Do you have it in you?: May 2006

The entire world is right before your eyes; you just need to introspect.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Pachaas Pratishat

Newha: Hi
Me: Hi
Newha: Whats up?
Me: I am sorry, but who are you?
Newha: Dont worry about that. I just want to tell you that I am infuriated by your comments in the last blog post.
Me: I dont get you.
Newha: You said Arjun Singh gets injured in a plane accident piloted by a reserved category person.
Me: Yeah I said that....so? It was fictional anyways...but who are you?
Newha: Well fiction or not, I am tired and angry at people posting nonsense everywhere about me.
Me: You?
Newha: Yes. I am Arjun Singh by the way.
Me: What the f...err...I mean...what did you say?
Newha: I said I am Arjun Singh.
Me: Is this some kind of joke?
Newha: No.
Me: How do I trust you? And what does this funny nickname mean?
Newha: Its not a funny nickname. Its a code from the days of Da Vinci.
Me: A code? Why are you using a code?
Newha: Well I can't logon to MSN messenger with Arjun Singh as my nickname, now can I? Its a security risk.
Me: Hmm...but what does this nick mean?
Newha: Its a Rot13 code. Go to www.rot13.com and paste my nickname.
Me: Ok...wait...wow...you indeed are Arjun!
Newha: I told you. I never lie.
Me: I must say you are quite techy than I imagined you to be.
Newha: No yaar...Everyone in Delhi has a code. Its compulsory. For example, we call Sonia as Halwa and Laloo as Chaloo. Hehe.

Me: Interesting. But do you always chat with this name; so that no one identifies you?
Newha: Thats correct.
Me: Hmm...interesting...and how did you find me?
Newha: Ohh that was easy..I just googled for "I love Arjun Singh".
Me: And?
Newha: And Google showed no results.
Me: Hehe...so true...I mean...Then?
Newha: Then I searched for "I hate Arjun Singh" and suddenly many websites showed up, one being yours.
Me: I see. Anyhow, I consider myself lucky to get a chance to chat with you. I mean..who would have thought my evening could be more depressing.
Newha: Correct...wait...I am confused..what does that mean?

Me: Oh never mind. So tell me...these nationwide protests, Mandal-2, quotas and reservations...lots of stuff happening huh?
Newha: Yeah man.
Me: So what do you think?
Newha: About what?
Me: About this whole burning issue...do you think we really need 50% quota?
Newha: I dont know. Parliament has already taken a view. I am a servant of the Parliament and I am going to implement it.
Me: But, most people seem to be against it.
Newha: I dont know. Parliament has already taken a view. I am a servant of the Parliament and I am going to implement it.
Me: Do you know how many people constitute "reserved category" of the population and how many even fill up the positions?
Newha: I dont know. Parliament has already taken a view. I am a servant of the Parliament and I am going to implement it.
Me: You are not even answering my questions!!
Newha: I dont know. Parliament has already taken a view. I am a servant of the Parliament and I am going to implement it.
Me: Do you now know why people hate you?
Newha: I dont know. Parliament has ....err...what?
Me: Nothing.

Newha: Listen, dont interview me now. I have lots of work to do. By the way, can you help me with this problem: I have noticed recently that my webpage is getting too many hits. And I am getting large number of hate mails and spam mails. Do you know by any chance why?
Me: Yeah. Its obvious. Its because your webpage has your email address printed.
Newha: Oh no. What to do now?
Me: Nothing. People already know your id now.
Newha: Damn!
Me: Yeah... I know. Its too late. People have already clicked the above link and seen your email address.
Newha: Anyways, I am too stressed now. And I got to go now. Have a plane to catch.
Me: Ohh. Anything urgent?
Newha: Naah. Just going to London. To meet my children ....they study at Oxford University.
Me: Ohh. Just being curious here, but do you know ...if that univ has... by any chance ...you know...reserv
Newha: What?
Me: Never mind...you will get late. Go ahead.
Newha: Alrighty then. Have a nice time!
Me: Sure. You too. By the way, do I get to chat with you again?
Newha: I dont know. Parliament has already ....

