a vase and a neighing stallion in a matter of minutes. When he was doing his work, a commentator was telling us the details on how it was done. After 15 minutes we were taken to a showroom of the glass factory. I guess the designs and items there were protected under copyright laws. No one was allowed to take pictures, still or motion. The glass items were pretty pricey, given that the material to prepare Murano glass comes from France. We took a look at the beautiful works of glass art and then headed towards Burano island.

Burano is known for it's lace work and the uniqueness of this island is the brightly colored houses here. Each house is uniquely colored with outlandish shades of color. The guide told us that these were fishermen who lived on the island and it was a tradition
to paint their houses so exotically. We got to see an old woman doing lacework, the scene was straight from a fairy tale where the grand mom sits on a rocking chair, heads down doing lace work. There was lace work on sale too. We walked down the streets of Burano and bought a laced table cloth for around 20 euros. On our way back we had to hurry, as we were getting pretty late and the boat was about to depart.

10 minutes from Burano is the island of Torcello, the island where the first venetians (like Martians :)) lived.
When Torcello was thriving it had a population of nearly 10,000. But today the island has less than 15 people, as people have moved to the mainland. Torcello is a very calm, green and beautiful island with an old church, a restaurant and a couple of gift shops. We walked for a while in the island enjoying the greenery. It rained a little bit on our way back to the boat, but thanks to the pricey umbrella we bought, we didn't get wet. Some tourists fell in love with the isle and wanted to spend more time there and told the guide that they would make their own arrangements for transport back to Venice. Half past noon we were back in Venice, had a quick lunch, a couple of gustis of ice cream and headed back to our hotel. Later in the afternoon, we decided to explore Venice, north of the Grand Canal. The next day we were supposed to leave Venice for Torino (Turin) en route to Paris, but we had our train reservations from Venice Maestre. We wanted to know what time the same train would leave Santa Lucia. The information desk at the station did give us the necessary timings. We were supposed to be at the station by 7:45am the next day. From the station we walked towards Arsenale, a military establishment in Venice, perhaps an arms store. On the way, we had Fanta at a local grocery store and stopped by a Chinese-run communication place from where international calls were 20 cents a minute (cheapest we had seen so far). We called home, gave them updates about our safety and resumed our exploration of the city. The area north of the grand canal is less touristy and less expensive. At a point we were lost and a old man taking his evening walk, came all the way with us till the walls of Arsenale; really sweet people. After posing for a few photographs at the Arsenale, we decided to go back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep. The next day was supposed to be a travel day with a lot of unknowns. Also, we were to get up early if we had to catch the train to Turin. We were supposed to reach Paris after 24 hours of travel, by taking a train to Turin, a bus (we didn't know about this) to Chambery Challes in France and then another train to Paris. But things didn't turn out that way.

About Gustis, Metros and Euros - III

2008-07-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Florence/Firenze, Italy:

We were scheduled to travel to Florence today morning at around 10:30am. Since this was our first trip between cities in a train, we were extra cautious, waking up by 6am and getting set by 8am. Our prudent mindset got us to Termini by 9:30am as we were accounting for traffic jams, crowd and long lines. At Termini, there was no signs announcing the arrival of our train. It was not until 10:05am did they announce the platform where our train would depart from. Nevertheless, we, the anxious couple were waiting all this while, our eyes fixed on the announcement board. After the announcement was made, we made our way to the train through crowds of anxious tourists to board our train to Florence. One more thing to note is that trains are announced with their final destination in mind. The train we were taking was supposedly going to Milan Centrale via Florence. The wise thing would be to board a train based on the time and not based on the destination displayed. All coaches are marked with a number on the body of the compartment, this indicates the class. The coach number is a separate number that is generally indicated on a display panel on the compartment. My research made me easy to navigate to the appropriate 1st class compartment. If you have reserved seats, the seat numbers reset at each coach i.e. there are a number of seat 60s, one in each coach. We found our seats with ease and hoisted our heavy bags in the overhead bins. The bins are pretty narrow and for sometime I was a little paranoid that the heavy luggage would fall on my head (given my experience with Indian trains). Nothing untoward happened though. The seats are extremely comfortable and you have tables in front of you that can be used to fiddle with your notebooks or play a board game. The train finally departed Roma Termini towards Florence.

The distance between Rome and Florence is around 250km and the "Alta Velocita" Eurostar train takes just over 1.5 hours. Drinks are served free of cost in the 1st class compartment. Oranges in Italy are more red than orange and the orange juice we requested was the same. The steward provides everyone with a pack of freshening towels too. The experience is n-fold better than travelling on an American airliner. The ticket collector stopped by and asked our passes. We had our passes, but we had not entered the date on the pass. Keep in mind that whenever you have a Eurail pass, please enter the date before you use the pass for the first time on that day. Also, the Eurail pass is a different piece of paper than the paper coupon given to you with your seat numbers. We were not aware of this and the ticket collector threatened to levy a fine on us of 50 euros. I tried to explain to him that it was a genuine mistake, trying to act dumb and extremely apologetic. But he could not comprehend my English and for a moment I was thinking of a plethora of possibilities that could befall us. He may put us in jail, throw us out of the train moving at 100kmph, drop us off at the next station which would be a village in central Italy etc. But somehow, perhaps he could see the fear in my eyes, he gave me a warning and let me go. A fellow traveller (an Indian) then came up to me and told me that he and his family had faced a similar situation when they visited Italy the first time. It took some time for me to get over it, but pretty soon I was fine, playing hangman with my wife, as I had vented all my embarrassment by winning over her.

The journey between Rome and Florence takes you over grassy plains and long tunnels. Your ears pop in and out as you move at great speeds through these tunnels. When we were near Florence, we got our bags down and marched towards the door. Apparently, trains stop at stations for less than 5 mins and the Indian family who were travelling with us (a couple and a kid) take 2.5 minutes to alight. It seemed like they had practiced this routine to perfection. The station at Florence, the Santa Maria Novella station, is a pretty archaic station and a little smaller than the one at Rome. I had no clue how to get from the station to our hotel and was looking for maps of the place. The tourist information center had a long line and for 1 Euro they gave me a map of the city. I knew that our hotel was along the river Arno and after a few minutes I could locate the street where we would need to go. The cities in Italy are pretty small and we thought we could manage going to the hotel by dragging our heavy bags along the way. It was tough, but manageable. It took us a whole hour to navigate through the narrow crowded streets. We were pretty disciplined in being alert with our bags and belongings. I had heard that Italy was not as safe as the US.

Florence is a quaint town with narrow streets. I have hardly seen automobiles there other than buses that are used as means of public transport. As we wound our way through the streets, we couldn't find street names to navigate. As in Rome, the street names are not on sign boards but on buildings themselves. Once that was discovered, navigating the streets became very easy. An old woman and an young man were very enthusiastic in guiding us at one point when we were stuck in a square and didn't know where to go. Once we were on the bank of the Arno it was easy to find our hotel, Hotel Balestri. Hotel Balestri is located next to the Arno with the bathroom window facing the river. Our room was not spacious (same as in Rome), but was very bright and it had a balcony as well. My wife adores the hotel room very much. That afternoon we walked up to the Accademia to view Michelangelo's David which is housed in this museum. There are a number of other paintings and sculptures. We also visited the music museum that gave us a white-box view of a piano. For some reason, I was under the misconception that a piano was an air instrument. But this was dispelled when I saw how a piano works at the Accademia.

Michelangelo's David is a true master piece, a larger than life statue of David with his sling after annihilating Goliath. When we went to the Accademia, I saw people sketching the statue, discussing its intricacies, describing its features or silently admiring it. Such is the charisma behind this piece of art. To enter the Accademia you have to shell out 6.5 euros a person and you get to visit, David, the gallery of statues, the gallery of paintings and the music museum.

After filling our minds with David's perfection, we wanted to fill our growling stomachs. I had identified a vegetarian restaurant on the Internet near Bordo Croce before starting on our journey. We walked down to that place only to find that the restaurant had closed down some years back. The owner of the hardware store that has come up next to this place directed us to an "Indian" place on the same street. We went there to find that most of the food was over. But the person there told us that he would cook rice for us and make vegetarian biriyani at 3 euros a plate. After 10 mins, we were served hot biriyani that tasted pretty good. This eat-out is run by 3 brothers from Lahore, Pakistan who have been in Florence for 9, 5 and 3 years respectively starting from the eldest. After wishing them good bye, we walked back to the hotel, admiring the street artists and the chalk sketchers on the way. The chalk art is brilliant and is done in 4-5 hours time.

In the evening we took a walk across the Arno to Piazza Michelangelo, that houses a replica of the David. This Piazza, a very beautiful and romantic place overlooks the city of Florence on one side and the countryside on the other. The Piazza is up a hill with a fleet of stairs and is around 15 minutes walk from the Balestri. We came across a cat shelter on the way and my love for felines forced me to take some pictures there. Later that night we took a walk along the bank of the Arno and the scene was stunning with lamp posts dotting the banks of the river. The romance of Florence was captivating us as the seconds passed. A truly beautiful city.

Day 4: Florence/Firenze and Pisa, Italy:

In places like Florence, credit cards are not widely accepted and my suggestion would be to take adequate cash with you. We woke up early in the morning on day 4 and went exploring the Vecchito Palazzo and the Uffizzi gallery. We didn't enter the gallery, but it houses many renowned paintings of the modern era. Instead, we went along the streets of Florence looking for supplies. Florence, like Rome, has stone paved streets and stone buildings. The buildings are archaic looking, except that they are not brick-colored. We bought water at 60 cents a bottle at a grocery store and batteries at 4 euros for a 8 battery pack at a camera shop.

We were scheduled to leave for an excursion to Pisa in the afternoon and had to go near Piazza Della Stazione (the circle near the station) to catch our bus to Pisa. It started raining a bit there and we had not accounted for rain in Europe in our checklist. We didn't have an umbrella and we bought one from a vendor selling them on a street corner. He was demanding 6 Euros and we bargained it for 3.8 Euros, ah, what a good deal. But a gust of wind tore a piece of the umbrella and a few meters down the lane we found a shop selling umbrellas for 3 Euros. So much for our street smartness and bargaining abilities. We reached the station and went a little further to a fort near the station, Fort Basse. The guard there thought that we were there for a medical conference only to realize that we didn't look like doctors from any angle of his imagination. He sent us out and told us to go around the fort to view the gardens and the fountain that form the facade of the fort. At around 3pm, we boarded a bus to Pisa, an hours drive from Florence across the province of Tuscany, known for its olive oil. On the way, the tour guide pointed us to nurseries specializing in ornamental plants, the largest chinese community in Europe and a host of towns that marked the landscape.

We arrived at Pisa under gloomy skies and were taken into the square at Pisa that hosts a cathedral, a baptistery and the famous leaning tower. Only limited tickets are sold per day to go on top of the leaning tower and naturally we were late. The leaning tower is 55 meters tall and from the 4th storey onwards an architect tried to correct the tilt by building pillars perpendicular to the plane of the ground. The cathedral nearby is built in Romanesque style peppered with a lot of Islamic arches. The tour guide showed us the chandelier that Galileo had observed to come up with the concept of a simple pendulum within the cathedral. The cathedral was built from the riches of an Arab ship that was looted by the Italians. Pisa is a very small place and not very impressive. On a lighter note, the tour guide was telling us that public restrooms were the cheapest in Pisa at 30 cents a person when compared to 1 euro in Florence and 1.5 euros in Venice.

We got back to Florence by 7pm and took another walk along the banks of the Arno. We had identified a Mediterranean restaurant the previous day and had dinner there. It turned out to be managed by an Indian. We had some good biriyani and Pizza Margharita (Pizza with tomato sauce and cheese, our staple diet at most places during our trip). We were the only people in the restaurant and he had a good chat with us. During dinner, it was pouring outside and once we were done, the rain had stopped and we walked back to our hotel. We were scheduled to leave Florence the next day to Venice, but the captivating charisma of the city was giving us the Stockholm's syndrome and we were very reluctant to depart.

About Gustis, Metros and Euros - II

2008-07-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Rome, Italy:
The first thing you observe about Rome is the abundance of tourists and tourism related businesses. Naturally, everything at the heart of Rome is very expensive. Water is 2 Euros a bottle while gas is cheaper at approximately 1.5 Euros per liter (more expensive than the US). Nevertheless you can't drink gas in Rome's weather and we had to resort in buying bottles near tourist locations. We learnt these lessons very quickly and my recommendation would be to visit grocery shops in residential areas to buy your ice cream or water or any other supplies you would need. The stuff there is inexpensive and we employed this trick for the rest of the tour. The afternoon we arrived at Rome we took the hop-on hop-off open tour bus to go around places of interest. The cost of the tour bus is around 18 Euros/per person/day. The buses circulate through Rome and you can ride on any bus between 9am - 7pm.

The tour started off from the Termini station and our first stop was Piazza Venezia. Rome is filled with huge stone/marble structures and all the roads are paved with stone. In our entire stay at Rome, I hardly remember seeing tarmac on the roads. "Piazza" in any Italian city is a circle (or a square) and the word pizza comes from the same root is my guess. Two guards, still as statues, guard the monument of Victor Emanuelle, the first king of unified Italy. My heart went out for the 2 guards who were weathering the heat and the place felt a little devoid of human rights. We then went to the Colosseum which is a few hundred meters from the Piazza. We were not very impressed with the Colosseum, though it could be a architecture marvel when it was built. Hoards of people visit the Colosseum, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world at 11 Euros a person. Many artists in ancient Roman military attire entertain tourists and pose for photographs with them for a price. There were a few outliers who had dressed themselves as Egypt's Pharaoh King Tut.

After a weary day, we thought of having some dinner before retiring for the day. Contrary to the belief that vegetarian food is hard to get, we found it relatively easy to find veggie food. A veggie pizza slice comes for around 3 euros, though later we found out that we could get an entire pizza for 4.5 euros. In the night, we decided to visit the fountains at Piazza Della Republica near the Termini station. It is quite a spectacle as it is surrounded by renaissance styled buildings and cobble stoned roads. On the automobile scene in Italy, we found many cars that were/are sold in India like the Daewoo Matiz, Cielo, Opel Astra, Fiat Uno among others hurtling across the stone streets of Rome.

Day 2: Rome, Italy

We were to visit the Vatican today and the tour would start at 9am. Rome has 2 metro lines, one that runs north and the other that runs south. The Termini station has a metro stop and it was pretty convenient for us. The ticket to use the metro is 1 euro. We took the metro at 8:30am to reach the Ottaviano, the starting point of the Vatican tour. Our tour guide was half hour late and we had to shell out 20 Euros per head towards the entrance fee to enter the Vatican museum. The Vatican, the smallest republic, is walled and appears like a fort on one side. The center of the Vatican is the gigantic St. Peter's square that hosts the St. Peter's basilica. The Vatican tour includes the museums, the Sistine chapel and the St. Peter's basilica (the biggest in the world). The most impressive aspect of the museum were the frescoes, paintings and the fantastic tapestries that were displayed. The ceilings appeared to be moulded carvings, but they were actually paintings in 2-d that give us a 3-d effect. Don't miss this aspect of the museum, it is very impressive. Over 4 million visitors visit the Vatican every year, apparently the most visited place on earth. I'm not very sure about the authenticity of this fact as I could imagine more people visiting Tirupati in an year. A quick check confirms my suspicion. Nevertheless, facts apart, the Vatican is pretty impressive. The tour guide explained to us the different messages Michelangelo had coded up in his world famous frescoes at the Sistine chapel. One thing that dawned upon me was the fact that philosophies of different religion had a unifying theme. The unifying theme is the detachment from the material world and the control of the senses.

