Renewed

Its been three months now since the last update.Was totally blank on thoughts.Felt like writing something, many a times,but had absolutely nothing to.Not that I have much now.The last three months have been pretty much the usual stuff.The routine cycle of work->home->work.But yes,managed to read a couple of good books (I know its late, but thanks Srk for the wonderful book).Also, have started using the treadmill at the office gym.Lets see how far I go with this one.

Next week, one more among my friends is tying the knot (Ah, I ended up talking about marriage again.But given the fact that the previous post on marriage received the maximum number of unique comments, no wonder then, its a hot topic among readers !!!).Talking to her the other day, she remarked how fast, times have changed.And, how the earlier times, somehow always seem to be better than the present.True.Mid School's a lot better than high school.High school, than college.And how college is heaven compared to the hectic work life. Going up this chain then, are we always heading towards the worse ? Scary thought.

Eagerly waiting to see my two year old nephew, next month.The fact that, K also is coming home for his vacations is good news.December,sure sounds exciting.

Mind

Chanced upon this poem, written some three years ago.Have never actually ventured into poetry after this !!
Now I can't stop laughing, reading at this kiddish piece. But I still like it, as its one of the only two poems I've managed to write in my entire life (I lost the other one, titled 'Life', and in my opinion, that was a much better one).
So, go on and have some fun reading it.

" I discovered a maze christened ‘The Mind’
Any endeavor to conquer it would leave you in a grind.
Abstruse, are the ways of this being-obdurate,
With complex thought processes that intimidate.

Akin to an unfaithful lover,
It can desert you in the lurch forever.
It takes more than just nerves of steel,
To stop it, from galloping on its heel.

The nuances in its functionality are terrific,
But the intricacies of which are esoteric.
Thoughts race through at the speed of light,
Some wrong, some right.

Embedded within, is the power of nuke,
Triumph or failure is never a fluke.
Shun the darkness and stop mimicking the blind,
For, victory and defeat, it’s all in the mind !!! "

Free Will - Really ?

Have been reading "The Fountainhead" for quite sometime now.The book has some profound thoughts scattered all along.Came across one such piece today.A character in the story,one who's scaled great heights in his profession, talks about free will.
This is what he has to say -
"It's true that there's no such thing as free will.We can't help what we are or what we do.It's not our fault.Nobody's to blame for anything.It's all in your background and...and your glands.If you're good, that's no achievement of yours--you were lucky in your glands.If you're rotten,nobody should punish you--you were unlucky, that's all."

Now, I am not delving into, either justifying the above idea or refuting it. But still, all ye enlightened souls out there, what do you think ?

By the way, found the idea expressed here very very similar to my own take on free will.

Happy Birthday

Tomorrow, I complete one year of blogging. When I started off, didn't think I would last this long (Not that I have been very active in posting, with about 20 posts in a year - that makes it less than 2 a month).Nevertheless, the fact that I am still posting after an year, is enough to make me glad.
As with experiences in life, you like a few of them and despise the others.On the same lines, I have liked a few of my posts, and, am not very proud of the rest. But overall, it has been a nice experience maintaining a blog.Hopefully, can do more justice to it over the next year.
So, here is wishing, that I atleast improve upon the frequency of posting, if not anything else !!

So, what languages do you know ?

La lingua è vitale per il processo di pensiero.

Doesn't make sense, does it ? Unless of course, you are from Italy, or you have mastered a course in Italian. Thats because, the above sentence is in Italian.No, I have not taken a fancy to learn the language.I got it translated through google.What it stands for - well,lets come to it a little later.Anyways, you must have got an idea as to what this write-up is about.Right,its about the influence of languages. Their influence, but not as in, them being a communication tool.It is a plain fact that languages are the foundations upon which effective communication is built, and there isn't much here,to ponder upon.

This is about the influence of languages on the very thought process of the human mind. I had this idea quite a few time back, and even had a discussion with a friend (Josh, if you remember). It is quite exhilarating to gauge the power of languages, on your thoughts. To get a feel of this, do this simple exercise now. Try to 'think' of anything you want to.But, on one condition.You must think of something,and that, must not be in any language.Don't bind your thoughts to a language.Try to be independent of it.
Could you ?