We are sorry. Your message could not be delivered as network connection is lost and Newha has dozed off.

Labels: Chat, funny, Politics

posted by Mitesh @ 12:01 AM •

•

• Voices: 1

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The Man, the Machine n' the Moon

When I point my telescope towards the moon on a clear night, it looks somewhat like the above image. This image should be at a magnification of about 60-80X of human eye vision. At this magnification, moon looks quite different from what the naked eye shows. My telescope affords me a maximum magnification of 180X. When I see the moon at that zoom factor, oh boy! I see all those craters as if they are just an arm-distance away. The best time to look at moon is during its crescent phase because on a full moon night, its too bright at that magnification to make out surface features. Also, the best part of the moon to look at is where the Earth's shadow on it ends and the illuminated part begins. One can easily make out craters, ridges, mountains etc. at this boundary. When I showed my parents a glimpse of the moon such up and close, they were stunned. They never thought moon looks like this.

Moon is the closest celestial object to Earth and hence it is the most viewed object too. Although moon may be barren - without air, life and water, it probably is the reason why humans exist in the first place. Isaac Asimov in his famous Triple Triumph of the moon explains the significance of our moon in three important ways:

1.) Humans exist due to moon. When life started evolving on our planet, it was the oceans where it blossomed and for atleast 80% of the time since it all started, it has remained there. Its the tides caused by moon's gravity that gently pushed the sea-life towards land. Aquatic creatures slowly adapted to conditions on land and thus, after eons we can say that all the terrestrial animals and aerial birds are direct descendants of these brave chaps. Its true that even Sun causes tides, but being far its effect on oceans is much less than the moon so it alone would have probably delayed evolution by years. Actually, moon was much closer to Earth millions of years ago so this would have caused more tidal waves in the past than now. So in short, humans owe their existence to the moon, in addition to other factors.

2.) Moon caused the birth of mathematics and science. The primitive man for most part of his life ate, mated and slept but he was not that stupid - he saw patterns. He saw order amongst chaos. He saw that the sun always rose in one direction and travelled a particular band in the sky. He saw moon taking same shapes every once in a while. These were patterns that begged to be understood and marvelled at. And he did unravel these mysterious patterns. He made calendars - days, months, seasons and years. Some primitive civilizations had lunar-based calendars although solar-based calendars are now the de-facto. From calendars and observations of stars/planets came mathematics, astronomy (and sadly, astrology). There is every reason to believe that Moon inspired our thinking brains to think further.

3.) Moon is a stepping-stone to space exploration. If you keep a toy 6 feet above a child's head expecting him to reach out and stand, then forget it - it won't even motivate him to try. But if you keep the toy say 1 feet above, he will make an attempt to grab it. Ditto with moon. If there were no moon, the closest object would be Venus which is what, 25 million miles away from us(!) and hence much less of a motivator. Moon with just a quarter million miles away, motivated us, beckoned us and made us step out. Its been there in the sky every night for millions of years and have made us always wonder "whats over there? who lives there?...I want to go there one day".

Clearly the moon plays a huge role in our lives. The last man on the moon was in 1972 on board Apollo 17. Yes, since the last 35 years or so, no one has set foot there even though few unmanned missions have been sent. Why? You can say that most things that were there to know about the moon were already known by then. Several men had landed on different spots, carried out various experiments, brought back an assortment of rock samples and besides, the space race to be the first on moon was already won by NASA in 1969. It could also have been expensive to keep sending astronauts to moon when so much information was already obtained. So the attention shifted to Mars and other planets.

Apart from US, only Soviet Union and Japan have sent missions to moon, although none were manned. China and India are expected to be next countries to send unmanned lunar missions. Even US, Europe and Japan have announced plans to send expeditions to moon. ISRO's Chandrayaan mission is slated to be launched in 2007-2008, with a life span of 2 years. Primary goals of Chandrayaan among others, would be to remotely map the moon in minerals and topology, probe polar regions for traces of water, collect valuable scientific data (first for Indian scientists) and establish deep space network communication.