Whenever we see renaissance statues, we observe the statues are blind. Was the sculptors of those times not adept at sculpting eyes? No, the truth is that gems formed the eyes of these statues and over time these gems were either stolen or lost. From the vast courtyard of the St. Peter's basilica the tour guide pointed us to the quarters of the Pope and the balcony from where he would wave at the people who come to visit the Vatican. After the visit to the Vatican we got back to our hotel and had a lunch of Pizza and pasta with pesto sauce at a nearby restaurant. Restaurants are pretty expensive, and our lunch costed around 25 Euros. We again set out later in the day and walked along side the Tiber. The Pantheon is another place we wanted to see and after walking through many small streets we did reach the place. People were very friendly in giving us directions even though they didn't know English. I remember the lady who showed us directions to the Pantheon walk half the distance with us, a very kind gesture. It reinforces my belief that people are basically good, it is only the circumstances that make them rude.

An observation I made about European cities is the presence of a river splitting the city. London has the Thames, Paris the Seine, Rome the Tiber, Prague the Vlatava, Florence the Arno, Vienna the Danube and so on. These smooth meandering rivers add to the appeal and romance of these cities. The heat was getting to us and we thought of having ice creams on our return to our hotel. In Italy, ice creams come in Gustis. One gusti is a scoop of ice cream and could cost around 1 Euro. By the end of our trip we were trained to observe the rates for a gusti of ice cream in any shop. In Rome and Florence, we couldn't find a place where a Gusti costed less than 1 Euro. But in Venice we found an American lady selling ice cream at 1.70 Euro for a couple of gustis, perhaps the cheapest I've seen. My wife's obsession with the fountains of Piazza Della Republica continued and we made another trip to that place that night. We were scheduled to depart Rome the very next day with memories of the Vatican paintings and the beautiful Tiber.

About Gustis, Metros and Euros - I

2008-07-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

A visit to Europe has always evaded me for the past 4-5 years for some reason or the other. More than a resource crunch, I feel it was a lack of resourcefulness on my part that prevented me from realizing my dream earlier. By the end of May this year, I had decided to take up this sojourn and visit a couple of countries on this continent. It was a bit more special as it would be a honeymoon vacation for a newly wedded yours truly. Europe's diversity starts from its name as the only continent that doesn't start with the letter 'A'. The diversity continues through each country's language, culture, food and system. We had decided to spend around 10 days exploring 2 countries, Italy and France.

Now why Italy and France? I always had this yearning to visit Paris and hence France. But being in Bangalore, applying for a Schengen visa via the French consulate involves travelling to Mumbai for fingerprinting and interviews. Given my sedentary self, I tried to find out ways to get away by not going to Mumbai. The alternatives, apply to the Italian or Austrian consulates where the chances of being called for an interview are minimum, if documents were prepared meticulously and were complete. Also the Schengen visa guidelines mandate you to apply for a visa from the country where you would be staying for the most number of days on your visit. I chose Italy over Austria and after everything, I don't regret my decision a bit.

Applying through a travel agent was easy enough except for preparing the documents. They wanted everything from my voter's id to my marriage certificate and everything in between. The height was when they asked me for a no-objection certificate from my employer that it was ok for me to go to Europe on a vacation. After a week, I ended up with visas for my wife and me, a pasted paper that says "Visto" (Visa in Italian perhaps). Prior to departure we had a brief checklist of things to buy and didn't account for Europe's diversity of weather. A couple of small backpacks, sun screen, moisturiser (a must for me even if I visit the Sahara desert), cotton clothes, jackets to keep you warm, insurance, currency (Euros at 71 rupees a piece), supporting documents, some packets of MTR ready-to-eat, Maggi noodles (people had scared us about the lack of veggie options in Europe) and some contact numbers. We were all set to leave on May 26th from the new airport at Bangalore.

The new airport is pretty impressive, though the size of the airport was smaller than what I had imagined. We were flying my "favorite" (sarcasm intended) airline, Air France and as usual my love affair with this airliner continued. The flight was late by about an hour and given that he takes a full 10 hours to fly from Bangalore to Paris CDG, I was pretty certain that we would miss our connection to Rome's FCO. But the ground staff were fairly responsive and immediately changed our tickets to a later flight from CDG to FCO. Mentally, I was gearing myself up for losing my baggage, reaching Rome 24 hours late or a plethora of such disasters. But everything went smoothly.

We arrived at the Rome Fiumicino airport (FCO) also called as the Leonardo Da Vinci International airport at around 1pm after commuting via CDG. No one even bothered to place a stamp on our passports. Yes, there was no immigration/customs check at FCO and we were on the streets of Rome after gathering our baggage. I was frantically looking for a place where we could get a stamp on our passports, but there was none and we were allowed to walk out of the terminal without any interruption. We walked straight to the railway terminal at the airport. A train, the Leonardo Da Vinci express (a non-stop train) takes us from the airport to Termini, the main railway station in Rome. The journey is around 30 minutes and a first class ticket costs around 11 Euros. We had a 4-day Eurail pass that we used (no need to pay if you have a pass) and hauled all our baggage into the 1st class compartment of the Leonardo Da Vinci express. Rome was hot and sultry at 28C and the train was pretty crowded. Most tourists on board the train seemed to be Americans, many among them old couples who perhaps were there to visit the Vatican. On the way the landscape was boring flat lands with apartment buildings lining the tracks. The majority of the buildings were brick-colored and appeared to be pretty identical. It appeared as if we were moving through a communist colony. Cloth lines, window shutters without glass and TV antennas decorated these ghetto like apartments.

After half hour, the train arrived at the Roma Termini, the central station at Rome. We had booked our hotels pretty close to the station and dodged a couple of taxi solicitors to be on the streets of Rome. But which direction do we go? As we were new to the place we didn't know where to get a map from nor did we know of any public transport system. My research had told me that the hotel was walking distance from the station. We asked a couple of cops who were standing nearby and they were quite rude. Atlast, one of them pointed us the direction we should be walking. We started looking for a place called Via Del Viminale asking every Tom, Dick and Harry on the way. Tom included a cop, Dick included an Indian man (I mean a person from the sub continent) and Harry was a woman at a beauty boutique. After 15 minutes of walk with 2 bags, 2 back packs and 2 weary bodies we found Hotel Impero. The gentlemen at the concierge spoke English (we were very glad) and gave us our room keys. We took the keys and opened the room we were supposed to be in and it was already occupied!!!!! Before we could go down and complain, the bell boy came racing upstairs and pointed us to our actual rooms. The man at the concierge apparently had made a mistake. The bell boy apologized profusely and we were happy to be in our room out from the heat of Rome. If you think this incident was shocking wait to read about our hotel room experiences in Paris in the posts to come.

I will be continuing with my posts about our European adventure. Till then...

Between Us - Aswefall

2008-03-31T03:05:00.000-07:00

Before takeoff and after landing, Air France plays a single song onboard in an infinite loop and I was always curious to find out more about the song. Though I would like to quickly forget the nightmarish experience I had on my last trip flying this airline, I have heard this song so many times onboard, at my stay in the airport, at every place associated with the airline that now it plays in my dream as well. The song is soothing and is a contrast to the horrendous experience I have had with the airline. Things have changed since that trip and now I think the song deserves a lot of respect, hence the research. Today someone at work had called Air France and their hold song seems to be the same too.

The song is "Between Us" by a band called Aswefall. The singer is Daniella D'Ambrosio. A very mellow song whose lyrics are something like,

"I can see it from miles
I can see it in your face
Within in the miles
That lie between us
Away with the sea"

Do hear it if you get a chance.

Complications - A Surgeon's notes on an imperfect science - Dr. Atul Gawande

2007-12-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

For the common man, medicine is as magical as wizardry and a doctor with a stethescope or a scalpel is seen as a wizard with a magic wand. Dr. Atul Gawande in his book, Complications, has tried to demystify medicine and surgery for you and me. The imperfectness, the procedures and other details that go on behind the blue curtains are illustrated with examples from Dr. Gawande's experience making this book a medical thriller from cover to cover. The depth of detail the author delves into is absolutely fantastic. At the same time, it is very easy to comprehend as the author doesn't use any fancy medical jargon. A National Book Award finalist, Complications was recommended to me by a colleague of mine.

Read more about it at Crack-a-book

The Book of Positive Quotations - John Cook

2007-11-23T11:07:00.000-08:00

When sifting through the book shelf at Barnes and Nobles, looking for a birthday gift, I came across this book. More of a reference book, John Cook has tried to compile and arrange famous quotations into different categories. Depending on your state of mind, you can choose a section and gain some inspiration or peace.

More on the book at: Crack-a-book

Guilt

2007-11-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Sleep evades the mind, like an eel at hand;
Food avoids the tongue, like unknown land;
Thoughts drown the soul, in its quick sand;
How could anyone ever take this stand?

Time would perhaps let the guilt seep,
Healing the wounds that lie so deep,
Think aplenty before making a leap,
'Cause what you sow is what you will reap.

-Sandeep

The Corporate Automaton

2007-10-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

Have you met a person who wouldn't participate in a social event on the pretense of work? A person who misses his buddy's birthday because of a work-related appointment? A person who asks a question "What is so special in dining with your family?"? A person who is too tired to do what he/she loves at the end of a work day? A person who works from home even if he or she is riding a temperature or is too stressed to go to work? A person who doesn't have time for a concert or a play on a weekend? A person who cannot be out of cell phone reception and go on a drive/hike, with a fear of being paged? A person who would perhaps know his/her company's revenue down to the last dollar, but not the GDP of their own country? A person who would answer an official email more promptly than a sweet mail from a near one? A person who would know more ways to connect to the corporate network than the number of countries he/she has visited? A person who thinks the corporate ladder is a stairway to happiness? A person who doesn't want to take a few days off to meet their family fearing their review score? A Corporate Automaton?

I have met many and have been guilty of living one sometimes. I may sound very cynical, inhuman and corny, but I've tried looking at the big picture and have failed to comprehend why would a person do this? Is it for the green bills? Perhaps for some, but it is just in the order of 100s at the end of the year. Is it for naturalization? Perhaps for some expats, but is it worth wasting your youth and getting locked down to a place? Is it a question of status and fame? Perhaps for some, but everyone remembers a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs and not any John Doe. Is it security? (I'm not talking about physical security. A corporate cannot provide it for sure, especially out of campus). Perhaps for some, but if there is an advent of sickness or disability, their name is most probably the first on the pink booklet. Then why the trouble? How many of us love to die for the things we do at work? Any aye's? I can't hear many :-).

We are all brainwashed into this mindset of false security. It is a paradox that this pseudo-security has bred so much insecurity in us. We are so much involved in our corporate life that we don't want to step out and look outside the box, we remain ignorant. This ignorance is bliss for us. It is sad that we are like automatons, but it is true.

Oops!!!! Tomorrow is monday, got to get some work done now :-).

Night - Elie Wiesel

2007-09-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

There are a host of movies like, "Life is beautiful", "Schindler's List", "The Diary of Anne Frank" or "The Pianist" that relives the holocaust and glorifies the survivors for their heroism and endurance amidst the largest recorded genocides in recent history. But "Night", by Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace prize winner and holocaust survivor, is one of the first pieces of literature I've read about the holocaust. A 115-page, intense, saddening and powerful recount by a teen survivor, "Night" is perhaps the most honest account about life in a concentration camp and the psyche of its inmate.

The book is a gripper (depressing for some, eye-opening for others) from cover to cover, including a preface explaining Wiesel's motivation to write the book and his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Wiesel admits that, "Books no longer have the power they once did", but tries to bring forth Anti-Semitism and related issues to the front, with an account of his survival as a 15 year old Jew in WWII Germany. The pain, indifference and utter disregard for human rights are narrated with great detail, leaving a permanent mark on the reader's mind. The most impressive part of the book is the honesty with which Wiesel admits how primal instincts of men had taken over his mind when under duress. Relationships, camaraderie and ethics cease to exist in such situations. How cruel but true!!!!!

"A slim volume of terrifying power" - The New York Times

Elie Wiesel Quotes

2007-09-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
- Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

"The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference."
- Elie Wiesel

Class: A Guide Through the American Status System

2007-09-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

"Have you seen Crash?" (the movie) is one of the most banal retorts used among my friends to indicate someone is prejudiced in his or her opinion about a subject. After reading the book, "Class: A Guide Through the American Status System" by Paul Fussell, "Have you read Class?" would be a perfect rebuttal to the above retort. Recommended to me by a friend, Class dissects the American Society and brings forth its stereotypes and builds a vertical hierarchy amidst all the claims of Equality and Liberty. Paul Fussell has an uncanny knack of poking fun at the different classes and citing examples that are representative of a class. The examples are outrageous, but light and extremely funny. A note of warning for the reader: If you feel offended by a piece of literature that you read in private, that exposes your true class, this book may not be for you. But if you are the light-headed one who can laugh at yourself or the one who aspires to move a couple of notches up the status chain this book can offer lots of advice :). Though the book was written more than 25 years ago, a lot of things cited still holds true. When I was pondering about the book, I found out that a lot of things hold good in other societies as well.

Paul Fussell divides American Society into 9 categories, the out-of-sight upper class and the out-of-sight destitutes being the extremes. In the middle of this spectrum are the middle classes (upper-middle and middle) and the proleterian classes (high, middle and lower). He delves into the different habits of these classes with particular emphasis on middle class insecurity (that I cannot agree more with :)). The depth of detail he explores is amazing and the gamut of lifestyle topics he touches upon is extensive. The book outlines the behavior of people in different classes with respect to dining, drinking, dressing, looks, marriage, homes, lawns, pets, vacations, cars, driving and a host of other subjects. Examples are cited with a lot of humor that keeps you smiling and riveted to all the 180+ pages of the book.

At the end of the book, you are adept (at least marginally) at recognizing and classifying people into classes. In fact, the appendix of the book has a quiz to test your knowledge about classes and also get a feel for yours. Though it may sound cruel, prejudiced and judgemental, it is a book that tickles your funny bone. Also, if you are the type who is not interested in the diversity business (like me :)), read the book for its sheer humor and wit.

Happy Judging!!!!!!! :)

Tin Whistle Music

2007-08-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I got my Irish tin whistle out and I was encouraged to do that very recently. The one that I have is not greatly suited for Carnatic classical as the lower tones are missing and the range of tones is not large enough. However, below is a sample piece I've been practicing for sometime. Lots of coarse edges, breaks and improvisations in the piece, but I thorougly enjoyed learning, practicing and playing it.

