What is the truth ?

ATnT new data plans

2010-06-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

ATT recently released its new data plans according to which the unlimited data plan for 30 dollars will be replaced by two plans, one that provides 200 MB for 15 dollars and the other that provides 2 GB for 25 dollars. Any overage will be charged per some unit of data, for example, 10 dollars for every extra 1 GB used. Existing unlimited plans will remain unaffected, but contrary to previous promises new 3G iPad will not come with unlimited data plan any more.

There are two sides to the decision. Some feel that this is a step backward in terms of technology. The example being given is that of the internet plans that moved from limited data plans to unlimited plans for a fixed price. The other side feels that people who use more should pay more than others. In fact a large percentage of people (including those using the iPhone) can now opt for the 15 dollar plan since the actual usage per month is in fact less that 200 MB for them. Even for heavy duty users (business users who browse internet and check mails every hour) the usage would be less that 2 GB allowing them to save 5 dollars. The people who would be impacted most are those who watch videos on their phones regularly.

In my humble opinion, even though it is imagined that our telecom/wireless industry is one of the most advanced technology sector, we have to remind ourselves that the data usage has multiplied 100 times in last 4 years and even though the telcos had a lot of spare bandwidth at their core, not only is it depleting fast, but also higher data usage is requiring installation of more towers per unit area. May be 10 years down the line, the telcos will catch up with the demand for data but unlike wired routers used for the internet, the 3G wireless technology is highly energy inefficient and I believe that it should always be charged according to usage in the same way as gas is paid for according to the distance that one travels. Otherwise this will become a major cause of pollution in years ahead both in terms of energy consumption and expensive heavy duty toxic batteries.

SRK and the US

2009-08-17T11:30:00.001-07:00

Since SRK got held up for detailed questioning at the Newark airport, there has been a lot of reporting, blogging and discussion on it.

You hear two main opinions :

1) That detaining SRK, who is not only one of the most popular stars in the whole world but also has a very clean image, was inappropriate. That it inflicted some kind of insult on SRK, India or even the whole world.

2) That this is normal procedure and many people have to go through it. US has the right to be entire sure about who it lets in and this is why another 9/11 has not happened in 8 yrs.

These opinions are not at all mutually exclusive. Logic and emotions, both have equally important places in this world. And they need to reconciled.

The issue is as follows :

Such behavior by US brings out their inefficiency and stupidity which when not understood appears like arrogance.

The purpose of such stringent security measures is to prevent terrorists from getting into the US. But why is it necessary to assume that a person who has lived a good public life can turn terrorist any day? US should maintain a list of people who are frequent travelers and who are well known. Frisking a person and his luggage should always be done. But it should be harassment-free. Some might say that this is like differentiating between people on the basis of their success. I would say - NO. This is in turn making the system more efficient.

The anger of people on such occasion is because it appears that US is arrogant enough not to acknowledge that there are people in other countries who are relatively above suspicion. Not only because they have a clean public image, but also because everything that one could possibly gather in that 1.5 or 2 hrs of questioning can already be known if only they maintained a database of them. It's about according respect to the emotions of those who love them.

Harry Potter 6

2009-07-16T02:05:00.001-07:00

Well made. Skipped some things in the book.

Good or bad, a Harry Potter movie cannot be missed by me.

Yes, it did take 40 mins to find parking and I waited in a line for 1 and half hours to get a good seat.

But with good friends along, no pain, only fun.

International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI)

2009-07-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of the conference. Now, I have started getting the feeling that I am an AI researcher. Until now I was always in doubt whether my work was good enough and was it really AI-ish enough. Spending a day among so many researchers (1200) from all over the world is overwhelming. The thought that people are attacking these problem daily in so many different places is surreal.

The talks were great. I have only been to one more scientific conference before, but I can tell that the works being presented here are good contributions.

But the day ended with honoring two achievers in AI, Andrew Ng and Carlos Guestrin. I have seen geniuses being depicted in movies but to see them speak in real was great. Then was the AI video contest. It was like a party.

Yes, there can be a sense of purpose in research.

Encryption

2009-04-29T20:16:00.001-07:00

I think Public-Key Encryption is a genius of an idea.