So whats with the renewed interest suddenly among everyone? There can be many reasons - rise of economies in some countries, quest to research more about moon as a possible fuel source, greater understanding of our solar system and our origins due to new insights in other fields. But whats in it for India? Some people criticize saying when so much is known about the moon, then why is India wasting precious money (~Rs. 380 crores) in this mission instead of concentrating on other issues like reducing poverty, increasing literacy etc.? I consider them wrong for these reasons:

* India cannot directly send missions to planets and outer space. Moon is a test-bed. Thats the way NASA and other space agencies have grown too. Sending missions like Chandrayaan increases India's scientific and technological know-how. Not only that, it will boost the economy. For example, NASA's research over the years has spurred aerospace industry in US which in turn has generated wealth and provided employment (Look at companies like Lockheed Martin, GE, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Sciences etc). But above and apart from all the national benefits, India's mission to the moon and future missions to other planets will be a contribution to mankind in general.

* It is estimated that Moon has a million tonne of Helium-3 isotope (rare on Earth) in the form of mineral Ilmenite, a possible fuel source that if harvested, can satisfy Earth's energy needs for thousands of years (but yes, the technology to do it is faraway as of now). Besides, it can also help power future spacecrafts. Detecting water on moon (if any) will help envision future plans to extract it for our benefits.

* ISRO already has sent several satellites especially the INSAT and IRS series which serve so many areas - we have EDUSAT devoted to educational purposes, OCEANSAT for meteorology & weather prediction, CARTOSAT for cartographers and city planners besides satellites for monitoring borders, navigational purposes, data communication satellites for live transmission, remote sensing satellites (minerals, underground water) etc. Its amazing when you consider the stuff ISRO has done for the Indian society, keeping in mind its low budget of around US $700 million (compared to billions in US, Japan, China and the likes). While it will continue to enrich the lives of Indian citizens, the next obvious step is to go for space science, given the opportunity and the capability. This mission is prestigious for the country and will make others stand up and look at India as never before. But it is certainly not going to re-invent the wheel as some critics speculate.

* India is going to use a modified-PSLV launch vehicle for Chandrayaan. This has been built indigineously and is a big test for the scientists' efforts. Although India has many polar and geo-synchronous satellites, she hasn't gone beyond that. This mission marks her first foray into outer space.

* Successful mission to moon will inspire kids and younger generation to consider astronomy, physics, aeronautics etc. as their career path. This is good for ISRO's own future.

ISRO currently maintains that its not looking at manned missions and its probably because of tremendous costs associated with it, since we do have the technology for it. But things might change in future and with international co-operation, manned missions are certainly possible. By sending Chandrayaan, India is already exceeding the vision of her space pioneer - Dr. Vikram Sarabhai:

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society." - Dr. Sarabhai.

I fully support ISRO's vision and am patiently waiting for the day Chandrayaan launches. I, for one, will stand up and salute my country and her scientists the day the mission succeeds. I think it will be the day when all Indians should look at the skies and feel proud of the achievements. We should not forget that India is at this advanced stage within just 60 years of independence.

Labels: Astronomy, India, Inspirational, NASA, Science, Space Travel

posted by Mitesh @ 10:37 PM •

•

• Voices: 0

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Of NRI's

I would like to quote some observations about NRI's, at the risk of *generalizing*:

* NRI's discuss loudly with other NRI's about how evil the Indian politics is, how painful it is to get a simple work done in India and how cheap the value of life is. Then their discussion ends and they go to bed.

* NRI's frequently curse the junk food that they subject themselves to eat and keep dreaming about the lovely home-made Indian food they are missing out.

* NRI's read Indian news daily to keep themselves abreast of latest developments in India. They also regularly watch Indian movies, continue to go to Indian stores to buy stuff and continue to watch the extra $15/month StarTV and ZeeTV. They continue to meet other NRI's at a party or a get-together and discuss the happenings in India. As time goes by in their adopted country, they soon get settled with their jobs (more or less), have kids going to school (more or less), own cars (definitely), continue to pay off 15-year loan of their house every month and maybe even have a small side-business with members of their extended family. Then, lightning strikes and they realize they are really missing India and wanna go back. But another thunderbolt hits them when they realize its now too late OR too bold OR both.