The Economic Naturalist - In Search Of Explanations For Everyday Enigmas

2007-07-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus, I'm atlast back to my reading with this book (thankfully). The excuse I've been having is a lack of time :) (not that I've plenty of it now), but rather I think it can be attributed to my lethargy. I picked this book a couple of months back from a popular bookstore and here is more about it.

"Why is there a light in your refrigerator but not in your freezer? Why do drive in ATMs have braille in their keypads? Why are female models paid more than male models? Why do color photographs cost lesser than B&W ones? Why do cleaners charge more for women apparel than those of gentlemen? Why might an appliance retailer hammer dents into the sides of its stoves and refrigerators? Why do 24 hours convenience stores have locks? Why do women wear high heels? Why are child safety seats required in cars, but not in airplanes?........"

These are a few questions we may come across in our day-to-day lives and would've either wondered why they are that way or this detail wouldn't have come across our fleeting eyes. Robert Frank in this book, tries to give an economist view into answering the above questions and many more. Most of these questions are compiled from curious observers the author has interacted with. By answering these questions and publishing answers those folks had to give, the author does introduce certain concepts in economics like supply-demand, price sensitive consumers, opportunity and marginal costs, Adam Smith's invisible hand and wage differential theory among others.

Each chapter in the book deals with a certain aspect of economics. It starts off with supply and demand and moves onto the part of economics that deals with labor and wages. The author then answers questions related to discount pricing, ownership related economics and how culture has a bearing on some of these. Near the end of the book, Robert Frank delves into economics and relationships (like courtship and marriage) and concludes the book with 2 original questions that are quoted verbatim from the source.

Overall, a light read with a simplistic Q&A format. Though the intention of the book was to make these economic principles easy to understand for the layman, I've not been able to grasp all the concepts in the book and may need a second reading or additional research. Many of the answers are very interesting, insightful and eye opening. But there a few answers that are not convincing enough and could be argued against. It is an interesting read for an economic novice.

Sleep

2007-07-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

I open my eyes, hoping to see the sunshine, birds and the bees,
But instead there is darkness that brings about unease.

My vision is blinded by the depth of this darkness,
Wondering if the world lacks in its fairness?

I shout "Open the door!!!!", reaching out to my friends,
But everything just drowns in this din of silence.

Is there someone who can unlock this door?
or someone who can sear the leash to make me soar.

Fears, thoughts and ideas come to this windy mind,
But the trust I'm looking for is nowhere to find.

So sleep I should, at this moment in time,
Perhaps the dreams can scrape out this grime.

Desiderata - Something Desired as Essential

2007-06-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

One of my friends introduced me to the poem Desiderata (Latin for "Something desired as essential") by Max Ehrmann.

Simple, yet impressive.

Desiderata - Max Ehrmann

More about Max Ehrmann here and here.

Pot-Pourri: Art, Emotion, Thoughts and a Song

2007-05-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Art and Emotion go hand in hand. Emotion provides the mojo to art. Art without emotion is like a boat without a sail, a dove with clipped wings, a heart without love or an ode without essence"

Don't Hurt Me Please......

Never expecting cash or kind
Unconditional love always in mind
Still the trust fails to bind
Making the tears no longer confined

Don't hurt me please
The pain fails to cease

Our buddy term is timewise very short
Emptying all insults and retort
We can see the imminent resort
Why don't I hear the cry of exhort?

Don't hurt me please
The pain fails to cease

Tomorrow someone will take you away
Leaving behind great memories to stay
Distant well-being left to pray
When the word winds carry the spray

Don't hurt me please
The pain fails to cease

Craziness in me makes me ask
Decency veils the question with a mask
Mistrust in you seals the cask
How do we break this locked task?

Don't hurt me please
The pain fails to cease

Time and again I've tried to change
Opacity is one thing that gets me deranged
Please understand the limits of my range
Perhaps leading to a blissful exchange

Don't hurt me please
The pain fails to cease

-Sandeep

Games Indians Play: Why we are the way we are?

2007-04-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Why are we a nation that is individually so smart and collectively so naive? Why do we mistake talk for action? Why is our self-worth massaged only if we have the ‘authority’ to break rules? Why are we among the world’s most corrupt? Why do we jump red lights? Why do we dump our garbage at the neighbour’s doorstep? . . . Can it be our climate, population density, poverty, colonial past or even genetic encoding?"

It is 10:30pm and I've just finished the book, "Games Indians Play: Why we are the way we are?", by V Raghunathan, a book recommended by a friend of mine, and surprisingly my eyes replete with sleep have suddenly lost all of it and I'm eager to share this book with all of you (thanks to the last chapter, that has delivered the knockout punch to my drowsiness :-)). Any educated Indian would have encountered a subset of the above questions, if not for all of them. We all know the problems and all of us have our own opinions on how these can be solved. But the author makes it interesting by explaining situations we encounter in society by drawing analogies to Prisoner's Dilemma (PD), a game theory problem popularized by Robert Axelrod in his book "The evolution of co-operation".

He starts off by explaining 1-time PD and then moves on to iterative PD (which is more realistic in populations). The author refers to Axelrod's experiments that proved the Tit-for-Tat strategy as the best solution for the Prisoners Dilemma problem as it maximizes the gains of the individual as well as that of the population. Selfishness maximizes short term gains, but in the long run co-operation leads to maximum rewards is one of the key point the book brings out. I understand that the above terms may not make sense in the first go for many of you, but I would highly encourage you to read the book, as it is written in very simple english and is easy to comprehend. One more observation the book makes is that external regulation cannot solve the issues in hand. The solution should come from within each member of the population, either by observing others or by understanding PD and the best strategy to solve this dilemma.

The anecdotes in the book are hilarious and embarrassing at the same time. It demonstrates how hypocritical we are and how we use our intelligence to 'defect' rather than to 'co-operate'. Some anecdotes like the insurance for ticketless travel in Mumbai and the filling of customs forms in domestic flights that have international connections are particularly hilarious, though the former is very ingenious too. The author talks about our lack of self-regulation and how we ignore the "system" by changing the definition of its result rather than fixing the system. The book also touches upon free-riding, a phenomenon where some individuals try to get the rewards of an investment (effort or capital) without actually having invested in a community effort. From his experiments involving Indian and western students, the author has found out that the Indians score higher grade points for freeriding :-). The author highlights how, we as people mistake talk for action and boast about our glorious past when we actually live in a filthy present.

I don't know whether Krishna told the Gita or not, but definitely some wise person did write the Gita in its current form and most likely he/she is from India. If the Gita is perceived with some polarising filters, you can see that it gives a robust solution to PD with maximum gain for the individual and the society. How?

The Gita preaches Tit-for-Tat. Tit-for-Tat is defined as follows, "Never defect first, follow what the other party did in the previous iteration of PD". So you start of co-operating with the other party involved in the interaction till the other party defects. Now, if the other person defects, defect back in the next round. However, if the other party starts co-operating, then forgive, forget and start co-operating again. Co-operating is your dharma and defecting if the other person defects is also your Dharma. Isn't this what the Gita says?
The Gita says never expect results for your actions. In a PD scenario, the moment you start thinking about the possible actions of the interacting party you have fallen into the trap of selfishness and expectation. Co-operate no matter what, in a PD scenario and you are detached from the result. Good means always yield the best results when the amortized costs are taken, though the results may not be apparent and immediate.

We had this wisdom in us, in our wise men, in our scriptures, but there seems to be an eon where we as people have lost this wisdom. The author brings this to our notice by giving us another perspective to the essence of the Gita in his last chapter.

Overall, a good and light read that introduces you to concepts of game theory and puts light on the right mentality for a successful and happy population. The notes section below gives some of my insights after thinking and discussing some concepts with my friends. It also has some theory presented in the book and you can skip it.

Notes:

C-C and D-D are both Evolutionarily Stable Strategies. Indians mostly use D-D strategy in most PD situations. In some situations they are even know to use C-D. Since D-D is an ESS, the strategy still survives but gains are not maximized.
PD is possible if 2 conditions are satisfied, 1) Temptation points > Reward > Punishment > Sucker's payoff 2) (T+S)/2 > R
Systems can have 2 kinds of errors. 1) Type 1: An unworthy event passes through the system 2) Type 2: A worthy event fails passing through the system.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

2007-03-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

"Go to good schools, study well, get excellent grades and get a job with great benefits!!!" is the success mantra taught to every kid, especially if he/she is hailing from a middle class background. Apparently, this is not the mantra to be financially successful is what Robert Kiyosaki debates in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad". It doesn't mean that the author discourages education, rather he stresses the need for financial education in schools. The prevailing system of education is very socialistic and it is taught that becoming rich is the pastime of the greedy. We see no books in school that teach us about investment, taxes or any kind of concepts that help us manage our financial lives better in the future. This is what the author calls out in his book.

Distinguishing between assets and liabilities, building a strong asset column whose returns can payout expenses and the reasons why purchasing a house may not be the best investment all the time are some of the points the author makes in the book. My Dad used to always say that an entrepreneur spends before he pays taxes while an employee spends after paying the government. The book highlights this by showing how corporations can shield rich people from taxes and how the poor get the tax brunt. The author also lines up 10 principles to follow when it comes to money and investing, most of which are intuitive. The author compares a rich dad with a poor one (his own Dad) to bring out these ideas in the book.

Overall, a very light read that gives some insight into personal financial management. If you are looking for investing tips or financial jargon, this book is not meant for you. I was expecting this and was disappointed at the end. But, I do see the book providing enough encouragement and inspiration for an individual to manage his/her personal finances and was quite happy with this aspect. It also gives a few basic tips that could be useful to some of us. I strongly agree with the author about our education system not having enough material to prepare an individual to deal with certain aspects of life like money.

I also found this piece of criticism on the web (if you're interested).

Bhagavad Gita - A Walkthrough for Westerners

2007-02-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

Before my recent trip to India, I was frantically looking about for a good read on the long flights to and from home. A long standing desire of mine was always to explore the Bhagavad Gita. My desire was partially fulfilled, when I found the book, "The Bhagavad Gita - A Walkthrough for Westerners", by Jack Hawley, who has spent 30+ years in love with this poem. This author spends 6 months every year in India learning the scriptures and spends rest of the time providing insights and motivating employees in various organizations in the US.

About the Book: They say "You have to read the Gita through your heart" and the book enables you to do so. This book contains the full translation of the Gita with terms adapted to the modern world. The book is religion agnostic and can be read by anyone regardless of religion, caste or creed, gender and profession (including the non-God fearing person). It is more of a guide book for peaceful living rather than a religious preaching and that is most impressive of the Bhagavad Gita.

The Gita outlines ways to merge your soul with the divine through different yogas. These yogas are Bhakti yoga, Karma yoga and Jnana yoga. It never dictates you to follow a particular yoga and the seeker is free to choose his/her path. The Gita also doesn't tell you to renounce everything and become an ascetic. It rather urges you to perform all your worldly duties without expecting any fruits for your actions. The Gita also outlines the qualities of people/nature (gunas). The 3 gunas are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. To attain the merging of your soul with the divine a person has to rise from Tamas to Rajas and then to Sattva and beyond (free from nature). There are details on how to rise above these gunas in the book.

My impression: Personally, I felt it was a very light but extremely interesting read. But as most good things, application of the tenets from the Gita are hard. The Gita says that "abhyasa" or relentless practice is the only way you perfect the application of its essence. The good part is you never feel bored reading the Gita. This has urged me to get a copy of the Gita, so that I can go back to it whenever I feel the need to. Also, I'm sure that everytime I return to the Gita it is going to give me a new incremental perspective of life and duties. Such is its profoundness masked in its simplicity. The calmness in thought experienced while reading this book cannot be articulated, but has to be experienced.

"The point is not to hope for a good birth but to aim for a good death"

Krishnavatara

2006-12-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

K. M. Munshi is credited as the founder of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. But his literary work, "Krishnavatara", a seven book series on the life of Krishna, was brought to my notice by a colleague of mine. Most of the books on Krishna or the Mahabharata, portrays him as a super-human immortal who can work miracles and ensure the safety of the right by destroying the evil. However, Krishnavatara is a little different. It portrays Krishna as a clever and self-realized individual rather than as God. This work downplays his super-human aura, but still highlights his great personality. K. M. Munshi has tried to give a rational explanation for most of his miracles. By doing so, he has definitely instilled confidence and has made it easy for people to emulate Krishna's way of living.

Unfortunately, the author did not survive to complete the entire work. The 8th volume is incomplete. I have read the first book of the series called "The Magic Flute". This book covers the wedding of Devaki and Vasudeva, the birth of Krishna and his youth at Gokul and Vrindavan. The book ends with the killing of Kamsa. On the web, I found some interesting excerpts from different books of this series. The best was the excerpt on Dharma and how Krishna himself is confused about it. The link for the Dharma excerpt is given below.

What is Dharma?
" Dharma is not merely a hope. Nor speculation. Nor rituals. Nothing which is inspired by anger, greed or fear.... It is the will to shape oneself, men and situations, by rising above weaknesses. No, that was not enough; Dharma for each one is, to weld the vision, the will and the deed - they are not three but one - so that he may strive, each in his own way, to live in All - VAASUDEVA - so that All may live in him."

Chetan Bhagat

2006-12-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of years, Chetan Bhagat has come to fame as a youth writer. His novels "Five Point Someone" and "One Night at the Call Center" have been pretty popular. I got an opportunity to borrow these books and have read the latter. His writing style is ok and the comedy is a shade dark in the books. He has tried to depict the current youth culture in India in his books, though I cannot comment on the authenticity of his depiction as I have not been part of it.

The book "One Night at the Call Center" is about a bunch of call center "agents", and their struggles with life. The entire novel takes place within the start and end of a daily (nightly) shift. The book is good in patches, but these purple patches are far and few. The character sketches are commendable. The manager, "Mr. Bakshi"'s jargon is hilarious and is very apt with what happens in real life. The phone call from God is a little too unrealistic for my taste. Overall, I would say that it is a good read if you have nothing else to do and want some entertainment. Also, it helps you get a perspective about how the youth of the country are shaping up, given the current economy and nuclear families.

The message I got from the book was that the youth of India have the intelligence and the imagination to do well, but lack self-confidence and fear failure when it comes to its execution. On a corroborative note, a similar message is actually conveyed in the movie "Rang De Basanti", where Aamir Khan as DJ doesn't want to leave the comfort zone of his college as he doesn't believe that he would be treated with the same respect outside the college walls. Cannot agree more with this message........

Room to Read

2006-10-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend of mine brought to my notice the life of John Wood, a former Microsoft executive who quit his high paying job to pursue his passion of providing education in developing countries.

Here is the link to a site about his book "Leaving Microsoft To Change The World - An entrepreneur's odyssey to educate the world's children"

Here is an interview with John Wood.

Quotes:

"Fundraising is a very difficult thing. Nobody likes to be put in a position of having to ask for money. In business, you can ask for the order, because there’s a quid pro quo. So I'm gonna ask you to sign a contract, and you're gonna get a certain thing, whatever it might be, in return. Charity is quite a bit harder. Now what we try to do at Room to Read is to actually give people a very tangible idea of what we can do with the money."