Well, atleast for me,I could manage only one thought.That being,"I am not getting any thoughts".Which infact, was again in a particular language. Truly amazing, don't you feel ?
We are so conditioned to 'think' in some language, and, if you are not allowed that luxury, your very thought process undergoes a mutation and you feel stifled. Really, tell me how else would your thoughts manifest correctly, but for the language (The only other thing that comes to my mind is, thinking in terms of pictures).
Now that languages are apparently known to have such a strong impact on your thoughts, is it then possible, that if you 'think' in one language, instead of the other, you will have 'better' thoughts ? That, you could do more, if you chose to think in one particular language ? I know, I know, that sounds a bit far-fetched, but then again, I couldn't help this thought (Which came to me in English !!!).

Regarding the Italian sentence at the beginning, a good guess by now would tell you what it means - "Language is vital for the thought process".

835 Days and 2 Hours Remaining

That, was the time estimated by XP, to copy around 600 MB of data,when I was writing a CD.Thought it was worth sharing this once-in-a-while marvel, and so here it is (Please click on the image to see the details clearly).

Its another thing,that it was completed in under ten minutes.

Matrimonial tidbits

Last week, Shekhar,a very good friend of mine got married.His marriage also doubled up as a sort of reunion of my high school friends.Was meeting most of them after a long hiatus, of almost eight years.It was quite a nostalgic experience.We even went down to the details of discussing whom we sat next to,in each of the three years !!! Must say,really felt good to meet old pals after such a long gap.But only wished, a few more had turned up.

He is the third guy in my circle of friends, who have, or either are very close to taking the plunge.Now,I agree there is no peer pressure here.But still, as a passing thought,was just contemplating how close I was,to making the 'dive' myself.Its pathetic.I found out,I am light years away from it.I just don't see it happening in the near future.And, 'near' can have different connotations depending on how long I want it to be.
I mean,lets accept it.I am still a mama's boy and have absolutely no qualms about it.Till now,I have never, ever, felt that 'need' for a companion.There is no void in those terms, that yearns to be filled with companionship.Then,there are no signs of it either.Yes,I have had my share of "crushes", since school through college.But,all those have just been a part of the motley emotions, associated with any growing teenager.Nothing more,nothing less.

And frankly,I am scared like hell when it comes to making such a commitment.Scared,not for my cause,but the other party involved.As far as I know myself, I am a very complex character to get along with,and not all that pliable.So its unfair,to expect someone totally alien to me,to adapt to my capricious ways of life.Agreed,that I also will make certain changes to my behaviour,but as someone said,"Old(Bad) habits die hard".I really pity that soul,who decides to spend the better half of her life (actually more,but its ok considering the literary context of the sentence) with a not-so-better-half like me.So,I have decided to put forth a statutory warning to her before she makes her decision.And no,it won't be as inconspicuous as those, on cigarette packs.But if she still finds me as addictive,that is not my problem.

Come to think of it now,this was not just a passing thought.In reality,it was a 'planted' thought.For quite sometime now,I have a lot of relatives,asking me or my parents,"So,when is it happening ?".On one occasion ,someone even came upto my mom in a function, and this is what ensued.

She: I have a cousin Y,who is eligible.So,I was just wondering if your son.....

Mom: No,actually he is not thinking about it for the next 2-3 years.

Me: 2-3?? Please tell her, not till eternity.

She: Oh,ok ok.But please do tell me when he makes up his mind.

Mom: Yeah, sure.

Me: Yeah, sure.

(Now hoping, Y will never read this).

Okay,I think this thing is getting too egotistical and boring.Will stop it now...

Patriotism ?

X is a very patriotic person with lot of respect and admiration for his country.He nurtures ambitions of seeing it as one of the top nations in the world, in all respects.The following is an excerpt from the fictious diary of one such person.All though the diary is fictious,the contents draw inspiration from real life.And yes,X could be anyone.Me.You.All of us.

