Just happy

Electronics goods (esp laptops and smart phones) are some things that make me happy...I mean i do not count myself amongst "geeks" but I am sure u understand when i speak of expierancing the happiness of running ur eyes over the sleek lines ..well placed buttons ...the glazed screen..bright smart applications ....ooohhh....!! U get the idea I guess..

Today I went to buy a "cheap" alternate phone and bought an expensive one(well..not that expensive) ..proving once again that love is blind. But I think its worth buying sumthing u like rather than burning in its desire (as long as u do not burn a king size hole) .

I have regretted not buying what my heart desired as far as my lappy was concerned. I always feel maybe with 5 grands more..i would have been happier..!! but then there is a school of thought which says "you can never be satisfied with electronics"...be that as may..I feel there is a platue level of "electronic happiness"....

I m right now sittin on that platue...

Fever & imagination

I do not know if anyone has escaped a high fever but there is an expierance i would like to write about here before i forget it(something like a early dream)...!
A few days i "caught" malaria falciparum ...Pretty sneaky fever and sneakier parasite.

Apart from the severe chill and pain there was something else which i expieranced.

I realised that when the fever was at the highest ..I got severely depressed. The world suddenly looked so dark and forbidding. Everything was really really negative. I was convinced that I would fail in whatever I was doing. My rents would be unpaid. My grades would come down...I would be handicapped. In short my deepest fears became magnified and projected themselves...To say i was suicidal would be an extreme but suddenly i lost interest in life. It was as if there was no point in living .... Its funny recalling all this now but then the feelings seemed so real . Maybe the whole atmosphere was more darkened by the fact that it was pretty overcast and raining heavily....
The time I slept..i dreamt that i was a computer going thru an algorithm of the film "jab we met" ...Swear! What can beat that ...Or the fact that somewhere i felt that if i could reach the end of this algorithm I could sleep peacefully. Or the fact that I was a printer printing out copies of people passing by(I kno its absurd ..and maybe I will myself not believe these hallucinations..thats the precise reason i am putting them down).

To tell u the truth I sincerely feel that Malaria does release some hallucinogenic minerals into the blood stream. I am no bio technologist but just an average sufferrer and I felt as if I was under some drugs influence when the fever was at its highest...Maybe some day some doctor will write his thesis on this(by the way does ever a doctor write his "doctorate" thesis..ha ha )

By the way did u ever have this kind of expierance anytime?

Jaane tu- A review

Directors like Abbas tyrewala make me proud of the fact

that i belong to a country which has bollywood ....!

Jaane tu ..is a film which is nice ,wonderfully ,

"differently " written and directed by a person who can

write the truth in all its myriad forms. He is not

infalliable neither can he be always right. He will most

likely make pretty rotten movies but not today. Today he

made me proud that India has such wonderfull talent .
The film is not too much on story as much as its on the

little nuances that jump at you when you least expect it

pull you hard and leave you breathless and refreshed at

once .
The freshness of the treatment spills into the

interaction between the dead Naseeruddin shah and Ratna

Pathak. Its brave , amazing and just the sense of humour

which was missing till now in majority of the shit that

goes around.

Most of the scenes are so well crafted that I feel that

its difficult to single out any but what hit me host

were the the interaction between between the parents .

Its so deeply etched in my psyche ...especially the

interaction between Meghna's parents. Its the most

original peice of interaction i have ever seen in hindi

films.....

Actually towards the end of the movie it actually made

me think ...Do we really know the value of things till

we lose them..our parents , our pets ..our freinds

.......!! Do we really know the worst within our near

and dear ones..or do we really go by the bar code on the

wrapper. And does the bar code always say the truth?

Maybe i am reading too much into a nice film...but thats

what is the job of a nice film is ...
Makes you think ....makes you a part of it and suddenly

you cant stop being pulled into it.
Sahib biwi gulam made me sad for choti bahu..Do beegha

zameen made me cry for the rickshawala racing on streets

of calcutta...Choti choti batein made me smile and being

a part of the quirky family..Khubsurat left me with a

happiness long after i left the movie...
Jaane tu..left me with a lot of thoughts....most of it

pleasant.
Mr Tyrewala ...good job

Marriage –A markov model

	0	1	2	1a	1a'	1b	1b'	1c	1c'	1d	1d'	1e	1e'	if	1f'	3A	3B
0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5
1a	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1a'	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1b'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1c	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
1c'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
1d	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0
1d'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0
1e	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
1e'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
if	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	0.1
1f'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.9
3A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

THERE IS A SLIGHT MISTAKE IN THE DIAGRAM STATE 1 IS MARRIED STATE (NOT "UNMARRIED "AS THE DIA SHOWS..)