"My general advice for people is life is not that long. You have one shot at this life, and where your passions lie I think are where, the direction people should take. And if they can’t afford to follow their passion, maybe they can carve out some time and work shorter hours, or find a way to incorporate their passion."

I'm getting my copy today :-)

Preface

2006-10-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

It was 5 years ago, on July 25th 2001 that I first set foot on American soil to experience the "Land of the Free", which I had only read and heard about till then. Five long years have passed since, but the memories of the days that have gone by are still quite fresh. Before the growing memory-loss and the appearing grey hair shroud these experiences and memories, I have decided to pen down these exhilarating but introspective times in a small book or memoir.

Since the late 90s, scores of (mostly) young "fresh out of college grads" from the Indian subcontinent have been making their way through the social, cultural and most importantly economic hurdles to pursue the American dream. The purpose and dream of each and every person who makes his/her way here is different and surprisingly unique. Some want to keep themselves abreast with the technological advances of the west, others want to get quality higher education, some may want to try out the western lifestyle, while others are after the purchasing power of the green bill. Some of them maybe looking for a good spouse while some others are simply bored back at home. There are still others who may come based on exodus of their peers and friends. Some of them may have many of the above reasons in their mind when they come here. Whatever the reason maybe, the common denominator that stands out is opportunity. US has become the destination for opportunity mongers of the new generation just like Mumbai was the place to migrate from a smaller place in the 60s and 70s in India.

Most of us who come here, come from semi-conservative and orthodox middle class families and financial support becomes the biggest issue. But the education system in the US with its financial support system eases the burden on the aspirants. Back home, loans are also becoming easier to get. After a Master's degree the salaries in the US are quite good and the 1:4X conversion factor provides economic liberation to many of us. Economic salvation is catalyzed by the frugal living undertaken by the folks who get here. Overall, a little confidence and backing from parents and well wishers should be good enough to catapult people across the ocean.

I plan to write the book in a autobiographical manner. There are a couple of points from where I have derived the motivation to write it. Firstly, I see the last 5 years as 1/12th of my life and one of the most important and significant fraction and personally I have seen a lot of changes in me. If I had not taken this journey and stayed back, probably I would have missed out on lots of fun. As Edith Wharton puts it "Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue". Writing about my experiences and observations may provide me an opportunity to ruminate on them to get new insights or perspectives as well. Secondly, many of my friends have provided constructive criticism about my writing skills. The feedback I have received is that my writing lacks self-expression. This piece of work would be an attempt at improving that skill and hopefully I will do good. Thirdly, I want to have loads of fun revisiting my past and having a hearty laugh at it.

-Sandeep

Stumbling on Happiness

2006-09-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

The most recent book I completed had this title. Written by Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist, this book deals with the psychology of happiness. As the author disclaims in the first few chapters, this book is not a crash course on how you can be happy for the rest of your life, rather it is a book that explores the anatomy of the phenomenon called "happiness". The book is well written and the author has an uncanny knack of keeping you glued to it (I finished reading it before "Basic Economics", the other book I've been reading). Some of the experiments referred to in the book were covered in the other book, Mindfulness, that I had read a couple of months back.

The first part of the book talks about "Prospection" or our (I speak of human beings) ability of looking and imagining about the future and the influences of prospection on happiness. Later, through a variety of examples, the author tries to explain, why the future we think and imagine is inaccurate and how parameters like context, filling in tricks played by the mind and receny lead to this deviant imagination of the future. The book becomes a little dry in the middle, as you begin to wonder as a reader, the value of the message, "The future we imagine is not the future we would live in". But don't give up, the last part of the book is interesting and the conclusions drawn by the author are worth contemplating. The carrot in the book is the revelation the author makes about an effective method of judging your happiness at a future event and how the human self tries to avoid this option. I've included some notes below. If you're interested in knowing some of the salient points the book brings to perspective, please read that section.

Overall, a good book to read, giving some interesting insights into happiness and the human mind.

Notes:

Prospection:"Human being is the only animal that thinks about the future". Other animals, do act for the future, but it is an automatic reaction to experiences in the past or to the genetic composition of the animal. Humans are the only species to have a well developed frontal lobe that aids in planning and imagination. The frontal lobe has shown clear growth over years of evolution. Loss of the frontal lobe in a human being doesn't effect any physiological actions. The penchant for "control of the future" is the incentive for the human mind to think about it. We cannot judge what would make us happy in the future.

Subjectivity:Happiness is of 3 kinds, Emotional, Moral and Judgemental. Emotional happiness is the one we're concerned about. It cannot be quantified nor described. In other words, it is subjective to the person experiencing it. Levels of happiness are different and could vary from person to person. "Experience implies participation, Awareness implies observation". When you participate in something you actually feel/experience the emotion which is a level higher than awareness that you get when observing other people.

Reality:Experience is reweaved from memory and not retrieved. As kids, we start off having a mind of realism that is slowly transformed into a mind of idealism. We start off viewing things independently (out of any context) and slowly develop the art of interpretation. Time is the most difficult thing we can imagine in our minds. So the human brain tends to give a spatial interpretation to the temporal dimension

Presentism:The brain follows a "reality first policy". It always tries to fill in the holes in the past and the future by things from reality or experience. Monotonity brings boredom, but variety doesn't give pleasure always. Variety increases pleasure in short time intervals while it decreases pleasure in slow consumption. For example, If you're given a choice of choosing your favorite dish at a restaurant on a daily basis, variety in the dish increases happiness, however if the frequency is once in a month it is better off sticking to the single favorite dish. A funny quote from the book explaining the taxonomy of monotonity: "Psychologists call it habituation, Economists term it declining marginal utility and the rest of us call it marriage" :-).

Rationalization:The human brain tends to disambiguate situations by making use of context, frequency and recency. Most of us have an Psychological Immune System that is some kind of a sadness buster defending us against sadness by either taking solace from people who are worse situations or looking at the positive side of the adverse condition or by giving us a feeling of uniqueness. Mild sufferings tend to linger longer than big ones. Action over inaction, Pain over Annoyance and Commitment over freedom are shown to provide more pleasure when the amortized cost is taken. However, the human brain tries to resist this because of its fetish for freedom.

Corrigibility:Ends are more easily remembered and they influence our actions and preferences most. For example, a very good movie with an ordinary ending may bring down our rating of that movie, but an ordinary movie with a great ending maybe judged as a better one. Using a surrogate to judge our happiness to a particular situation helps us. But alas, our mind thinks we're too unique in the world to depend on a surrogate for judgement!!!!!!!

Quote: Good Will Hunting

2006-09-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Matt Damon as Will Hunting answers why he shouldn't be joining the NSA from the movie Good Will Hunting. Quite witty and funny.

"Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president"

Mindfulness

2006-07-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

A new year resolution of mine was to kick start my reading habit and start completing books that I start reading. Finally, I've managed to start doing something about it. To keep this thing going, I've decided to blog a small gist of the book that I complete (as I understand it :-)) and possibly be of service to the limited people who read this blog with their own will or are forced to read it because of my constant nagging :-)

A couple of days back I completed a book called "Mindfulness" by Ellen Langer. This book talks about the pitfalls of routine and automatic behavior in our daily lives and also describes the various psychological experiments that were conducted to prove the benefits of mindful behavior.

The book starts off by explaining mindless behavior and some common reasons for such kind of automatic behavior. Some of the reasons discussed are,

Pre-Cognitive commitments to categories: In most of the tasks we do, we already have a number of assumptions or prejudices that influence our decisions. Our mind categorizes anything we do and these categories are rigid and are formed from our experiences.
Mindless Expertise: Expertise developed by repetition of the same task over and over again is termed "Mindless Expertise". A slight change of context may make the mindless expert fail in his/her endeavor.
Narrow Perspective: Single perspective and lack of alternative thinking could lead to mindless behavior. People are locked down on a single solution when alternatives could be viable in solving the problem probably more efficiently at times.
Focusing on the ends: Focusing on the effect, rather than the cause may actually hinder mindful thinking. Knowing the end goal but not focusing on the methods could be frustrating.
Influences of context: The context we perceive to be in plays an important role in the decisions we make. An interesting quote the authoress makes about the failure of the railroad industry in the US is that the railroad industry thought of themselves as being in the railroad business instead of being in the transportation industry.

The second half of the book deals with the experiments conducted in proving how the above points influence mindless behavior and talks about mindful thinking in aging, at work and health. The book elaborately speaks about how creating new categories, welcoming new information and focusing on process rather than on results can transform mindless thinking.

At the work place, the book talks about the importance of an "outsider" (a person who has a different perspective e.g. a target user in software development) in decision making and also how uncertain managers can influence employees to be more risk taking and successful. "Mindlessness is the application of yesterdays business solutions to todays problems" is a quote in the book that holds true for many business decisions that have led to mishaps (some in front of my own eyes. I guess you know what instance I'm talking about ;-)).

Another significant topic the book touches is decreasing prejudices by increasing discrimination. Though this looks like a contradicting statement, the book speaks about making fine grained distinctions and looking at things on a case by case basis, instead of generalizing things into categories. For example, a person with an eye impairment could be termed as a person with a handicap or a person with that particular eye impairment. The former categorization may influence us to disregard the person for any kind of activity, though the person maybe good at listening and making subtle distinctions in some other activity, say music.

Overall, a pretty good book with lots of illustrations. The first half is more interesting than the second. The book is not very heavy and is around 200 pages. I didn't find it to be a self-help book so if you are looking for shortcuts to increase mindfulness, it is not the book for you. Application of the concepts has to be self-willed. Now that is a hard thing in itself, isn't it? :-)

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-07-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Is the "truth" always bitter? Is the title of the blog a truism? This is what constituted my train of thought before going to the movie "An Inconvenient Truth", an Al Gore presentation on the phenomenon of Global Warming and its repercussions. Sad but true, truth is generally bitter and we just tend to cheat ourselves by lying, feigning or failing to believe in the truth. But we must understand that when the era of pro-crastination is over, the period of consequences does follow. This is not only true about the environment, but a good lesson to take in our daily lives too.

The facts and points made in the movie are very lucid for the layman too. The research is profound and Gore's passion for Global Warming awareness is commendable. The melting ice on the Kilimanjaro and the drying up of Lake Chad are shocking. It is sad to see lakes disappear and fertile land turn into arid zones in a matter of a couple of decades. But a very interesting point Gore makes is that all is not lost and we can still save our planet and secure our future with political will and co-operating people. Gore brings out an interesting statistic that shows that with stringent global environment standards, the ozone depletion rates have come to a near standstill. I'm neither a democrat nor a republican, but a single negative in the movie was that Gore brings his Florida ballot into the scene which seemed unnecessary politicising of the issue.

I loved some of the quotes in the movie. I've tried to collect them below :):

Mark Twain: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."
Upton Sinclair: "You can't make somebody understand something if their salary depends upon them not understanding it."
Winston Churchill: "The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequence."
Al Gore: "Political Will is a renewable resource"

Visit www.climatecrisis.net for more information on global warming and how you can help secure the future of our species. If possible, I would encourage you to see the movie too and pass on the word.

Copy-Paste: A dichotomy in 21st century programming

2006-06-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

A programmer in the 21st century is equipped with lots of tools and commands to expedite the process of software development. We even have good patterns for componentization and code reuse. But the one that stands out is the "physical" reuse of existing code using the Copy and the Paste commands. It comes in various forms like ctrl+c/ctrl+v, yy/p or ctrl+insert/shift+insert (for the purists) and is the most widely used tool I believe.

A question goes out to all the software programmers out there. When was the last time you sat down and wrote n (n > 10) lines of code thinking about each line you write, figuring out each and every parameter that goes into your API call, referring to documentation to make a judgement between the different types you can use based on their implementation and making full use of all the features your modern programming language provides? The answer could date back to your school days, probably when you wrote your first "hello world" program (hmm... I visually copied it from K&R :)). With hard deadlines and high pressure work environments meticulous programmers could be an endangered species. But is this good or bad?

The good part is that it saves a lot of time and effort, an otherwise monotonous job for the programmer. Also, there could be reduction in the errors as the source for most of this code would be either well written samples or code that has already been reviewed and tested for quality (assuming samples are well written and written code is tested properly, could be disastrous otherwise :)). Unless the applications are super-critical, a certain degree of slack doesn't cause any harm especially if they are bound to save time.

The bad part however is the lack of depth. We take things for granted without understanding the details, which could be very detrimental. We forget the specifics and could lose out in the long term. What is specific today could become fundamental tomorrow. We may even ignore some of the facilities provided by a programming language thus bringing down the utility of the language. I've run into a lot of examples and also have heard a lot about this problem from my colleagues and friends.

A good practice would be to reuse code but to understand thoroughly what it is supposed to do and why it is coded in that way. Let the 2 finger exercise continue, but the content on the clipboard must never be ignored. Ignorance may not be blissful always :-).

Cirque Du Soleil - Varekai

2006-06-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

Recently I got to see a performance by "Cirque Du Soleil", a musical circus troupe who perform across North America and Europe. It was long standing in my todo list, but I couldn't see their show at Vancouver B.C. in 2004 when they were performing there. But since May this year they've been performing here and I thought I should not miss this opportunity.

"Cirque Du Soleil" ("Circus of the sun"), is an entertainment company based in the French speaking province of Quebec in Canada. Started by 2 street performers in Montreal in 1984, the company has a variety of shows they perform at different places including the Bellagio (Las Vegas, NV) and the Walt Disney World Resort (FL). I happen to see the Varekai show here.

Varekai means "wherever" in Romany and is based on the mythical character Icarus. Icarus falls from the sky after overriding his father's words to keep away from the sun, as the wax keeping his wings together would melt if he went closer to the sun. The show doesn't have many trapeze acts, but the juggling and the pots act (by the Chinese kids) are out of the ordinary. The music and sound effects are great and is performed live, which makes the performance a notch higher. The fireflies simulation give you a tingly feeling and is done well. The comedy is ok and a little bit of French would help you enjoy the show a bit more. The supple bodies of the main artistes are a treat to watch as they gyrate and flaunt their flexibility.

The show is around a couple of hours excluding a 25 minute intermission. A must see show, though it could be perceived as expensive. But the justification is that a good seat would cost you just 4 dinners at a restaurant :-).

Until next time.....

The Last Resort

2006-02-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

A few years back, I had heard the song 'The Last Resort' by the Eagles for the first time. Ever since it had become one of my favorites. Very recently, I did get hold of the song again and was curious about what the lyrics of this song signified. The song mostly talks about how urbanization has led to the demise of the environment and how the Westward Expansion in the US has led to lasting negative ecological and social repercussions.

The significance of the song in Don Henley's (Eagles lead) own words as part of a 1987 interview,

"The Last Resort, on Hotel California, is still one of my favorite songs... That's because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence - by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment. The environment is the reason I got into politics: to try to do something about what I saw as the complete destruction of most of the resources that we have left. We have mortgaged our future for gain and greed."