"I saw Rang De Basanti today.Films with patriotic fervour as their main theme have always struck an emotional chord with me.Irrespective of the quality of their presentation,the very idea appeals to me a lot.RDB was no different.It presents the metamorphosis of four protaganists, from being a bunch of nonchalant & frivolous nomads to patriotic zealots, who don't flinch, in doing anything for their country.To the extent, that they sacrifice their very lives in trying to send a message to their compatriots and thus awaken them from their deep slumber.Ofcourse,the methodology and their approach to doing it is questionable.Considering,that they resort to acts of killing the venal politicians and bureaucrats, in their endeavour to set the 'system' right.But,on a personal level,I am not all that averse to their line of thought.Here,I am not advocating violence as the ultimate panacea to all maladies.But only trying to suggest,that I did not find their approach too inappropriate in the current context.

All this jingoism that I seem to be delineating now,is not the aftermath of watching a movie.Only that I am using this as a launchpad to put forth my thoughts on the issue.One may ask,now that I am potraying myself as this staunch idealist,what have 'I', actually done to improve conditions around myself.Though not significantly palpable in the macroscopic scheme of things,these are very small things that have given me satisfaction at a personal level.

• Have always tried not to litter the roads/streets with choclate/gum covers.Either have put in the roadside bins or have carried it in pocket and dumped it at home.

• Have tried to follow traffic rules scrupulously,even if its as 'trivial' as not crossing the dividing yellow line, or not overshooting the zebra crossing.Have strictly followed one-ways,be it at one in the night or at five in the morning.

At the same time,must admit though,that I have been coerced to do certain things,things which I decry.I also understand that,the above acts are not even close enough to solving the actual problems that we have on hand today.But,they are small steps alright.In the right direction.As they say,'A journey of a thousand steps begins with one step'.I am not aiming for utopia here,but expecting people to do minimalistic things for the betterment of their own country is not unfair,right? Or, is it?

God,let some sense prevail.

On a totally unconnected note,yesterday was one of the momentous days of my life.I got an admit for my Masters, from one of the top schools in the SU.I am flying off from India next month, to complete my higher education,in what will be a potentially rewarding investment for my career ahead.Feeling really elated about it."

Treat

"A" is leaving to Canada in two weeks, for six months, on an onsite project.So we decided to have the customary treat yesterday.After much speculation about the POA, "Ab" suggested we could go 'go-karting', followed by a dinner. The idea sounded good to the rest and so we(A,Ab,N and me) set out at around 7.00 in the evening.The go-karting was supposed to be near the palace grounds.But after reaching there,we found out that it had been closed for good, a long time back.After "A" had done with cursing "Ab" , we decided to go bowling, as that was the only other choice at Starcity.

Now,I haven't gone bowling in over an year now.I don't even remember the last occassion exactly.So was just little sceptical about my 'form'.But what happened when I took my first attempt, left me more dumbfounded than the others.I got a full STRIKE. Just could not believe that all the pins were down and out !!! And as I tried to trace back my actions during the 'roll' (as to how I could score a strike),it seemed like it was erased from memory.I could only remember getting the ball and going near the line to roll it over.After that, the point in time where I released the ball seemed to have been wiped out from my memory.Felt like I was not entirely there.If this wasn't queer enough,what I experienced in the last attempt was even more "out of the normal".As I gathered the ball for my last 'roll', I could 'see' that I would score a strike this time too.Somehow,it looked very obvious. Then, as I rolled it over the alley,in total arrogance,the ball went in a straight line and knocked over all the pins.
All this might be sounding a little over-the-board, considering it was only a game of bowling.But, for me,the experience was surely a novel one and that kept me thinking for the rest of the time.
Anyways,I could only manage a score of 101,as I became lackadaisical in the later attempts,after scoring an improbable strike in the first roll.Still, came second,next to Ab at 120.

Bowling done,it was time for dinner.Again,Ab was the one who suggested the place.We drove over to Cunningham road, to a place called "Aura" (After the bowling experience,the name suggested something more than just a place) . As we entered the Airconditioned restaurant,I could see the place shrouded in smoke.Initially,we thought it was of the cooking that was happening around there.But we realised,it was actually the smoke from the cigarettes that almost everyone there was smoking.
Then I had this nice little conversation with one of the their waiters.

Me : We would prefer a non-smoking area.

Him(mostly nodding his head) : Yes,this is smoking zone.

Me : No no,we would like a NON-smoking zone.

Him(again, nodding his head) : Yes,you can smoke.