Awesome Operating System lecture

2009-03-29T18:44:00.001-07:00

UC Berkeley has its Operating Systems (OS) course lectures available online freely. I found them very lucid and helpful.

Here is the link:
http://academicearth.org/courses/operating-systems-and-system-programming

NB: http://academicearth.org/ in general has really good lectures. I also saw the Psychology lectures by Paul Bloom at Yale. He is a very good animated speaker. Check it out at http://academicearth.org/courses/introduction-to-psychology

Rajasthan

2009-01-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

I visited various cities of Rajasthan this winter. It was kinda cool. Palaces, forts, temples, shrines ... all some hundred years old.

Udaipur
Ajmer
Pushkar
Jodhpur
Jaipur

I went with my family. Papa, mummy and Ruchi.

Traveled by all sorts of transportation. Trains, buses, cars, autorickshaws, cycle rickshaws, boats.

Kings, their lives, their wives, their wars, their ends.

Did some shopping as well. That's the boring part. [smile]

Camel rides. Bullock cart rides. Awesome local food.

7 days.

The nation system

2008-12-05T00:34:00.000-08:00

Terror attacks all over the world in the last 10 years, have made me think about the reason behind the existence of terrorism.

I do not deny that the major backing to terrorism is from people and countries who do it for politics, power and money, yet, the people who kill themselves in these attacks are motivated by a personal cause which they very strongly believe in. These could be their feeling of oppression by another country/religion from which they want to gain independence. Be it Kashmiris in India, LTTE in Sri Lanka or Chechnya guys in Russia.

If we look at the history of human civilization, we have moved from anarchy in the hunting/gathering pre-historic times to reign by tribal lords through force to peaceful monarchies to national invasions and colonialism (by British, French etc) to the most recent system of independent nations after World War II. Yet, this system too is not the ultimate solution. Terrorism, I think, is one of the signs of an inertia towards many-small-and-independent-countries system with multi-lateral cooperation between neighboring states. We are seeing the same model bring great development and prosperity in Europe. Would the region have been so peaceful, if it was just one nation and not so many small nations? I strongly doubt it. History shows that there is a deep resentment among people from the various countries of Europe, namely between the English, French, Germans etc. In fact, the internal feud between the various regions of "United Kingdom", shows that people of different culture find it very hard to live together.

Despite all the development in technologies which connect people, I do not see any sign of people from different cultures merging into one peaceful culture/nation. There isn't any tendency to secede in the US, because the culture here is very homogeneous throughout the country. Whereas in countries like India, there is a separatist movement in almost every part of the country.

Therefore, even though I am neither pushing for it nor assuming that it would ever happen, I think, the current nation system is pushing towards a new system where, instead of few large nations, there are many small countries, each of which is homogeneous in itself in culture, and who cooperate which each other very extensively to form a economy where none needs to be self-sufficient and yet in collaboration each is prosperous.

In the end, I would like to leave you with two questions.
1) Since every country's boundaries where defined mostly by force during the history of its creation, like India's integration during 1947-1950, or Unites States forceful acquisition of southern states like Texas and California, what reason is there in claiming that people of a region have no right to secede if they so wish based on cultural differences. To start with, the formation of the country was not caused due to great unity among the people of its different regions. The only reason is that the stability and peace of a country will be disturbed. Yet, if this desire itself become the cause of pain to the entire country, is it not better to just let the people be at peace on their own lands.

2) By what logic do we call these people terrorist and hate them, when we call participants of violent independence struggles of present countries to be revolutionaries and freedom fighters? At the time of these struggles many of them killed not just officials of ruling countries but also their families. And yes, they were actually called terrorists by the then foreign governments, in writing.

Terror

2008-12-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

We have all heard the page-3 people and common people, instigated by the press, screaming against the politicians in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks recently.
To me, it sounds very artificial. Here I present my view on the incident, the response seen and the response required.

The terror attacks could take place because we have a lax security and intelligence system. Our self-interested politicians are more busy in petty politics. Our administrative system has not been developed to handle such complicated situations. Our intelligence agencies have little coordination and not enough financial support to keep up a constant effective vigil.