Enthusiasm

2006-02-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

Cloud shrouded skies block the sun,
Parched of light are body and city,
Impedence to light when there are none,
Why have this lack of alacrity?

-Sandeep

Of Penguins and Men

2006-01-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

After borrowing the DVD from a friend, on recommendation from another, I watched the documentary "March of the Penguins" that delves into the lives of the Emperor Penguins in the heart of the Earth's largest uni-colored desert, Antarctica. If you happen to get hold of this DVD, do not miss the special feature called "Of Penguins and Men", a 53 minute documentary that gives us insight into the men behind the filming of the documentary and their experiences in the 13 month period they spent with the Emperor penguins as their "subjects". The heroes behind this one and a half hour documentary are 2 French men, Luc Jacquet and Jérôme Maison.

Luc and Jerome narrate their life-changing experiences as they watched the Emperor penguins make umpteen number of sacrifices for the survival of their species. The undeterred determination with which they've carried on for centuries fighting against extinction due to the strong and unpredictable hardships delivered by mother nature is something that has moved the filmmakers. Some of the footage from this special feature like the dotted march of a penguin army across the white are breathtaking, while others like the carcasses of a quarter of the chicks after a 3 week blizzard have a morbid silence to them.

Some of the interesting points the filmmakers narrate are their base camp description and the ship that comes with supplies once a year (their only connection with the rest of the world), their daily impatient wait for the penguins to arrive, the 6-layer of clothing they wear every morning to protect them from cold (it takes them half hour to wear them and get ready), the excitement they have when they sight the penguins for the first time, the fearlessness of the innocent penguins as they surround the crew and play with their equipment when they were shooting near the penguin colony, the blizzard with winds upto 90mph that put them out of action for a month with frostbites on their faces and fingers and their thoughts about the penguin colony when they were recuperating, the technology that helped them survive when they were lost in the blizzard, the touching sight of dead penguin chicks that couldn't survive the blizzard, the thoughts they had while having breakfast near the colony of penguins who are starving for 4 months in subzero temperatures just to ensure safety of their young ones, the marvels of icework they discovered when trailing the female penguins who were moving back to the ocean for food and the first plunge that the chicks take when they return to the ocean.

Kudos to the filmmakers for sharing their experiences and bringing to us a wealth of information about one of evolution's most determined survivors.

Boeing Factory Visit

2005-12-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

My long standing aspiration after I moved to the Northwest, was to visit the Boeing factory. Boeing has an assembly unit in Everett, WA, about 30 miles north of Seattle. A tour is conducted every hour from the new Future of Flight museum to the actual manufacturing area and back. The tour is 15 bucks per adult and lasts roughly an hour. The Boeing factory is located adjacent to the Snohomish county/Paine field airport, whose runway is leased to Boeing.

Be half hour early to the tour so that you can take a look around the future of flight building. The building has illustrations about the history of Boeing, composition changes in materials used to construct flights over the years and an insight into the future (Boeing 7E7/787). The building houses a Pratt and Whitney engine that can deliver 75k hp of power to a Boeing 777. The engine is about 10 ft in diameter. Other attractions are the tail fin of a 747 jumbo and a presentation showing its assembly process.

The tour starts with a 7 minute video that shows the assembly of a Boeing 777 aircraft from scratch. The tour guide then directs people to board a bus that takes us into the main assembly unit. Some highlights and facts from the tour:

The Everett establishment manufactures only wide bodied Boeing aircrafts (747,767,777 and 787 in future)
Each assembly shed/hangar has a tunnel for utility supplies. Special reinforcement is provided for all concrete structure so that it can bear the weight of the aircrafts.
It takes around 7 months for a Boeing 777 aircraft delivery once an order is placed.
The downpayment for a Boeing 777 is 1/3rd its value (a whooping 200 million USD is the cost)
The temperature inside the assembly sheds is around 62-70 F even in the coldest winter because of the lights and machinery on the shop floor.
At a given time 7 aircrafts of the same type can be assembled.
The assembly sheds are around 3-4 miles in perimeter. They give you some facts about it in the tour.
Factory floor workers work in 3 shifts round the clock and are paid on an hourly basis.

Co-ordinating such a huge factory floor would be a painful task and lot of credit should go to the Boeing shop floor management for maintaining sanity and ensuring six sigma quality. After the assembly sheds, the aircraft is taken to a paint hanger on the opposite side of the freeway for painting via a bridge. The aircraft is shipped across the freeway in the night so that it doesn't disrupt traffic. The bridge is reinforced to bear the weight of the aircraft. They also show some of the aircraft testing areas on the tour. After all this, the customer comes by, pays the entire amount and picks up their brand new aircraft that is ready for operation. The guide is quite affable and answers all the questions you have. The sad part is that no photography is allowed. I'm not sure if it is for security reasons or that the lights may distract the employees on the floor. However, I did find a photograph on the web.

In short, A must-go-once tour.

Men Of the Year Trivia

2005-12-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Time magazine announces the Person/idea of the year, every year to pay tribute to the most influential (good or bad) person/idea in the preceding year. As I was perusing this stuff, I got to know certain interesting things/people that/who have featured in this over the years. I've got a small question set based on these facts. Before starting off the quiz, wanted to let you know that this concept was started by Time magazine in 1927 and has continued ever since. The list features an entire gamut of people from Pope John Paul II to Adolf Hitler. Multiple people have won this honor multiple number of times (Like Joseph Stalin, President Lyndon Johnson etc.). Groups of people (like The American Woman, US Scientists, Hungarian Freedom Fighters etc.) and objects (like The endangered earth) are not new to this honor.

Here are the questions,

Who was the 1st person to win this honor in 1927? This person featured at a significantly young age of 25.
Who is the only Indian to have featured as Time's Man of the year so far?
Which was the first object that featured as Time's Man of the year (or should it be Thing of the year)? (Hint: Won in the year 1982)
In 1999, A founder and president of a popular technology firm won the Time Man of the year. Who is he?
A tangential question, Who is Time's Person of the century?

MMV - 'The Year of Dabs'

2005-12-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

Thought of posting all the things that happened to me in this eventful year :-). First of all, this year went past in a blink and was a very interesting one to say the least. There were many ups and downs. I got to learn a lot of new stuff and also face many challenges. Overall, I could call this an 'Year of Dabs'. Just to make the reader aware, this is going to be a long post, hopefully not boring.

The year started off with my dab at vedic astrology. I had some interest in astrology before, especially chart reading and got to pursue it further. The pursuit was catalyzed by the fact that I found a book in the library written by a western author (Andrew Bloomfield) on how to read charts. Some new things I learnt were the influences of planets in the opposite house, the significant influence of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter on your chart and some basic stuff about Khuja Dosha and Kalasarpa yoga.

March was when I decided to start blogging and this dab of mine turned out to be more than just a dab. I am happy that I blog on a regular basis and that this habit has gotten into a few of my friends too. As many people have felt, most of my blogs are not opiniated enough and I look forward in improving on this aspect in the years to come.

Study zone volunteering is one thing I continued to do from last year. This involves tutoring kids and providing homework help to them at a designated place in the public library. It was great fun and challenging too, to teach kids stuff in English grammar and American History (Ahem! How much of it do I know?) other than the usual Math and Science. But unfortunately, I was not able to keep up the commitment for the 05-06 school year (starting Sep'05), because of pressures on the workfront.

Late summer was when the intern I was mentoring introduced me to Irish music and gifted me with a tin whistle. As I had some experience playing the flute as a kid, it was easy to play a few notes/songs I knew. But to take it to the next level needs some work and I wish to take it up some day. I also borrowed a DVD of a Corrs show from my intern and the tracks from it were instant hits amongst my friends and me. The agility and speed with which this family band plays music is simply amazing! Staying with music, "Raghuvamsha Sudha" happens to be the song of the year as I've tried collecting and listening to various versions of the song. Also, I happened to get the full version of the Sanskrit song "Vande Vandyam", which I used to like as a kid (Thanks to a friend of mine).

Philosophical discussions during Racquet ball game breaks :-) inspired me to come up with a poem. The poem reflects the desire of an individual to break free and have goals outside the mundane responsibilities he/she is bound to do. My latest dab in the year was pencil sketching. Invested 6 bucks in getting the required pencils and a clean eraser. I want to keep improving on this and if time permits take a course or two in pencil sketching.

Travel is something I didn't do much this year. The most significant trips were a trip to the Silicon Valley (San Jose, CA) and a trip to Crater Lake in Oregon. There were trips to the Olympic National forest, but nothing to go ga-ga about. Food-wise, I got to try Korean and Mongolian cuisine for the first time and discovered my favorite chocolate drink (Chantico) this year.

Some significant events this year were that I changed jobs and roles within the same company (learnt new stuff like OLAP), only to become more busy (no regrets though). The year began with a change of residence and apartment mates (Previous one got married :-)). Mid-year saw my current apartment mate getting engaged too, only to be teased by friends that people should be moving in with me if they've got to get hooked up ;-). We had a small reunion of my undergrad friends in July. I got to mentor an intern this summer and it was great fun and good experience. Old friendships grew stronger, friends grew closer and there were plenty of new friends and acquaintances too.

Some disappointments this year were health at home, my failure to concentrate and complete books that I start reading and my failure to bring closure to a 5-year vision statement that I promised to envision by mid-year. Keeping these in mind, I wish to make some resolutions for the coming year. It would be to start completing books/tasks I take up and also bring a closure on the vision statement. Passion levels at work would also need to be increased in the coming year.

Phew! It has been a long posting about the dreadful and immodest 'ME'. In the end, hoping to have an exciting and healthy year to come and wishing the same to all the folks out there.

Until Next time....

Sketching - Krishna

2005-11-25T17:58:00.000-08:00

Daylight Savings Time

2005-11-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

Ever since I moved to the US, I was unable to understand the rationale behind moving clocks back and forth twice a year to go in and out of Daylight Savings Time (more affectionately known as DST :-)). I've discussed this with a lot of friends and acquaintances, but none of them could give me a convincing answer. The answers I got were mostly around energy conservation and school timings, but none could explain to me how moving the clock affected these parameters. So my independent research has led to some findings to make understanding of DST easier ;-).

Basics:

DST is applicable only during summer time. During late fall and winter the time we follow is the actual time for that place.
If people believe that DST is going to save energy, this saving is only during summer. By coming out of DST there is no saving of energy during winter. So don't look to apply logic to the reasons cited for the usefulness of DST in winter, it won't work.

What is DST?:

DST is nothing but moving your clock one hour ahead of time to get longer daylight hours during spring/summer.

Rationale behind DST:

Energy conservation: The pattern for energy consumption in homes, in the form of electricity depends on the times people go to bed and also the time till when sunlight is available. Apparently, people go to bed at nearly the same time year round. So by moving end of daylight near bedtime, theoretically there is a conservation of energy.
More outdoor hours: People get to spend more time outdoors as it gets dark pretty late
Prevention of accidents and crime: More daylight would mean less crimes and accidents.

Apparently, the Dept. Of Transportation has found most of these to be true and that is the reason why most states in the US follow this.

Criticism for DST:

DST disrupts sleep patterns. (I agree completely and despise DST whole-heartedly for this :-)). Apparently there are spikes in auto accidents during periods where we switch back and forth from DST
In the modern world, people use air-conditioning especially in hot places, which in fact leads to usage of more energy because of extended day-light. Arizona is a state that doesn't follow DST for this reason.
The parsimonious folks argue that DST provides more outdoor time which would mean more spending :-).

Personally, I am not a fan of DST and in the modern day, where energy in the form of lighting is used to light up offices regardless of the time of the day, the energy conserved because of DST may not be significant. I would be happy if they do some research to get more daylight during winter especially in the Northwest :-).

P.S.: People argue that Benjamin Franklin was the one who introduced DST. But, he was just suggesting people to go to bed early and be early to rise :-)

A Life Less Common

2005-11-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

On this journey of life,
Where experiences are too rife,
Looking for a moment to summon,
To make this life less common

A design justifying existence,
And purpose in near distance,
Inhibitions becoming uncommon,
Making this life less common

A sojourn without desertion,
A task brought to completion,
Love and courage to summon,
To make this life less common.

And when the end is near,
Looking back makes it clear,
All the actions uncommon,
Have made this life less common.

-Sandeep

India: Why not software product development?

2005-10-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

Recently, MSR opened its first research center on Indian soil in Bangalore (Scientia). Craig Mundie, CTO and Senior Vice-President of Microsoft Corporation who was present on the occasion said that, India, though a software leader in the services sector had still a long way to go in product development and innovation. A few tabloids were accused of misquoting him to be saying that Indian engineers are "theoretical" and lack the imagination for innovation.

I agree with Craig when he says that the Indian engineering curriculum should be made more product development oriented with emphasis on business related aspects of technology. But that alone is not going to solve the problem. I've tried to analyze and enumerate a few reasons on how we can change the trend. It may not be comprehensive but it is just a start.

Every year India produces thousands of computer science engineers from undergraduate institutions across the country. The quality of education in these institutions is decent and a lot of breadth topics are covered. But the topics covered are quite obsolete (atleast 5 years behind the US). I agree that the fundamentals cannot get obsolete and should be preserved in the curriculum, but there are so many other courses that could be ramped up and made current. Most universities don't change their curriculum for 10 years or so, which is not the way to go in rapidly changing fields like computer science and IT. Universities have to keep their curriculum up-to-date every couple of years. The effort is on, as we see a lot of Universities trying to become autonomous so that they can have control on the curriculum rather than stick to the curriculum dictated by the government. Courses that are fundamental in nature must be accompanied by well equipped hands on labs. It makes a huge difference in understanding when a fundamental concept is taught with the demo of the concept. There are labs accompanying courses but most of them are not well maintained and current. Successful companies should be encouraged to collaborate with universities. The collaboration could be monetary, funding for infrastructure or training for students like internships and co-ops. This is being practiced to a certain extent but needs to be increased.

Graduate studies within the country should be supported, encouraged and made financially more attractive. We see thousands of people leave the country to get higher education in a foreign land. The reason being that grad studies within the country doesn't make them financially independent for around 5 years or promise them of a very bright future worthy of investing five years in it. More funding has to go to higher education within the country. Native universities must collaborate and join the network of foreign universities. There are certain institutes like IISc that have considerable collaboration with foreign universities, but the numbers must increase. Collaboration would bring in awareness of what is happening elsewhere and bring students closer to the bleeding edge.

Cost of development tools and products from the industry must be subsidised to the student community. The cost of education in India are quite low compared to costs elsewhere and there is always a reluctance among students (and parents as most students don't fund their education till they finish college) to invest on software that costs more than their tuition expenses. A public college (funded by the government) would have tuition fees of around 50-100$ a semester, while Visual Studio itself would cost a whooping $600. Open source software is very popular among students because of these reasons. Even piracy is heavily prevalent in the student community. The general attitude is not to spend money on something that is intangible, like software. The business model of how a software product sells is less known. Most of the budding product development aspirers in the country have a small investment to start with and developing platforms or complex applications is not an option. The best way to go would be to offer software as services (web-based) or as the current trend goes opening a BPO or a services company.