This is the Markov table of the marriage process.

3A and 3B are final absorbing states

Since the probability of having a happy ending (ie 3A ) from unhappy phase(1.f') is low I have kept it at 0.1 ..Similarly from 1.f --à3B

I have assumed equal measure of probabilities for favorable as well as unfavorable events (ie. 0.5 probability)

I will shortly calculate the probability of being in state 3A(happy) from state 2(unmarried) and from state 1(married). Rite now I am sleepy so will do the remainder later

Marriage - A marketing success story

This article is actually being written after Pradip put in his thoughts on marriage on this site

http://yemula.blogspot.com/

I feel that the crux of the issue is that as males we are not designed for marriage. Our entire instinct rebels at the thought of marriage. I am yet to see a happy husband. The only "happy" ones are the ones who are so fake that you find them brainwashed into believing everything their "better" half tells them.

The more I look at this issue the more i get depressed. I am so happy being a bachelor. I enjoy this freedom and I really do not feel a need for the "caring" comfort of a wife. I feel that I can exist comfortably by myself even in my old age. The day I feel I will be a vegetable most likely I will commit euthansia.

I cant bring myself to buy this idea of marriage. Its like the classical problem of "squaring the circle" ...you end up with an irrational number. So does marriage. Its so against nature and instinct that I feel surprised that so many get into it...

I had the oppurtunity to speak to lots of guys and I had this question to ask.."why did u get married"?
I was not surprised to hear that 80% said that because their parents wanted them to. around 10 % said that because their girlfreinds insisted on it. Approx 5% said that they wanted to carry their family lineage forward ..5% said because they wanted companionship.

What does this say about the whole institution?

Just that its like one of those TELE SHOPPING ads . Promising to solve A set of problems that you already have ..while hiding a bigger B set of problems that will result if you buy it.

Marriage is the biggest Marketing Fraud that has worked ..Like Lotteries or Gambling or betting....

Professional Lingo Speak

I dont know how many of you have observed this ...I am sure all of you have been a victim of this . Victim of Professional Lingo speak.
What exactly is Profesional lingo speak? Well its basically the tendency to carry forward your Official Professional Language into the daily day to day language you use. There are a few interesting observations to be made on lingo speak ..
First , its most likely to be carried out by guys fresh into the professional field. For example you will have young medicos "examining a specimen for degradation" while buying tomatoes..or young cadets "putting the tomatoes to a fitness test" or guys fresh out of engineering "measuring the tomatoes with vernier callipers" ...!! These are not what is done ..these are what is spoken.

Secondly, the lingo speak is also resorted to as a snide remark where a semblance of secrecy is mantained,or example , if a doc refers to a smelly guy next to him as an "olfactory disorder" ...would that person come to know of it? On the other hand it would evoke a total response from another doc sitting there.

Thirdly, this lingo speak is a measure of community. If I speak the engineer lingo I belong to the community. One can look on this as a kind of security measure of taking refuge in groups. More likely it serves a sense of ritual and bonding.
Lastly , this lingo speak is resorted to only in the begining of career ..As people mature they settle down to social lingo speak than a professional lingo speak..

Why Amitabh Bachan Gets on my nerves...

I have started hating "sarkar raj" even before I have seen it....Although Ramgopal Verma is one of my fav directors. Part of the blame majorly goes to the Bachan Trio.

They give me the heeby jeebies....It is really sick to see each of them mouth politically correct "ooh aah..oh myies" at each and every occasion. Every interview or shot starts with the paens to the mighty troika. And all three walk in as if the entire world is waiting to hear them propound the path breaking theory of the groundbreaking films they are making. And they peek from their Gucci's to reaffirm the faith that they are indeed the "first family" of bollywood.
But what really gets my goat is the fact that each one praises the other in no less exaggeration..than the other does to the rest. So we hear from Mr Amitabh that his son is the next Al pachino , we hear from Junior that senior is a better actor than Brando and both chirp in that Mrs Ladida Rai-Bachan is the next best thing to happen to hollywood...(hollywood!!!...arrey yaar bas karo..ye thoda jyaada ho gaya)...