But crying hoarse of the politicians is a practice that the media has supported with full vigor because it gives them spicier sound bites, a more agitated audience and hence bigger viewership. Criticizing someone who is already in the dock as it would be hard for him to defend himself because of his fallen image is a very common trick. Children do that in school to offload a possible accusation on them over to an infamous kid even if he wasn't even present at the crime scene.

These attacks are a result of the overall failure of the system. Weak laws, defective election procedures and most importantly, the lack of will to call this country our own.

What do we need now ?
1) A well developed crisis management team and rules/laws.
2) A new federal intelligence agency for internal and partly external intelligence gathering with huge funds.
3) A warning to Pakistan that the patience of India has run out, and the next such incident would invite direct strikes on the terror camps in PoK.

What we can do about generating the same feeling of nationalism and pride in our country that US has, I do not know.

A wednesday

2008-10-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

So here comes my first review.

This movie was clean, had an underlying glue of narrative and was made with honesty.

I don't look much at the core story of a movie as much as on how it was made. I believe that a good production can build a great movie from a simple tale and bad production can ruin the most innovative stories and concepts.

The movie was fast, as a thriller should be.
It did not try to force the two sides in conflict into definitions of good and bad.
I made use of the viewer's intellect which is ignored or ridiculed by half of the movies.
It could build and keep a chain of suspenses.
The characters looked and acted their parts.

The movie slacked here and there, as any human creation will.

But over all, a must watch. If you don't like it, disagree with me here.

Money and talent

2008-10-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

There is no relationship between the two when it comes to money being invested.

Thousands of internet businesses got loads of money during the dot com bubble build up. Most of them went bust, because they were crappy.

Crores of rupees is invested in hindi movies made in India. A lot of them are junk. Yet, people put half a billion rupees on stupid/incapable directors, actors and other film guys.

Bottom line : Great hard work and talent cannot be differentiated from normal hard work and talent by ordinary folks. They are their own rewards.

Papers

2008-10-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

I recently went to my first scientific conference, alone. One of the most important things I realized was how deceptive publishing a paper is. It all depends on how you have written a paper and how you present it at the conference.
No one checks the authenticity of your results. So, you can literally say anything and get away with. No one understands your research deeply enough in a 30 min presentation. So, you just need a central idea presented well. The Q n A time is too small to let anyone prove anything, and yes, you can shut anyone out by saying you would take their question in detail after the talk.

So, finally it all boils down to how serious you are about your research. Anyone can get a PhD.

All this was confirmed by an experienced researcher and professor when I shared my thoughts with him.

Reviews

2008-09-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

I am no expert on movies. But I love them. I love watching them. I love thinking about their process of production. I love thinking about thought process of the maker of the movie.

So I decided to write my thoughts about them whenever I watch one I like.

Keep looking for my first comment coming soon.

Art

2008-08-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

Though I am no artist, I would say that I have never seen a more artistic portrayal of woman's beauty than here by this photographer.

http://www.sexyjack.us/

He has an RSS feed too, if you would like one. :)

London

2008-08-13T13:10:00.001-07:00

I love London. I went there when I was 19 in 2002. The royalty of the place astounded me. In fact the whole of Europe is so lovely. And what to speak of London's weather. Some people call it a nuisance, but to me it's romantic.

When I came to US last year, I was disappointed. Even though I am in LA, this place doesn't have the grandeur of London.

I generally say this when I compare the two places: US is a common man's place, but London was made for the Kings.

I am dying to visit it again.

Of trusts and mistrusts

2008-07-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Life keeps becoming less and less glossy. Once there was trust, now there is none.

Yet, it teaches me new things. That I have to find people I can trust, love and share my life with. I never did it before. I realize it now.

With tears in my eyes ...

2008-06-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Bill

I love you

http://www.microsoft.com/

The genius - Sachin

2008-06-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

This one is taken from Aamir Khan's blog. He watched the IPL final with Sachin. Now you all will know, why he is one guy I worship.