Socially, technology is slowly seeping into the day-to-day life of people. Moms and Dads nowadays are becoming well versed in basic software skills, like document editing, e-mail and browsing the Internet. Broadband is becoming a part of every home and office. The world is becoming well networked. This should encourage entrepreneurs who believe in "software as a service" paradigm. As technology percolates among the society it becomes encouraging for indigeneous entrepreneurs to tap these markets. 1/6th of the world's population is in countries like India and China and this market is nearly untouched. We see software giants establishing research centers in these countries to harness intelligence and deliver products for these markets. I think the focus should be on product development for this huge market base in South and South-East Asia, rather than the markets of the west as it is now. There are a few ventures that have tried to do such a thing, but the numbers must again increase. For example, The "Simputer" was developed at IISc, that provided a low-cost reasonably high end computing device. Infosys has an accounting package "Finacle" that is widely used in banks across South Asia and seems to be doing well.

When I was in India last time around, I had gone to a seminar where Microsoft's Small Business Server was being evangelized for Small and Medium scale businesses. The number 1 grievance by the customer (proprieters and MDs of small scale industries) was the lack of support for the software that was developed by local product development teams. The common complaint was that support developers who deploy the system within their company find better jobs in the service industry within days because of the booming job market. It is not enough to develop the product but the industry must not lose focus on its sustenence.

India has the potential for software product development, but it would need the right focus from the industry, the right policies from the government and the right mindset in the society. Signing off till next time.

The Concept Of Insourcing

2005-10-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

I had watched a webcast of Tom Friedman's talk on Globalization (Pulitzer prize winning author and an international affairs columnist for the New York Times) and heard of a concept called insourcing (new to me). One of my friend's blog has the details of this talk if you're interested. But my research gave me different flavors or definitions for insourcing.

Variant #1 (Friedman's definition)- Sub contracting:
According to Friedman, many big corporations, sub-contract their internal logistics to companies like UPS, this he terms as insourcing. The favorite example he quotes is the one where a person buys a Toshiba laptop and finds it broken, the warranty instructions tells him to go to an UPS station and package it back. The laptop leaves the local UPS station and goes straight to the Louisville Aiport in Kentucky where a person wearing funny brown shorts (an UPS employee) repairs the laptop for you in a clean room within the airport hanger. Toshiba employees do not even sniff the laptop that they sold, because all the support operations are "insourced" to UPS. The same is the case with Ford Motor company where the companies internal logistics are insourced to UPS. Nike does the same thing too for their online shopping section. Placing an order with www.nike.com, dispatches the order to an UPS employee who picks up the shoes, packages it for you and delivers it at your doorstep. Similarly, your favorite Papa John's pizza truck is driven by a person in funny brown shorts whose colleague usually drives a brown truck. So insourcing is sub-contracting an internal production step or process to an external entity who specializes in the process.

Variant #2 - Harnessing "foreign" intelligence:
An article I found on the web talks about this second variant of insourcing. According to this definition, a company that opens overseas operation is supposed to be insourcing if it doesn't open the center for cost efficacy, but for harnessing diversified intellect from the foreign land. We have seen this trend in the recent past where companies like Google and Microsoft have opened research divisions in India and China, where there is no dearth for research talent. Lot of research funding goes into these centers and they are not treated as second-class centers anymore because of the potential markets these countries could offer in the near future.

Variant #3- Antonym of outsourcing:
Outsourcing can be defined as the migration of the parent company's jobs to a foreign company that fulfils the job requirements offshore and generally does that at a lower cost. Insourcing, according to this definition, is the development of new jobs in the native land because of acquisitions or new ventures by foreign companies in the native land. The proponents of this form of insourcing argue that the number of jobs in the native land increases because of this. In fact, this is an ongoing debate in the US with Diamler's acquisition of Chrysler and is used in the defense of outsourcing where jobs are lost to a foreign land. But there is always apprehension of colonization especially when basic necessities (like utilities) or infrastructure development is insourced or the foreign company takes interest in the political situation of a country. This kind of insourcing was how colonization was started before the 19th century. If we take India as an example, The East India Company is nothing but an insourced company.

Who is Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar?

2005-09-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Every year the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), an organization in India to facilitate scientific and industrial R&D, awards talented scientists and industrial researchers a sum of Rs 200,000 for outstanding contributions in the field of science and technology. This award is called the Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award. This year (2005) 21 scientists were awarded with this prize. As kids we've heard and learnt about the lives of scientists like Sir C. V. Raman and Dr. J. C. Bose. But I was curious to know who Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar was and what his contributions to Indian scientific and industrial development were?

In the pre-independence era, A British petroleum company was drilling for oil near Rawalpindi (currently in Pakistan), when they saw that the salt water combined with the soil to become a very hard, tough to drill, mass. The company had hit a dead end as no solution seemed to work. At this time, a learned young man rose to the occasion. He did some research on emulsions in the Punjab University Lab and proposed a solution that would get rid of the problem. The solution did work and the oil company folks were delighted. They decided to award this individual a sum of Rs 150,000 (A huge sum those days). But the young man refused to take the sum and requested the company to donate it to the Punjab University so that they could open a department of petroleum research in the university. This young man was none other than Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar.

Born Feb 21st, 1894, Dr. S S Bhatnagar was a talented young lad who excelled in all spheres of life. He had developed an interest in science and engineering too as his maternal grandfather was a popular engineer then. Dr. Bhatnagar completed his D.Sc. from London University. His area of research was industrial chemistry. His work on magnetism as a tool to research chemical reactions is also quite well known. The Bhatnagar-Mathur interference balance (designed in collaboration with physicist R. N. Mathur) is a popular contribution of Dr. Bhatnagar in this field.

When WWII broke out, Dr. Bhatnagar was made the director of an organization whose mission was to utilize scientific research conducted in research labs to develop better products or processes in the industry. Dr. Bhatnagar's dream was to evangelize and bring scientific research to the industry and this provided the perfect opportunity for him. During this effort, he was responsible for bringing in concepts like odorless wax, kerosene refining to increase flame height and waste utilization from the petroleum industry. He was elected the Fellow of the Royal Society in 1943. Post independence, Dr. Bhatnagar was responsible for developing oil refineries, installing metal manufacturing plants and surveying for minerals and petroleum deposits. When Dr. Bhatnagar died on Jan 1 1955, he had established around 12 national labs to encourage young scientific talent in the country and reduce the brain drain.

Top Professions - 2005

2005-09-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Other day a friend of mine and I were discussing our dream careers. This prompted me to do some research to find out the top jobs/professions. From the discussion it was clear that the top things people look for in their profession are (not necessarily in that order),

Passion for the job and it's impact
Challenges and opportunities for innovation/creativity
Financial stability and growth

Again the composition of the above reasons in the definition of a perfect job may differ from person to person. Some people may define a job with lesser challenges but larger impact as a dream job while others may disagree with it. But the underlying pattern here is "change". A perfect job has to have those subtle changes and new challenges that would keep the individual motivated.

I found this article on the web that gave the top 25 professions for 2005. The top jobs are ranked based on demand, salary, innovation and investment in education. It turns out that the top profession is the one of a personal financial advisor. Suprisingly, though there were many medical related professions listed, there was no mention of a surgeon or a physician on the list. Software Engineers turn out to be 3rd in the list. Lawyers, actors and even chiropractors :) make it to the top 25.

Trivia Fun

2005-08-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

When topics to blog run out, it is time to come up with some innovative stuff to blog :-). Since most of my friends are curious and smart, I thought I would mine some trivia about personalities and post a trivia quiz. As a first go at this, I am posting 5 questions. All you need to do is to identify the personality without taking help from any of the popular search engines :P. Post your answers as comments, the right answers would be posted in a week.

So here we go,

1) An easy one for all the filmi folks out there. Sujata being her real name, this nightingale can be arguably called as the queen of indi-pop culture. She is also known to have lent her voice to umpteen number of hit numbers. Her debut private album was Jadoo that was released as early as 1985 and her debut movie as a playback singer was Tarzan. She is also known to have sued Magnasound over a royalty issue on one of her albums. Who is she?

2) This controversial cricketer was probably one of the greatest of his times. Known for his big hitting, he currently resides in Somerset and is actively involved in supporting leukemia foundations across the globe. His Aussie-bashing exploits include, branding Aussie spectators at the MCG as criminals to complaining about Aussie beds as too tiny for him. Currently, a commentator, his son is known to have made it quite big in Rugby. His autobiography, "Don't tell Cath" is a book about his off the field misadventures. Who is he?

3) Born on August 17th 1944, this millionaire started his career at Ampex Corp. Inspired by a paper from Edgar Codd, he setup his own company in 1977 called "Software Development Laboratory" that was later renamed as "Relational Inc.". Married to novelist Melanie Craft, he is known to have won the disastrous Sydney-Hobart yatch race on his boat "Sayanora" and later given up on ocean racing. His estate is in Woodside, CA. Who is he?

4) Born on April 23rd in Warwickshire and married to Anna Hathaway, this person is known as a popular poet too. He has a rare symmetry to his life as his birthday and the day he died are the same. A father of 3 children, he was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Legend has it that lot of his work is buried with him in his tomb. The epitaph on his tomb reads as,
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
But cursed be he that moves my bones.
Who is he?

5) Born to an ardent fan of Benito Mussolini at Orbassano, her real name is Antonio Maino. She met her future husband when doing an English course at Cambridge, England and got married to him in 1968. She was then working in a Greek restaurant. She has written 2 books on her husband and has also edited books like 'Freedom's Daughter' and 'Two Alone, Two Together' . A mother of 2 children, she rose to fame and nearly became the head of state. Who is she?

Answers next week... Till then.... :-)

You live, You learn!!!!

2005-08-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

You live, you learn, you love, you learn,
You cry, you learn, you lose, you learn!
You bleed, you learn, you scream, you learn.
You grieve, you learn, you choke, you learn,
You laugh, you learn, you lose, you learn!
You pray, you learn, you ask, you learn.
-Alanis Morisette

Experience they say is a harsh teacher as she gives the exam first, before giving the lesson. But is the retention of the lesson learnt from experience higher than that learnt from a teacher or from other's experiences? Perhaps yes.

In a recent interview on television, I saw Arundhati Roy (Booker prize winner for "The God of small things") speak eloquently on a plethora of topics ranging from US invasion of Iraq to the Narmada dam project in India, freely expressing her opinion with passion and emotion. She was talking about her new book consisting of a set of her interviews between 2001 and 2003 (The cheque book and the cruise missile). After the programme, I wanted to see how exceedingly well educated Ms Roy is to speak with authority on these subjects and write books of world appeal. It turns out that she is not a graduate from Harvard nor a double doctorate from a prestigious university. At the age of 16, Ms Roy left her hometown in Kerala only to live in a tin roof hut within the walls of the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi before getting a degree in architectural art. Where does she get such abundance of knowledge from then? Personally, I feel she has gone through the "been there and done that" school and that has enriched her persona.

But does that mean that education or a teacher is not useful or necessary? No, Teachers and education are a must. I feel education is nothing but a tool that helps us extract learning from our experiences. A good teacher should be the one who shows us how to use this tool. They say that whenever you lose never lose the lesson. The lesson is lost if education is not applied to the loss.

'Want to Read' Collection

2005-07-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, the Redmond library gave me a Border's bookstore coupon as a sign of gratitude for the Study Zone volunteering I did last academic year. Ever since I got the coupon I have been looking for non-fiction bestsellers with focus on economics, law or general fun read. Now that I have shortlisted a set of books, I would like to share it up here :-) . My only wish is that I get time to read most of these books. I know that time is an excuse, but if only I had more time ;-). Nevertheless, hopefully this posting would help others choose a book to read. Please feel free to post other interesting reads.

The Tipping Point - How little things can make a big difference (Malcolm Gladwell)
A four star rating from Amazon.com, this book brings out the epidemic like pattern in idea, product, message and behavior propagation. Gladwell's thesis claims that the above traits spread just as viruses do. Gladwell also illustrates how behaviors started by small sections of society ripple outward until a critical mass is reached (The tipping point), beyond which there is a dramatic change in the behavior of the entire community. This 304 page book examines phenomena such as drop in violent crime in NY, rebirth of Hush Puppies, teenage suicide patterns and other mass behavioral incidents. A favorite among most readers, some readers feel that there is not enough corroborative evidence for the claims made in the book. Anyway, this book was one of the bestsellers last year.

Blink- The power of thinking without thinking (Malcolm Gladwell)
In this book, Gladwell illustrates the power of decisions taken in a jiffy or in a blink of an eye. A three-and-a-half star on Amazon.com, the book based on psychology and behavior patterns, campaigns for rapid cognition. Gladwell also includes caveats and case studies where rapid cognition had failed and planned thinking would have been probably more successful. The general opinion among readers is that it is a good book, though some are not very happy about the neurological accuracy and others are paranoid about the consequences of 'blink' thinking.

Freakonomics- A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner)
Levitt being an economist himself doesn't speak about finance or economics per se, but tries to explain certain things in day-to-day life that don't seem so apparent. A 4-star from Amazon.com, this 256 page book covers topics like the McDonalds-like organization structure of drug peddlers, the steep fall in crime rate across the 90s, baby naming patterns etc. As with "The Tipping Point", some readers have challenged the evidence behind the claims made in the book. One of my friends who has read this book was telling me that each chapter is discrete and this discontinuity helps you choose the topics you want to read about. This gives you the flexibility to skip chapters you are not interested in. The general opinion is that this book is a pleasurable read about "nothing".

The World is Flat - A brief history of the 21st Century (Thomas Friedman)
Another 4-star from Amazon.com, Friedman talks about globalization and a flat, connected and small world in this book. Friedman covers topics like the reason behind terrorism, how Internet technologies have shrunk the world, offshoring, end of the Berlin wall among other modern day topics. He also talks about the change in attitude required by people to cope up with a flat world. The book draws quite good reviews, but is controversial among people who are not open to globalization. The book may not be interesting to people who have read NY times articles or seen TV shows by Friedman as it may not have anything more to offer than what they already know.

The Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins)
A four and a half star on Amazon.com, this book gives a perspective on gene evolution. Though a book on biology, reviews say that it is very easy for a layman to follow and understand all the biological phenomena that is explained there. Dawkins tries to relate complex social behavior among animals to gene reproduction thus providing a plausible explanation behind biological complexity. Written in the 1970s, this book still maintains a very high rating among readers. Some reviews did tell me that this book may not be for readers with conservative and fundamentalist psyche. Dawkins explains the phenomenon of natural selection in a game theory style, that would be appealing to my geeky AI friends out there :-).

A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
A book giving the common man a historical perspective into scientific development, Bryson tries to cover topics from quarks to galaxies. Bryson tries not only to explain what we know, but also tells us how we know it. A four and a half star on Amazon.com, this book is a favorite among most readers. Some readers feel that the book drags on and is more on scientist personalities rather than on science itself.