In reality I think
a. Abhishek bacchan is at most a mediocore actor who is taken because of the package deal that comes with his dad and he knows in the heart of hearts that stand alone he is as good or even worse than Mimoh(son of Mithun). His overt love and affection for his father is a sign that he has not grown beyond him and still runs to him when his toy breaks down. His most famous claim to fame has been that he was the most eligible bachelor...Thats because of the fact that he is nicey nicey in the cocoon he has lived all his life. There is no need to fight anything so why should he be less than nice. To tell u the truth I think he is slightly mentally dumb...And dumb people are generally too dumb to be evil.

b. Aishwarya Rai is the fakest women I have ever heard in my life. Its as if your bai learns a few golden phrases in English and starts talking to you about Keats. Its fake ,its a put on and it irritates the shit out of you. I mean how long can you give the "damsel in distress" act and still manage to have the face to call yourself an actress. The entire Hollywood.."light is shining onto our lives" facade makes me want to give her a tight slap. Madam apni aukad me raho. You are just a pretty model who got lucky ..please do not be the Greta Garbo of India..It sucks.

c. The Big B has made a comeback and rightly deserves the place that the industry has given him. But he is so politically correct that you feel like shaking him and sayin" baba, get up ..the shot is over". But he must be a sad man to see his son fail evertime ..and a dedicated father to pick him up and again get him online. As a father of a 30 sumthing son it must be utterly humiliating that he has to still support him.

The entire trio is a study in fakeness and stupidity. Aishwarya is a fake but shrewd gal, Amitabh ,the intelligent but majboor father and Abhishek the well meaning but utterly useless dumb Idiot in the family, the oldest "newcomer" in the industry.

I am waiting for the facade to collapse and the bubble to burst. THAT will be something isnt it?

Love and LSD

Talking in terms of non-platonic love , I feel that there is an uncanny resemblence of heady man-woman love and a use of hallucinogenic drugs. Look at the similarity

Love Drug(say LSD)

1. Triggered by emotional events emotional events , sorrow, hapiness,
depression

2. Love is a secondary sensation to
this main event and leads to
approximately
a. Lightheadedness
b. Temp euphoria
c. A general feeling of hapiness

3. Lasts for a short time and is followed
either by long periods of depression or Withdrawal symptoms...and cravings.
worse ,suspension of logic leading to...marriage or suicide.

The similarity is striking and has been studied .
The only issue is that it is only in human beings that love is celebrated as something divine and drug as something vile. Which should be the reverse.
There is a rehabilitation programme for drugs ...do we have something equivalent for love?

Drugs lead to temporary insanity but can be physically diagnosed . One can tell a druggie that he his stoned ..That is a warning enough. Is here such a diagnosis for people in "love"? They look pretty normal and sane which is rather deceptive ...So, who is more dangerous ?

Drugs are addictive , fine . But this entails an economic and social loss in terms of manhours lost in terms of days and weeks. However love leads to issues where the damage lasts almost a life time . Look at most love marriages and you will find a frustrated couple at the centre of it. The damage of "love" is a couple ..while drugs attack singletons. Whose loss is more bearable to the society??

The last and the most abominable part of the whole story is that drugs supply can be controlled and if wished can be almost wiped out to a nil. Love however is more dicey. To prevent love one has to physically wipe out either man or woman as a specis..which requires huge political will. Which is more dangerous , a controllable menace or an uncontrollable one?

I leave the readers to judge for themselves. Since most of you may already be under the influence of either Drugs or Love..I suggest you refrain conciously from taking a biased viewpoint and consider the argument from logical rather than a sentimental pedestal.

The cosmic play

I will be trying to post a few pictures that reveal how stupid, small and insignificant we are..in this macrospace..

1.Infrared eyes reveal a star-forming region, hidden to regular telescopes by thick dust clouds. Astronomers study images like this to learn about star birth. A cluster of three young stars makes up the bright center. The reddish bowl, or arc, traces the outer surface of the cloud encasing the young stars.