* NRI's suffer from X=X+1 syndrome; they keep delaying returning back to India by one year. But she never stops tugging at their heart.

Well, after reading that if you thought NRI's are confused bunch of people who are unable to make a decision, read on:

* NRI's are the real ambassadors of India. People of other countries will not go to the Indian consulate abroad to find out about India. Nor will all of them search online. Its sometimes easier to ask their Indian colleague over a cup of coffee. NRI's represent India and they answer all their questions - "Do all Indians speak Hindu?", "Tell me something about caste system in India", "Do all Indians make such spicy food?". Its NRI's who explain to them that Hindi is the language and Hindu is the religion.

* NRI's send money back to India which is indirectly helping India's foreign currency reserve go up. Indirectly because thats not the intention with which the son or daughter sends the money. But nevertheless, NRI's are helping the economy grow.

* NRI's are an inspiration to kids...I am not talking about NRI's from average or better-than-average families of cities and metropolitans, where it is not a big deal as there is a person from just about any family in US or elsewhere. I am talking about lesser developed towns, villages and remote districts. Going abroad may not look like a big deal for the NRI's themselves after some time, but it is viewed as an achievement by families, relatives and relatives' relatives of yesteryears. Kids are shown repeatedly the example of a NRI and how successful his/her path is. If these kids work their way up in life with that dream, they will achieve a lot of success on their way, even if they may not manage to go abroad (forcing an idea on a kid, making him think your way always, can shun him from following his creative ideas; but thats the topic of a different post).

* And the most important thing - NRI's get a chance to see the best of both worlds. Staying away from friends and family in a distant country is a great experience - not only does one start living and thinking independently, s/he gets to see India from a distance. NRI's realize sooner or later whats good for their country and whats not, whats needed and whats not, whats being done right and whats wrong. And even if a small amount of NRI's (yes, even a small amount) do return back with the intention of improving things, its a big plus. Lets face it - India is not the best country, nor is US or UK. Some things are good here, some there. Why not combine it and make life enriching? There is tremendous opportunity for development of India and even a life is not enough.

The world is right before our eyes; we just need to introspect.

Labels: India, Me, NRI, US

posted by Mitesh @ 3:48 PM •

•

• Voices: 9

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Learn Chinese

First step to learn Chinese: Read the following words.

Can't decipher it? Well, pull the corners of your eye outwards like a native Chinese. Now read again :-)

(*email fwd*)

Labels: China, funny, Illusion

posted by Mitesh @ 7:35 PM •

•

• Voices: 4

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Geography lessons for Americans?

(click to enlarge)
Thats a very funny image of how New Yorkers view the rest of the world. Of course it is exaggerated, but I never thought it might have little bit of truth to it until I read the recent study conducted amongst Americans between ages 18-24.

According to the study,

* Nearly 63% cannot locate Iraq on a map.
* 88% can't find Afghanistan.
* 75% can't find Iran or Israel.
* 47% couldn't find Indian subcontinent.
* 6 in 10 people didnt know that the border between North and South Korea is most fortified border in the world.
Also, 30% thought the most fortified border is US-Mexico (Thats a huge irony, considering the latest immigration issues between US and Mexico :-)

And something shocking:
* 33% dont know where the state of Louisiana is; where hurricane Katrina hit just few months ago.

However something to ponder upon is that the number of people surveyed above was just 510. I think thats a small sample set to make generalizations.

Oh, by the way, the CNN link has 3 geography quizzes (?). Damn, they are toughies...I was once a scholar in geography, you know. But here, I scored 5 out of 6 on the Beginners quiz, 2 out of 6 in Intermediate and just 1 out of 5 in Advanced quiz. :-(

(Image Courtesy: Ramesh Jain from Gatech)

Labels: funny, Polls, US

posted by Mitesh @ 12:18 AM •

•

• Voices: 2

About Me