Other recommendations have been books by Paul Krugman. He writes books on international trade and economics. I have got recommendations that his writing style is very simplistic and his explanation of complex economic jargon can be easily construed by novices too.
Some of his books are,
Pop Internationalism (Paul Krugman)
The age of diminished expectations (Paul Krugman)

I would be adding a couple of books to my collection from the above list. The books would depend on budget and my interest, though I am leaning towards "The tipping point" and "Freakonomics". Will be back with reviews after reading the books. Until then.....

Happy Reading!!!!!!

Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim

2005-06-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

The national geographic channel has a programme "Air Crash Investigation" that recaps and investigates air disasters and other mishaps. I happened to see the one regarding an Airbus A330 AirTransat north atlantic crossing that had to make an emergency landing in the Azores islands, Portugal. This episode was titled "Flying on Empty". The ultra-modern fly-by-wire Airtransat Airbus A-330 flight 236 with 306 passengers on board departed Toronto, Canada enroute to Lisbon, Portugal at around 8pm in August 2001. The first half of the journey was incident free. Trouble began then, when the co-pilot noticed some oil pressure problems on his panel and also saw fuel imbalance between the two fuel tanks supplying fuel to the engines on the left and right wings. Going through the Airbus manual, the pilots took a decision to open up the cross-feed valve that balances fuel between the tanks. The oil pressure and fuel imbalance problem was because of a fuel leak in the right wing and the balancing of fuel meant that fuel from the left wing was also wasted on leaking right wing. Soon the aircraft was flying with the engines shut off because of empty fuel tanks. The problem with high-tech fly-by-wire mechanisms is that controlling the aircraft requires power and and without engines the electrical generators on board don't function. Airbus aircrafts do have emergency ram air turbines to supply power but the supply doesn't include the main flaps and the brakes. Luckily for everyone aboard this flight the Azores islands were within gliding range for the aircraft to attempt a landing. Though the landing was not smooth, there were no fatalities except for 10 injured passengers. Investigations pointed out that AirTransat engineers had replaced a faulty bracket on the right wing that had seared off the supply pipe to the right engine thus dumping 37000 gallons of aviation fuel into the Atlantic Ocean.

This put a question in my mind. What would have happened if the Azores Islands were not within landing distance of the aircraft? Would it mean that all 306 passengers would meet a watery grave? Were there any regulations by Aviation authorities to ensure safe flying? My curiosity led to the term ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards) or jokingly called "Engines turn or passengers swim". Historically, aircrafts had piston based engines that were not very reliable. The FAA introduced regulations that restricted twin engined aircrafts to stay within 60 minutes flying time to a nearest airport to handle engine failure emergencies. The distance from an airport corresponding to the 60 minutes flying time may vary depending on the speed of the aircraft with one engine inoperative. But this meant that crossing the Atlantic would take longer and weather at airports in the flight path became critical for deciding the trans-atlantic crossing.
But the development and deployment of the turbine engine (jet engine) changed the equation. These engines not only provided more thrust but also were much more reliable than the piston based ones. The 3 engined Boeing 727 was the first aircraft that was waived the 60 minute rule when flying across oceans. This led to the development of tri-engine aircrafts such as the Lockheed TriStar and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The Boeing 747 was also one of the effects of relaxing the 60-minute rule for aircrafts propelled by more than 2 engines. However, outside the US the diversion time was 90-minutes and Airbus had come up with the Airbus A300, a twin engine wide body airliner that was smaller than the DC-10 and the Tristar, but at the same time was very efficient and cheaper to operate. The A300 also showed amazingly low failure rates for a twin-engine aircraft and was quite a big success outside the US. The response to the A300 from Boeing were the 757s and the 767s.

The success and superior technical design of these twin-engine aircrafts (A300, Boeing 757 and 767) and the active lobbying from the aircraft industry prompted the FAA to introduce ETOPS. The initial version of ETOPS allowed properly designed twin-engine aircrafts a diversion time of 120 minutes and was called ETOPS-120. Soon ETOPS-180 was introduced that certified aircrafts to have a 180-minute diversion time after subjecting them to stringent technical tests. Many twin-engined aircrafts like the A300, A310, A320, A330 series from Airbus and some 737s, 757s and 767s from Boeing were ETOPS certified. ETOPS-180 allowed 95% of the earth's surface to be covered by these flights. The introduction of ETOPS meant that production of tri-engined aircrafts (DC-10 and Tristar) were abandoned and production of 4 engined aircrafts like the 747s were scaled down. The JAA (Joint Aviation Authority) and the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) adopted ETOPS for flights across the globe. To accomodate for bad weather conditions and volcanic activities in diversion airports (snow in Greenland or volcanoes in the Aleutians), a 15% extension was provided to the ETOPS-180 and ETOPS-120 regulations, introducing ETOPS-138 and ETOPS-207. The Boeing 777 is the only aircraft allowed to operate under ETOPS-207, if and only if the diversion airports are closed because of adverse operating conditions.

Private Jets are exempted from ETOPS within the FAAs jurisdiction, but they are subjected to ETOPS-120 in JAAs jurisdiction. In the southern hemisphere, twin jets are still off-limits on several routes because of ETOPS regulations. I found this ETOPS FAQ which could be of interest to the readers of this blog.

Tires Tires everywhere, not a single one to race

2005-06-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

After 5 successive successful years of F1 Grand Prix racing in the US, yesterdays GP at the Indianapolis circuit turned out to be a farce for the ardent F1 fan. As most of the media is screaming out, yesterday could be marked as a black day in the history of F1 racing.

Background: The FIA has allowed a couple of tire manufacturers to provide racing tires for the cars that compete in F1 racing. These high tech tires have different specs and compounds depending on the race track, the weather conditions and other countless number of parameters. Michelin and Bridgestone are the 2 rival tire manufacturers in F1 racing currently. Michelin partners with 7 teams, 2 of the teams (Renault and McLaren) leading the constructors championship points tally in this season. Bridgestone collaborates with the other "top" team i.e. Ferrari.

The new regulations, enforces teams to use a certain set of tires for the entire racing weekend. Teams are not supposed to change tires or bring in new tires other than the designated set during the course of the entire racing weekend (qualifier and the race). If teams change tires, they would be penalized. However there are exceptions to this rule. A team can change tires if any tire is punctured or it is beyond race use (highly ambiguous :)). Teams can also change from slicks to wet weather tires depending on the weather conditions.

The race weekend at the Indianapolis racing circuit did not begin as expected. Friday practice saw Ralf Schumacher in his Toyota crash out at Turn 13 by hitting the wall before the start-finish straight. This is his second accident in consecutive years at the same turning. He withdrew from the race after the accident relinquishing his position to team member Ricardo Zonta who faced a similar plight on the turn. The reason for these accidents were not clear and Michelin tire samples were flown to France (Michelin headquarters)

The Problem: Michelin engineers analyzed the samples from the friday accidents and put forward a statement on Saturday apologizing that the tires supplied to the teams would not last the race distance for the Michelin runners (70% of the racing cars). Michelin and the racing teams met to decide on the possible mitigation strategies for this problem and put forth the following proposals in front of the governing body.

Airlift fresh set of tires from France the would be safer to race
Reduce the speed on Turn 13 by introducing a chicane there

The FIA verdict: The FIA ruled out option 1. Once the rules have been set, they cannot be bent to accommodate a technical defect. This would be unfair for the Bridgestone teams who have done well to get all the technicality figured out right. The FIA rules would also lose respect as teams could exploit similar situations in the future and the FIA would be obliged to provide exceptions in those circumstances. The FIA ruled out option 2 too. The regulations set by the FIA doesn't allow tracks to be modified once practice and qualifying is done. Further if a chicane is introduced on turn 13 was there enough time to do a safety analysis of that part of the circuit? There are rumors that 9 out of the 10 teams agreed for this proposal, but the proposal was rejected by the Ferrari team as they felt that their car could handle turn 13 well and it would be unfair for them, if a chicane was introduced. There are also reports that the proposal was accepted by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, but was vetoed by Max Mosley, president of the FIA. It is a well known secret that F1 racing is basically divided into 2 groups, 1) the 7 Michelin teams (that plan to break away in 2008) and 2) Bernie, Max and the Ferraris.

The FIA made a proposal to the Michelin teams that they should regulate the speed at turn 13 for all their cars or change tires frequently during the race incurring a penalty for each tire change.

Michelin and their teams stand: The 7 teams collaborating with Michelin rejected the FIA proposal. When a driver is racing, the team management cannot control the racing instincts of a driver at a particular turn and ask him to go slowly. It would also be an unfair advantage for the Bridgestone runners if the Michelin cars were going slowly in that turn. Citing both driver safety and competitive advantage for opposition, all Michelin runners decided to boycott the race after the formation lap unless their proposal of introducing a chicane was accepted. This standoff led to only 6 cars racing on the circuit to the disappointment of all the fans who had gathered there.

The Result: A disappointed and irate crowd started pelting water bottles and beer cans as the Ferraris made mockery of the Jordans and Minardis to finish one-two. Many F1 fans left the circuit moments after the red lights went off. There were demands for ticket refunds. Michelin, FIA and the teams were booed for their respective decisions. There was no victory celebrations on the podium except for Montiero and the Jordan team.

Montiero's Jordan finished 3rd much to the delight of the Portuguese driver and the Jordan team. I was very disappointed with Narain's performance though he ended up in the points (How he did that is a no-brainer :)).

My Opinion: I think Michelin should take most of the blame for the fiasco. I am quite happy that the FIA didn't bend any of their rules. Having said that they should look into revising their regulations by making it a little less rigid. I have heard that there are plans of enforcing a single tire manufacturer for F1. After this incident, I am sure Michelin wouldn't be the obvious choice. Whether it is the right solution, I am not sure.

I see the predicament of the teams in boycotting the race. The team management is morally bound in protecting the safety of its drivers against hazardous conditions and giving them the best equipment to compete. Once Michelin came up with a statement that their tires were not safe to race on, the team managers were obligated not to run the cars. Whatever said and done, the F1 fan is the one who is going to be bitterly disappointed. I know people who have traveled from far off place to view the race, only to see a six car- one sided race. Their loss cannot be compensated.

The Winners:

Champ car and other US racing events. The popularity of F1 would definitely decline in the US. There are rumors that F1 would move out of US once the Indy contract ends. There is also news that the F1 tickets can be used by racing fans to attend a Champ car event, which would improve its popularity in the country.
Bridgestone. The Bridgestone tire manufacturer is going to benefit from Michelin's debacle. If the FIA plans to have a single tire manufacturer for F1, Bridgestone is going to be the frontrunner
Ferrari. The former world champion team is already on par with the 2nd place McLaren team this season with Michael Schumacher close on Kimi's heels after yesterday's race. This means that they now have a realistic chance of defending their world championship title. They have got a foot in the door. Will they be able to take advantage of this? Time will tell.
Minardis and Jordans. The back markers for F1 got their chance to be among the points and also on the podium :). Another fact is that both the Minardis and Jordans are now ahead of BAR Honda (0 points), a front runner team.

The Losers:

The F1 fan: Millions of fans worldwide, were disappointed with yesterday's race. I even heard reports that TV channels stopped broadcasting the race once they saw that only 6 cars were competing. Most of the fans who actually came to watch the race would have spent hundreds of dollars to get a glimpse of their favorite teams and drivers.
F1 Sport: Already there are reports that US would not be a racing circuit in the next season because of the losses people have incurred. Globalization of this sport would take a big hit after this incident.
Michelin: Since yesterday, Michelin stocks have already taken a dip. Lot of damage control needs to be done by this tire manufacturer. Michelin has already apologized for the technical problem, but feel justified that the Michelin runners didn't take part in the race. Michelin has argued that they have been honest and open in letting the teams know of their defects and in keeping the safety of the drivers their primary goal. An accident would probably have them entangled in a expensive law suit in an US court that would cost more than the losses they have incurred by not letting their cars race.
Michelin Runners: The 7 Michelin teams not only lost their points and advantage in the world championship, but also they may have to shell out huge amounts of compensation along with Michelin to the angry American fans depending on how things turn out. Advertising is an important revenue generator for F1 teams and after Sunday's debacle, the teams may have to pay back the ad amount they had taken for the race. The net loss for the Michelin teams could be in the order of millions of USDs

Fictitious and Affluent

2005-05-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

In the recent past, I have been trying to find out the richest sportsperson alive on this planet. As my research progressed, I came across this Forbes survey that listed the richest fictitious characters to be created on earth. I felt that this deserves a post, as a tribute to creativity of the people behind these characters. Note that Forbes includes only those characters that have made their appearance in a narrative story or a video game. Barbie (Miss Barbara Millicent Roberts), GI Joe and Hello Kitty don't make it in the list as they are mere toys or mascots. Earnings were based on merchandise/toy sales, DVD/media sales, book sales and even rental fees.

Here is the top 10 list for 2004,

10) Pikachu - Pokemon $825m
9) Wolverine - X-Men $900m
8) Spiderman - $1.3b
7) SpongeBob Squarepants - $1.5b
6) Yu-Gi-Oh - $1.6b (A Japanese cartoon character)
5) Nemo - Finding Nemo $2b
4) Harry Potter - $2.8b
3) Frodo Baggins - Lord of the Rings $2.9b
2) Winnie the Pooh - $5.6b
1) Mickey Mouse - $5.8b

The dominance of Mickey Mouse is very clear here. Mickey Mouse has been very consistent in earning money, though it is one of the oldest characters created in the list (as old as 1928). Some near-misses were The Simpsons and Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story).

Back again to research the richest sportsmen on earth. Till then.....

Inspiration behind 'Swades'

2005-05-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

After viewing the Bollywood blockbuster movie 'Swades', about a NASA engineer who searches for his roots in his homeland, I was curious to find out the sources that inspired this movie. In the movie's credits, the director quotes that this movie was based on a book by Mahatma Gandhi (I don't remember the name now). I have also heard that Swades is based on some real life stories of some US-based Indian engineers who return to India and try to change things at the grass root level. My web research gave me some other results though. This movie seems to be based on a novel by Dr. Shivaram Karanth ( a Jnanapeet award winner for his novel 'Mookajjiya kanasugalu' (Dreams of a mute grandmom)). The novel on which the movie is based on is 'Chigurida Kanasu' (A Sprouted Dream). The novel is set in the 1960s in India, where a person working in Delhi comes to his native village in the scenic South Kanara district of coastal Karnataka to meet his grandmom's sister who lives there. He ends up getting attached to the place and the people. In fact, he even constructs a dam and generates electricity with the help of the locals residing in the village. In 2003, the Kannada director Nagabharana made this novel into a movie by the same name, starring Shivaraj Kumar. The irony is that Swades made more box-office collections in Karnataka than the Kannada counterpart 'Chigurida Kanasu' :)

'Raghuvamsa Sudha' misconception

2005-04-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

There are many gem-like compositions in Carnatic music and one of the gems that stands out and is a favorite among instrumentalists is 'Raghuvamsa Sudha' . This crowd enthraller, is composed using the 'Kadhanakuthoohalam' (means 'War Curiosity'?) raga. A couple of years back, I heard the adaptation of this composition in a Chiranjeevi starrer movie. The song is 'Yamahanagari'. This song is dedicated to the city of Kolkata. In the lyrics of this song, the singer says that he is inspired by Thyagaraja's Krithi as he wanders and mingles with people in the streets of Kolkata. I was curious to find the original Krithi from which this hit number was inspired and listen to it. As the lyrics of the above song pointed me to Thyagaraja, I went in that route looking for this composition among Thyagaraja's many. But soon I hit a dead end as I couldn't find the original. With the help of some friends, I found out that the original song was 'Raghuvamsa Sudha', only to realize that this song was composed by Patnam Subramania Iyer who was a disciple of a disciple of Thyagaraja.