"The match last night was certainly exciting but what made it a unique experience for me was that I had Sachin next to me. You will find this hard to believe but Sachin was able to predict every ball before it was bowled. “He is going to bowl a bouncer next”,
“This one is going to be a slower one”, “Full tilt outside the off stump”, “Next one will be a yorker”, “Short of length”. It was uncanny. HE GOT IT RIGHT EACH TIME!!! No wonder its so difficult to bowl to him. He has an amazing instinct. And he told me his logic for each prediction which I wont share with you as I don’t want to reveal how his mind works. But all of us were dumbfounded with his instinct and his acumen. So at the end of it I told him next time we watch a film together I’m going to tell him whats going to happen next!"

Wasting time

2008-06-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

I think people tell others that they are wasting time, then they want them to do stuff that they think should be done.

I think, a person never wastes time.

He is just being himself, when he seems to be doing that.

Romance

2008-06-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

Imagine lying on a smooth lawn on the shores of the Pacific, hidden from the public view. Imagine the sun setting in front of you, the wind cool and waves slashing high after hitting the rocks. Imagine that there is a clean sheet below and a warm blanket over you to protect you from the chill.

Now imagine that your love lies beside you in the same blanket, cuddling. Feels great, ain't it ?

What I describe here is not my fantasy but a description of a moment seen with my own eyes, in San Diego.

The sight touched me, both for its beauty and the effort that they put in to make it so special. It was not vulgar.

Jobs has done it again

2008-06-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Jobs, Steve Jobs !

A man who keeps creating wonders, tirelessly and happily.

With iPhone 3G, he has pushed iPhone so much ahead of others that they can only hope of catching up in 5 years. Yet, every CEO of Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry knows in his heart that one cannot battle with GOD himself, Jobs.

[clap][clap][clap]

I look at him with open-mouthed admiration ! I am unashamed of it.

Hoping to grab this phone asap.

Reply : People, Government and the Country (Bhagwati's blog)

2008-06-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is in reply to Bhagwati's post : People, Government and the Country

Agreed. But ...

It will be wrong to assume that all acts of the government which are not aligned with public will are wrong or evil.

The behaviour and action of any entity depends of its beliefs. and a lot of these beliefs spring from the information that one has. The government, being better equiped, has more information about imminent dangers, problems etc that the country might face. And not all of this can be released to the public all the time for scrutiny or vote, since keeping it secret might prevent a counter-measure.

Badly

2008-06-05T16:29:00.001-07:00

Why do some people do their jobs badly ?

For the simple reason that they don't like what they are doing. That doesn't mean that we can turn this around and say that all people who are great at their work have immense interest in it. I want to make it clear now that I am not talking just about day jobs by which people earn their living. By work, I mean anything that they do, even if it is brushing their teeth in the morning, a purely selfish and non-commercial activity. Again, I would like to clarify that not liking something doesn't necesarily mean hating it. Infact most of the things that we do daily are done with a neutral mindset.

Although it is not a very hard puzzle to crack, I would still mention why people are in the jobs they are if they don't like it. Several reasons. Because they don't have an alternative. If you have a family where your monthly earning takes care of children's school tuition and gas for your kitchen and car, you wouldn't even risk thinking about leaving your job. Also, what would you do if you quit your job ? Having spent more than a decade doing conventional work, most would have no other skill left with them. Even if you had a great talent, setting to bring it to a level where it could support your living would need a period of dedication and hardship.

Therefore before you critize someone again for doing a bad job, stop and save your energy. You might be cursing a sick dog.

I think the best way to get somebody to do their work properly is to keep demanding it from them. Not in a virulent manner. But in a manner of propreity. Half of them will start doing it out of shame. The other half out of fear. With people who have neither of both, well, walk on.

Restaurant trips in Rourkela

2008-06-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

The lovely darkness and small lightness of the restaurants. The air-conditioned cool air. The nice tables. The wait for food. The comfortable sofas.

The childhood trips to hotels were so nice in Rourkela.(My home town) :)

Super star

2008-02-16T13:42:00.000-08:00

Superstar is an amazing movie.

What performance by Kunal Khemu ! Most of the bollywood actors have got something to learn about acting from him.

What direction ! Congrats Rohit Jugraj

You are a Superstar as is Kunal.

My String Theory

2008-02-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

As I have been coding for some time now, I have come to realize that everything in software is a string.