Now,I got a bit annoyed and told the others, in kannada,that we could not possibly have our food amidst this suffocating smoke.Poor guy,he then seemed to have understood our predicament and directed us to an open-air part of the restaurant.Was much better here.All the tables here had candle lights and I assumed,they were mostly for couples.Oh yes,there were mostly couples in this section (Except for one family,which I guess,also could not tolerate the smoke inside).
"A" rued, "I never thought I would have my first candle-light dinner with 3 guys for a company" . The rest of us could only manage a faint chuckle. In the age of " Brokeback Mountain ",I don't think people found it odd enough, for four guys to go on a candle-light dinner. The food was really good though.Had a filling dinner,and on the way back home,Ab and N had some really good ice cream at "Richie Rich".

Two things stood out in this outing.The "experiences" while bowling and the candle-light dinner.
"A",thanks for the treat and wish you a nice time.

LISP in multimedia ?

With Srk raving about LISP at the slightest opportunity,I was wondering whats so special about it.So decided to have a look at it.Have been going through it, since yesterday.Even downloaded a decent LISP development tool and started off through some online documents and tutorials.Having been used to "imperative programming" for almost 5 years now (since college),found LISP's "functional programming" paradigm totally new.Though I could manage to write very small fragments of code,must admit,still haven't got the hang of it.For instance,things like,how much similar data and procedure are.More about that here.

As a passing thought, was just wondering if LISP could find any application in the multimedia domain (Here,I am mainly referring to applications involving audio and video).Especially, considering that I saw comments about how inefficient LISP is.And how,most multimedia applications require real-time performance. In these scenarios, "abstraction" is the last thing you want,and that, primarily being LISP's USP.So, may be this question itself is a wrong one to ask and totally out of context.
But still,is there something that multimedia can achieve through LISP, that it currently is not able to,being limited by its choice of language.I really don't know.Maybe,only time will tell.

Picasa

Since I was having a holiday today, spent most of the time surfing the net.In the course of doing so,stumbled upon picasa,and since had nothing else to do,thought of installing it and doing some photo editing for fun. I haven't used any other photo editing software before this,but was truly amazed at what this does.Maybe others are equally good too,but since I was seeing it for the first time,the effects simply surprised me.The above collage is one of those, created using Picasa.You can do a lot better stuff with pictures and are limited only by your creativity and imagination.You can find it here 

Basic Instinct

I haven't seen this 90's erotic Sharon Stone movie.I think it also has a sequel coming up.Well, this post is actually about animal instinct and has got nothing to do with that Sharon stone flick.Far from it.The title is a misnomer and was brilliantly conceived by the author just to create some initial curiousity among the (sparse and infrequent) readers of this blog.

I was watching Discovery channel the other day.I think the programme was "Wild Discovery" and they were showing a cheetah trying to catch a deer.I find it quite thrilling to see this encounter between the predators and their poor victims.Of how the unsuspecting prey is pounced upon by a hungry and sinister beast.And in turn,how it tries to evade getting devoured and runs for its life.
As I was watching such an encounter,a thought struck me.How do animals in general, differentiate or recognise the different species ? I mean, how does a cheetah know that it should kill a deer if its hungry,at the same time not seeing a leopard as a souce of food.

If we look at our mechanism of separating species,it is primarily through visual perception.When we see a dog, we know it is something that doesn't "appear" like us in its physical form and hence we infer that it belongs to a different species.An important prerequisite to arrive at this kind of an inference is,we should be aware of our physical apperance in the first place.Only then,can our mind compare the image of the dog and image of the human form, before concluding that, right,the dog is indeed different from us.
Now,I have a doubt when it comes to animals.I am not sure if they know, how they look like.Yes,they might have seen themselves in the reflection in the water bodies.But it is quite probable that they are not intelligent enough (i guess, most of them) to 'process', 'store' that image in their memory and map it to themselves.So, when you have absolutely no idea of how you look like,and when some other creature comes and stands in front of you,how can you for sure decide, on whether that creature is of your kind or not ? But animals are doing this with amazing precision.So,I assume they are relying on something more, than just visual perception to identify their friends and enemies.Any theories as to what it could be ? Some food for thought...

PS: Since I was not sure of the name of the movie (for the post's title),did some googling.I ended up seeing some of the posters from the movie and yes,they do look quite "tempting".Maybe I will watch the sequel first.