2.Infant stars appear as pink and red specks in this infrared view from Spitzer. Newborn stars like these are usually hidden behind thick dust clouds so they cannot be seen with normal telescopes.Wisps of dust that hold organic molecules, or star-forming ingredients, are shown in green. Yellow stars are massive infant stars and the blue dots are older stars.

3.A galaxy is like an extended family of a star. NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer studies these stellar families with ultraviolet light, which reveals young stars.
The blue regions in Messier 31 show where young, hot stars are forming along the galaxy's spiral arms. The central orange-white "bulge" of old, cooler stars formed long ago.
This image provides astronomers with a wonderful example of how galaxies develop.

4.This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 shows how these type of galaxies develop. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's ultraviolet view finds young stars - only 10 million years old - concentrated in the spiral arms.

Rain Rain...

I guess God listens to the prayer of an aethiest ...more than believers ...Maybe just to prove a point.
Whatever it is..Rains are finally here...

Its water thats falling from the sky alright but I do not know how it becomes dark ,smelly and putrid slime on reachin mumbai's streets(yeah i kno the sulphuric acid crap..and I also kno sulphuric acid is not dark putrid and slimy)...
Wat a feeling of first rain. Reeking water down your new tee shirt...bleaching and staining it. The glorious black jelly floating down your back reminding you of your pet lizard slithering down ...And the smell of moist warm earth..petrol grease and deisel ..wafting through your already numb nostrils..reminding you of the fact that this is it..The first shower of the season.
Yes reminding you that the time is near for clogged drains, impromptu swimmings and boat rides ..a la venice. Reminding you of stained floors, sticky soles and the sweat and rain mixing to generate unthinkable aroma as you stand in the local..
Yes the first rainfall of monsoons....The glorious shit ..
How we live for small joys ..the small joys of cribbing against each and every tiny joy nature sends us....

Gulmohar

For those who have heard about IITB, (Who hasn't). ..there is a beautiful restaurant inside the campus called "Gulmohar". It is not the best but definitely value for money when it comes to restrained pockets of IIT junta.
In the rarified and closed academic society of IIT, this is the upscale version ..the "ritz" of students. It is one of those places where you get your sweetheart(who is most likely in IIT too) to dinner if you reaally reaaaly reaally are serious about "pataoing " her. She will appreciate what it means to be in Gulmohar when you could have given her a choice of hostel 8 or 11 ka khaana.
Also if you really want to "freak" out ..(one must realise that freaking out means khaana and daaru at cheapest rates ) ...minus the daaru bit..Gulmohar is the place.
Or if you want some nice food and have it without your hostel mates' spoon intruding in the way of your thaali..this is THE place..

I go there because of neither of the above reasons..I go there because it serves the best "crispy Chicken" in powai. And I am thankfull that I have a freind who has the same gastronomic taste as me..! Apart from the fav Crispy Chicken..we are fans of the Scheazwan Triple Fried rice..yummy.
Yesterday we visited Gulmohar and tried out the Lemon Coriander Chicken Soup ..It was great ...while i feel there should have been a bit more of lemon in it. But the aroma was perfect and like every great soup ..we could taste every separate texture of Lemon and Coriander.I feel that the chicken shredded was a spoilsport in the soup...It did not have the taste of either Lemon or coriander ..and i would have preferred a cream of chicken rather than the chicken shreds . Another thing that puts me off in a clear coup are huge debris of green corriander leaves floating around. THT is not done. Either chop it into teeny weeny peices or do not put it at all....DO u put chunks of lemon just because its a lemon soup?
The Shezwan Triple was nice but a shade lower than the Shezwan we generally expect at Gulmohar. The thing that spoiled it was Over cooking. Once the rice starts to stick to each other..u can kiss a good rice dish goodbye. But yes the juices were correct and it was served in time..So I forgive the "Sticky Rice " bit..
We were so full that we skipped the dessert but if you are really into desert ..try the brownie or better still head outside IIT to "Laxmi" for a bite of the bestest Sundae at lowest price..

All in all a great meal for 200 bucks..(in mumbai...200 ..!!!) . Wat else could an IITian ask for...