Code is a string, an ascii file is a string, input is a string, output is a string, ide is a string, compiler is a string.

It's string which takes other string, processes it and produces some string in return.

The input string might itself work on another string .... and it goes on recursively.

It helps me if I think about it this way.

MS and Y!

2008-02-05T02:14:00.001-08:00

I think it's a great thing to happen to MS.

Google, what are you afraid of ?

Google has reveled in an area of no competition till now and is now afraid that there is a good potential competitor in formation. It knows, it's strategy of not doing anything but system maintenance won't work now. It will have to innovate itself, not just buy it, unlike MS and Yahoo.

Jack Sparrow

2008-01-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

Awesome actor - Johnny Depp

Awesome movie - Pirates of the Carribean

Age

2008-01-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

I met an old American man today as I was waiting for the shuttle to get back to USC from ISI. He had been to India when the British were still there. He talked about a young kid and his sister who were his guide in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He liked the journey up the Ganges on a ship. I asked him how he could communicate with his young Indian (most probably tribal) guides. He said, "Well, they could say some pigeon English, but then, you got to do what you gotta do !". :)

So true.

It was my first time talking to such an old American man. He was using a walking stick that seemed more like a golf club to me. Jovial and happy. I am often scared of old age, but meeting these men makes me feel happy. After all, you got to do what you gotta do, which might be living happily whatever you are. :)

MacBook Air

2008-01-16T13:25:00.001-08:00

Design at it's premium best !

Watch the MacWorld presentation by Steve Jobs here.

He is the master.

The Bourne

2008-01-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

Jason Bourne - Matt Damon

What character !

What an actor !

USC won the Rose Bowl

2008-01-09T16:06:00.001-08:00

Yo !

knol

2007-12-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Google's latest announcement about it's knowledge pages, Knol, is yet another example of an effort towards being a huge catalogue.

Google

2007-12-07T22:41:00.001-08:00

Google is going to be the biggest catalogue in the world. That's all.

Every company starts with a focus and remains in the spotlight of this focus for its whole life.

Microsoft started with the focus of making basic popular software like OS and Office tools, Apple with making cool consumer electronics, Ford with making cars, Coca Cola with making common beverages and consumables.

Google started with the focus of making all the information in the world available freely. It's working well for itself. But that is all.

The point I am making is that the area of popular and complex AI is still open to a company. Any takers ?

My bet is : This will be the biggest thing in business and technology after the light bulb.

Sweet Child of Mine

2007-12-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

Damn sexy song

2007-12-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

Abhi zinda hoon to jee lene do ...

2007-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Aamir Khan's blog

2007-12-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

Found Aamir Khan's blog today. Good to read.

http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog.htm

November Rain

2007-11-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

It's the last day of November.
Lot of work ahead as final exams approach and research work demands it's proper conclusion.

And there it is :

November Rain

brings strange emotions to the heart and I play November Rain - GNR

Shaaheen

2007-05-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

I am standing at the edge,
Waves beat against the cliff,
I spread my wings and jump off,
Without a doubt, without an if!

For years have I sat and watched,
Plagued with self doubt,
While others flew around me,
Inside me there raged a bout.

I didn't fly far and wide,
Yet, a lot have I watched and learnt,
Weathered sun, torrents and hurricanes,
Seen others both high and burnt.

I am falling towards the waves,
They leap to swallow me up,
Drown me, storm me, or ravage me,
I will keep trying flying up.

I flap my wings with passion,
There is no more shame or sin,
The air breathes into my lungs,
And feeds the fire within.

"If you don't, gimme a call,
I'll fly with you"

Incident of the French Camp

2007-04-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is one of the poems I love :-

YOU know, we French storm’d Ratisbon:
A mile or so away
On a little mound, Napoleon
Stood on our storming-day;
With neck out-thrust, you fancy how,
Legs wide, arms lock’d behind,
As if to balance the prone brow
Oppressive with its mind.

Just as perhaps he mus’d “My plans
That soar, to earth may fall,
Let once my army leader Lannes
Waver at yonder wall,”—
Out ’twixt the battery smokes there flew
A rider, bound on bound
Full-galloping; nor bridle drew
Until he reach’d the mound.