Unfortunately, it looks like lyrics of movie songs are not consistent with the facts they convey. Veturi Sundararamamurthy can you explain this?

Dasa Sahitya and the common man

2005-04-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

In the annals of Indian history, 800 AD - 1700 AD are marked as the Bhakti movement. This period of time saw the emergence of rites and rituals in all the religions that were prevalent in India then. But this period also saw a change in the spiritual perception of the common man. In Hinduism, salvation was considered out of reach for the average individual in the society as he is supposed to be shackled in this worldly web by falling prey to materialism and other worldly pleasures. All the important scriptures were in Sanskrit or other so called elite languages and only learned scholars had access to the wealth of information and teachings these scriptures had to provide. The rigid society structure constricted the channels of downstream knowledge flow. But the Bhakti saints and teachers were mainly common people who tried to eliminate these notions by living as an average individual, opening up the knowledge channels and instilling confidence among the masses that the average man can reach the ultimate spiritual goal set for him by his religion. This article cites the reasons for the success and influence of the Bhakti saints.

Two such Bhakti saints were Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa, the singing bards from South Central India. Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) is known as 'Karnataka Sangeetha Pitamaha' (Father of Carnatic music) has a whooping 4,75,000 compositions to his credit. The first Geetha (song) you learn when taking Carnatic music classes is his composition. Legend has it that Srinivasa Nayaka a miserly and cruel gem merchant became Purandara Dasa after certain events that transformed his life. His compositions range from teachings in the holy scriptures, childhood exploits of Lord Krishna, to praise for his wife and kids who had such a big influence on his transformation. The songs are mostly in a vernacular language (Kannada) that makes everyone from the scholar to the laborer understand and relate to them. Some of his songs preach that deeds make a man superior rather than his caste or birth. There are other songs that allay the fears of the material world and breed encouragement among people to survive and overcome this world by being strong and fearless (Eesabeku iddu jaisabeku). Purandara Dasa doesn't hide his emotions in his songs. He has a composition that talks about his lost son (Gilliyu panjaradollilla (The parrot is not in it's cage)) or songs in praise of his wife who played a role in his transformation from a miserly merchant to a saint (Addadella olitheayithu (Whatever happened, happened for the good)). Some of his compositions have touches of humor in them like 'Hendathi prana hinduthi' (Wife, you squeeze the life out of me) that reflect the life of a common family man. But the central theme in all the songs is that of 'Hari Bhakti' or devotion to Lord Vishnu. His work earned the title ‘Purandaropanishat'. Kanaka Dasa was another famous hari dasa and was a contemporary of Purandara Dasa. History has it that he was once denied entering into the Udupi Sri Krishna temple (established by saint Madhvacharya) because of his caste. He stood praying at the rear of the temple and the walls of the temple are supposed to have broken down miraculously and the temple idol turned towards the saint allowing him to have an unhindered view of the deity . Kanaka Dasa also has a lot of good compositions. His compositions always end with a reference to deity Adikeshava of Kaginele.

I have gathered a few links that have songs and lyrics of these saints at the end of this posting. My first exposure to the Dasa literature was when I started listening to songs sung by Sri Vidyabhushan. He has over a 100 music cassettes most of them songs from different Hari dasas like Puranadara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Vijay Vittala Dasa, Vadiraja Swamy et al.

Music:
http://www.udbhava.com
http://www.kannadaaudio.com
http://www.musicindiaonline.com

Lyrics:
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~kulki/kannada/dasa.html
http://www.missouri.edu/~physchan/kannada/DASA/dasa.html

Sourav - To be or not to be?

2005-04-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

So much has been said about the current Indian cricket team captain after the dismal performance in the Bangalore test against Pakistan that I am tempted in expressing my opinion about this. Of course, the views expressed in this posting are strictly mine.

Cricket in India is more of a religion rather than a sport. The microscopic attention that goes into this game gives such a magnified picture to the cricket fan that I have seen heroes in their zenith projected as zeroes in their nadir because of a couple of below par performances. But are these cricketers really so bad that they deserve this treatment? I don't think so. You need to be talented enough to play at the international level. It is just that the media and former cricketers (in some cases) project them as real life villains when they perform badly. The Indian cricket fan (includes me too) is a fickle soul who gets terribly excited or deeply depressed depending on the result of the game. If we win a couple of games, the good performers are projected as Gods and brought down the very next day they don't perform. India is rated as the 2nd best team and rest of the teams are looked down with disdain if a game is won. I pity the cricketers who perform under these public and media scanners. Guys, give them a break. As an ardent cricket fan, my suggestion to everyone is to take wins with a pinch of salt and defeats with a cube of sugar. We need let go this hypocrisy from our minds. A better idea would be to shift the microscope to other burning issues in the country among politics, economy or our social structure.

Coming to the Indian cricketer who is in the limelight for the wrong reasons - Sourav Ganguly. I agree that his batting form in test cricket is probably down in the depths of the marina trench. His captaincy has been above average to very good at times. Probably it is better than most former Indian captains. His philosophy and aggression is commendable. The loyalty he demands from his team mates is something we have not seen for a long time. But is his place in the team indisposable based on his captaincy?. I guess not. Cricket is not tennis where a team can afford a non-playing captain. But does he deserve another series or two? I think so. Give him some chances, but don't pressurize him. Do we sit with our fingers crossed and wait for the next 2 series, hoping that he will be back in form? No. The biggest problem we are facing is if we lose Ganguly as a player we would be losing Ganguly the captain too. The latter is more worrying at this point of time. We also know that our coach John Wright is ending his contract too. To recover from this double blow would take a long time. No one can bring about a turnaround in fortunes overnight. Currently, there are very few people in the Indian team who are captaincy material (according to me). The senior bunch like Dravid and Tendulkar wouldn't want this responsibility at this time. So what do we do? I think it is high time Ganguly, the BCCI and rest of the Indian cricket think tank realize the need for a captain in the future, who can carry on the good work done by the Wright-Ganguly combo. We need to groom this captain and start grooming him today. We know that the big four (maybe big 3 now :) ), Sachin, Rahul, Laxman and Sourav are going to retire at around the same time frame. We need to start preparing for this impending situation.

Ganguly might have past his prime and it is time for the selectors to focus on grooming the next person on the hot seat. But till then we might want to give Sourav a couple of more chances. It is time to be cognizant of the future but not panic about it. Being aware doesn't help, if the selectors don't plan and work towards it.

Elémentaire Docteur Watson II.....

2005-03-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I had a trivia question and one of my friends did get it right. W. G. Grace, the father of modern cricket was a victim of Sir Arthur's bowling. Unfortunately, there are no prizes for guessing the answer :), but Nitin you do get a mention in my blog. I don't regret this (prize part of it) because I heard that this friend of mine did win a bet as he thought I was smart enough to figure this out (thanks for his trust on my abilities) when some of them didn't agree with him and I was smart enough!! (how modest). This friend of mine smartly put the words "With God's Grace" as he didn't want to spoil the fun by giving up the name. Don't mystery novelists use some of these techniques to baffle their readers? The 2 most common techniques employed by these writers are 1) Hide as much information as possible about the truth. 2) Put the reader on the wrong track by pointing clues at the wrong suspect.

Whatever is said about these authors, I have always been fascinated by detective fiction. Hercule Poirot is my all-time favorite detective. I have read and watched a few Sherlock Holmes adventures but it fails to impress me as much as Monsieur Poirot's exploits. Agatha Christie has done well in blending intelligence, child-like humor and meticulousness into this short and rotund character with a bow-like moustache. The methods of Hercule Poirot are more of a mental exercise involving scene reconstruction and psychology in contrast with those of Sherlock Holmes. That makes him a classic. From the limited reading I have done on Sherlock Holmes, he seems to portray the image of the modern day detective and forensic expert with a magnifying glass looking for traces, fingerprints and what-not to solve the crime. Both of them have a lesser charismatic friend (Captain Hastings for Poirot and Dr. Watson for Holmes) to assist them in most of their adventures. These characters form the medium through which the detective disseminates his findings to the reader. The author sometimes uses these characters to contrast the thinking styles of geniuses and ordinary people.

Hercule Poirot, "the detective most unique" as he addresses himself is no symbol of modesty though he pretends to be one. But his gray matter is commendable. I was particularly impressed with some of his adventures like "The Murder on the Orient Express", "The A. B. C. murders" and "Evil under the Sun". His humor is very innocent. Being a Belgian who speaks French, he snubs at people who call him French and insists being called a Belgian. His accent and use of French words and phrases lightens up his adventures. His waxed moustache is his most priced possession and tends to it very often. His dressing sense is immaculate. These small eccentricities of his make him a very interesting character. Here is a link to a small article that talks about his character

Though Agatha Christie has come up with such a great character, credit should go to David Suchet who has lived it on stage. David Suchet acts as Poirot in the Poirot series that comes on television and he is absolutely brilliant. He has brought life into the character and immortalized Poirot. I have seen other actors act as Poirot, but none of them run close. I would highly recommend viewing the Poirot series where David acts as Poirot to get a feel for the real Hercule Poirot I adore.

Au Revoir!!!

Elementary Dr.Watson...

2005-03-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

Early teens is the age when kids start getting into the reading habit. Initially, reading starts with books describing adventures of youngsters and exploits of teen sleuths. My early teens were no different. I started off reading books authored by Enid Blyton. I remember my first book being "The Children of Willow Farm". The book was about a bunch of kids spending their holidays in a farm.

Slowly I graduated to reading other books by Enid Blyton like the Famous Five series, the Secret Seven series and the Five Find-Outers (interesting name). The theme behind most of these books was the same with a little variety, but still each book sounded interesting and new at that time. Though most of these books had banal themes, they did and do teach teens a lesson. One thing that struck my mind is that they do preach kids an approach to solve problems. Isn't the first and prime step in arriving at a solution to a problem gathering the facts about the problem? The commonality you would observe by reading these books is that the little heroes make an attempt to gather all the facts about a problem before they structure the solution. These facts are addressed as "clues" in these books.

The next phase in the reading timeline are American sleuth series like Hardy Boys series(Franklin W Dixon), Nancy Drew series (Carolyn Keene) and the The Three Investigators (Alfred Hitchcock). Did you know that Franklin W Dixon is the pen name of Edward L Stratemeyer (1862- 1930) ? His publication house (Stratemeyer Syndicate) hired authors to write both the Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew Series. So to clarify any confusions, there is no such person as Carolyn Keene, but different authors working for the Stratemeyer syndicate under this fictitious name. Again Alfred Hitchcock is the pen name of Robert Arthur and is not in anyway connected to the famous movie director of Psycho fame (www.threeinvestigators.net). These series are mostly about high school teens solving more gruesome crimes instead of petty ones.

As I grew up, I started reading detective stories like Sherlock Holmes adventures (Arthur Conan Doyle) and other stories from Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple series). More about this in part 2 of my current posting. I plan to contrast and compare methods of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes in my next posting.

Until then a piece of trivia I remember from a long time. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was apparently a county cricketer who has one wicket in first-class cricket? Can you guess who the batsman is?

Answer in the continuation post.... until then... ciao

Chantico - Goddess of beverages?

2005-03-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, Starbucks has introduced a chocolate beverage branded as Chantico (pronounced as Shan-TEE-ko). A few weeks back I decided to give it a shot. The rest is history. I have really taken a liking to this new drink, that I no longer order my Mocha at Starbucks. Priced at $2.85, a short cup of Chantico is nothing but a melted bar of chocolate served to you in a cup. Absolutely delightful....

An article on usatoday concisely reports the difference between Chantico and hot chocolate. According to the report, "Unlike hot chocolate, which is made from cocoa powder, Chantico is steamed with cocoa butter and whole milk. It's no diet drink: A 6-ounce cup has 390 calories, 21 grams of fat and 51 carbs". Hmmm.. may be this is not for the diet conscious folks out there (I know quite a few :)).

Chantico is the name of an Aztec goddess. Her name means "She who dwells in the house" and she is the goddess of hearth in Aztec mythology. Legend says that she broke a fast and was turned into a dog by Tonacatecuhtli the god of fertility and food.

So what about the health benefits or losses by drinking Chantico (or any kind of chocolate based drink). Is Chantico - drinking chocolate also cursed to cause ill-health? My research on the web yielded this page that gave a summary of the effects due to consumption of chocolate/cocoa based products. The biggest health loss is that chocolate is calorie rich than most foods. The good news is that the saturated fat in chocolate is stearic acid that doesn't increase blood cholestrol levels. Catechins present within chocolate helps the body protect against degenerative illnesses and catalyzes oxidation of cholestrol.

So happy 'Chantico'ing.....

Hey Madhusudan.....

2005-03-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

Off late, I have gotten into this habit of watching episodes of Mahabharata (an hindu epic). When I was back in school, this epic was made into a series and was being shown on national television in India. It was one of the most watched TV series in India back then. The King County Libraries have DVDs of this series that I borrow and watch.

This series in my opinion was far ahead of its times. The screenplay, script and dialog delivery was excellent. The sets during the war were fantastic too. Most of the actors are quite impressive. Mukesh Khanna (as Bheeshma), Gufi Paintal (as Shakuni), Pankaj Dheer (as Karna) and of course Nitish Bharadwaj (as Krishna) stand out for their acting and they suit their roles very well. Kudos to B. R. Chopra and Ravi Chopra for their excellent direction. The script writers have very clearly made an effort to limit the words used in the series to Sanskrit derived Hindi words.

I was recently looking for the DVD collection of this series. The price seems to be around 150-180$ for the entire set (16 DVDs). I have added this to my wish list now.

There were many other mythological TV series like Krishna, Vishnupuran, Jai Hanuman... and none of them seem to have worked out well. Were they badly directed? Or was it that the advent of cable television opened up viewer options and caused the distribution in the viewership numbers? I guess the answer is both. Ramayan (by Ramanand Sagar) was one of the earliest attempts of making a series out of an epic and it did have quite good viewership numbers because people didn't have cable television to split the viewership. In my opinion, the direction and popularity of Ramayan was not good enough and it would have been slotted among the less popular epic series if it was screened in the post cable era. The demand for the Mahabharat DVDs (which is more than the Ramayan ones) in libraries suggests that Mahabharat was really well directed.

Here is a link to the B. R. Films site that gives details about this series.

My first post...

2005-03-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

Weblogs came into existence in the late 90's. The word was coined by Jorn Barger in 1997. So am I too late for this? Anyway, it is better late than never. A search on google gave me several links to articles describing the history and timeline of blogging. But not all of them concur on the facts.