Then off there flung in smiling joy,
And held himself erect
By just his horse’s mane, a boy:
You hardly could suspect—
(So tight he kept his lips compress’d,
Scarce any blood came through)
You look’d twice ere you saw his breast
Was all but shot in two.

“Well,” cried he, “Emporor, by God’s grace
We ’ve got you Ratisbon!
The Marshal’s in the market-place,
And you ’ll be there anon
To see your flag-bird flap his vans
Where I, to heart’s desire,
Perch’d him!” The chief’s eye flash’d; his plans
Soar’d up again like fire,

The chief’s eye flash’d; but presently
Soften’d itself, as sheathes
A film the mothe-eagle’s eye
When her bruis’d eaglet breathes.
“You ’re wounded!” “Nay,” the soldier’s pride
Touch’d to the quick, he said:
“I ’m kill’d, Sire!” And his chief beside,
Smiling the boy fell dead.

Robert Browning (1812–89)

Happyness

2007-03-12T01:26:00.001-07:00

This is about a movie called "The pursuit of happyness". It's not a spelling mistake. It was the name of the movie. Well, you can name a thing anyway you like. The movie starred Will Smith. I like him from the first movie I watched of him - Independence Day. I specially loved the scene in the movie, where he sits in the alien craft and before taking off, he hands a cigar to his partner and says - "This, is important !". Aye, aye Sire. When the fate of the planet and of all people on it is in your hands, the cigar is important. So, damn cool !

Technically, the movie isn't great, neither the direction. Probably, the tendency of the director to stick with reality din't give him much space. But there were a few scenes which were exceptional in the essence they carried. Listing as they appear in the movie, they are :-

1) When Chris Gardner sees his wife after she has left his house with their son. He says - "You are weak." This short statement said spontaneously carries a lot of meaning. I am not judging him or her. But this was true. Yet, weakness is not a sin.

2) When Chris tries to run away from the cabbie without paying. Somehow it says to me- "A man is a man. Let him be."

3) When Chris sits behind the locked door of the toilet on the railway station and cries, with his son sleeping in his lap. It is the helplessness of a father, who is unable to provide his son with a safe bedroom. The helplessness of not being able to do, what you want to, for the person you love the most, is the greatest form of helplessness on this earth.

4) When Chris gets the job. His eyes watery, his lips tightly pursed together, unable to control his tears, looking down to avoid making eye contact with people in front, running away from the room ... That's when you are truly happy.

My favourite line from the movie - "You want something. You go get it. Period."

My Mac and me

2007-01-05T22:07:00.000-08:00

Finally, my dream of working on an Apple Laptop has come true; specifically, A MacBook Pro ($2499) based on a 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor running Mac OS X.

It's a beautiful experience. The system works so seamlessly that it sometimes makes me forget the difference between my machine and me. A quality without name, which seduces me into looking at every other OS with a bit of derision.

The layout of the keyboard is so damn sexy that it makes me feel as if the keys pull my fingers towards them with invisible strings whenever they need to be hit. Or is it that the keyboard is re-shaping itself to my wishes. I don't know. But I love it.

Honestly, the opportunity to work on Apple laptops was one of the primary reasons behind my decision to join the startup I am working for. Quite juvenile, some might say. Whatever. The sheer ecstasy of working on my MacBook Pro shadows everything else. :)

GOD is Steve Jobs.

To the spirit of the genius

2006-07-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

Look at the sky
And the trees outside.
They are lighted
With the sun's low tide.

I feel the freshness,
I see the hue.
Trees are green,
But the sky is blue.

There is no argument,
There is no fight.
They are both enjoying
The morning sun's light.

I stared and thought,
While the people moved around.
A thing old but new,
That I have found.

Every one here
Has his own right,
Sky or the tree
Standing in the light.

And as I watched
I learned something new,
That many are gifted
But blessed are few !

"Yes, God damn it, the Parthenon!"

My letter to Fear

2006-04-26T03:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Fear,

How are ya, Mr. Devil? Sssssshhhhhhhh ......... don't worry, that's a secret between us. WORRY !!!! I am gonna fall from m' chair. Ha ha ha !! How insane of me to attribute a feeling like that for ya !!! But you must surely be afraid of somethin' ? Wellllllll, I donno. May be I'm just feeling a little envy towards ya.

But you are not even afraid of GOD !!! ....................... Since the birth of religion, you made yourself the tool that He used to spread his fame around. Din't all those self-proclaimed Sons and Messengers of God say that He'll put poor, innocent souls in Hell if they didn't kneel and ask for His mercy. Even God needs ya !

Sometimes I wonder at your craft, Mr. Devil. How you've controlled every nice, gentle soul on this earth !! This whole wonderful society, the human civilization is held in order by you. Wow !! You are some helluva Devil. All those spotlight-hogging men think they are so successful. Huh !! They donno you thrive on their souls. You won't let them cross the line how much ever they might want it, would ya? A "normal" man won't feed your ego that much !! All that devotion for God ...... ain't that nothing but the recognition of your existence? Whoa, I am impressed. What is Hitler down there ? Your butler ??

But Mr. Devil, you are a little worried. Ain't ya. Not all "men" know you. There walk some on this ball of dust who are blind, they don't see you; who are deaf, they don't hear you. Your sharpest weapons - fame, power, money - seem to be toys in their hands, so much that they fail to appreciate your existence. They rock ..... they rule; not the world of men, but the world of joy. They are the movers of this world, for there exists only one brake on this world .......... you, Mr. Fear.

I am writing this letter to you because I wanna inform you about m' decision to end this long standing partnership of ours. You will have one more man to "worry" about from now.

Wishing you all the best in your endeavours,
A Man

Altius ...

2005-12-15T02:10:00.000-08:00

"Could you plz give me a window seat ?" - everytime I stand before the foolish beauty, this is what I request for - "A window seat". Having flown both national and international airlines for over twenty times, my affair with the skies doesn't seem to come to an end. Boy! What a smile that is which appears on my face everytime I look out of the window at those large chunks of cotton floating at the heights of Mt. Everest in the azure, at the horizon that's no longer visible and at the golden shine off the consolidated vapour.

"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky !!"

What name do I give to this diamond? Technology? Engineering? or The Human Spirit? An incurable optimist, forgetting all about the petty men I meet every other hour on the soil, my lungs breath and my eyes reflect the fire burning in the Sun. Man broke a frontier, since ever belonging to Gods.

Aviation, space travel in specific, to me is the summary of all human achievement till date. A craft, that bears ten scores of people with all instruments of luxury in it, floats in air with nothing but its wings using some pressure difference in thin gushing wind !!

Life, at that moment, expands to the invisible horizons. And an uncrushable spirit rises again somewhere within, nudging at me and asking - "Can you fly higher than this?"

I know the answer, and it reads - "YES."

"To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life."

I believe

2005-11-08T02:11:00.000-08:00

I believe that my life is mine,
that I will live it my way.

I believe that living on my terms can be an uphill task,
that walking uphill needs strength,
that strength is the child of confidence,
that firm confidence grows out of soft seeds of effort,
that effort will lead to liberation.

I believe that He gave me all that I need,
that to ask for more is an insult to the Creator,
and shame on me.

"I live, because I love"

To B(log) or not to B(log) ?

2005-10-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, well! What a question of all!
After having created an acount and written the first post, this is what had kept me away from blogging, right away. Lots of choices to make. Whether this blog should a "scribbling pad" or a collection of essays. Well .... currently this blog is there, at the bottom of my priority list. So, after much thought and after-thought, I have decided not to put in a lot many minutes into each post. Might think of changing the status and depth in my priority list if I come to love this written thinking.

"I think, therefore I am !!!"

Only at the "Gates"

2005-01-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

This is the beginning of an expectedly long journey and I am Only at the "Gates" of my forecourt. The world outside looks interesting and mysterious. I am eager to step out. I only need to pack up.
I know, the path before me won't move. I know, the roads unseen and untravelled are out there, waiting for me to step upon them. I am looking forward to a pretty exciting voyage. I just need to build my ship strong enough to go down unbroken, if ever.

"This is the power of One ... to do something ... Anything."