Cause

Not for the contracts, not for the vision, not for professionalism, not for careers, not for any of the politically correct terms...

But for the love of it... Just the way it was meant to be...

Poetry ...

There is something poetic about a spin bowler. Something romantic in the art itself. Fast bowling is simple, aim for the head/toe and hope the batsman lives... Spin bowling its less violent cousin, is different. On the face of it, you can post every ball bowled by a spin bowler into the stands. The most common comment when an American (read: a person not really exposed to cricket) sees a spin bowler is, what's so difficult in hitting him out of the park.

There lies the poetry, the romance. The ball is in the air, hanging, almost deciding whether it wants to reach the other end and eventually wants to give it a try, almost as if saying "eh! what the hell.. I might as well go through", then it travels and at the last moment decides against staying in the air any longer and dips as if it hit a wall and then it hits the ground and turns and the batsman all this time is waiting, thinking, "oh... this is too easy"... but the poor guy, ... for he does not understand the art... It might not scare him, make him think of his family, insurance and all... but it will certainly put the fear of god in him, for no man wants to look as foolish as this....

Words

Rebellion, leadership, courage, bravery yada and yada, are normally terms people like to read in books or see on television. No one wants to deal with it. No one wants to do anything with any of these terms. The general populace seeks a limbo...

No one really likes to see something while it is being fixed. People only want to see the end directly and want a nice story to listen and tell. And yeah, they really do not want to be part of the fixing process. Just give the story.

Times I am reminded of the song Californication.

Destruction leads to a very rough road ....
... but it also breeds creation....

Semblance

And that's it, we are on the verge of losing the last remaining semblance of rationality...

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/uga/stories/2009/03/27/matthew_stafford_nfl_draft.html

Clearly, the man is not fit to play American football.

Team Player

There are two people in the Indian cricket team, who I personally believe, would not feature in the national cricket team of any other country in the world. VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag, two people who I feel are completely irrational, live in their own world and well, do what they want irrespective of whether it fits the politically correct vision statements. Both of them are exponents of art. In a different time, in a different place, a different team they would not have made the cut, they would have been considered "not a team player" and yada and yada. But if everyone is a team player I guess we would have never made it where we are. The team player owes his/her existence to the one who never followed the rules. The one who had the rules bent. The one who took his/her time. The one who thought there was something wrong with the way people went about business. The one to whom we owe everything around us...

Professionally Artistic

Quite an oxymoron if you think.

Public Relations

... a fancy word for how to deal with people who do not listen to reason.

Academic Curiousity

Pining on the cliché, there are two types of people. One who are academically curious, other who are not. The one who are not academically curious are always wondering why people who are academically curious do what they do. And often they find that why are people wasting so much time, energy and money in doing something which at the current moment does not seem to have any tangible benefits. Why cannot they just be "normal" and do something which "contributes" to the world and people around them. All the while driving a car, or checking their email, or listening to music on their latest iPod.

Ignoring the very fact that if every generation stopped at what was handed down and did nothing which was considered meaningless and pointless, we would not have been where we are. Often it is forgotten that a lot of pointless work has gone through before we have reached a point at which we are today, for anything and everything which we use today.

If everyone did what is considered by everyone else as meaningful and contributory to the world, mankind would stagnate and collapse and well... life would become rather pointless.

Creation..

..to add is to do something finite. To create, to initiate, to conceptualise, no matter how small, or moribund... is infinite. It is something only he who creates will understand. The originality of effort. The novelty of thought. The creator does not care about numbers, the creator does not worry about the profits. His satisfaction lies in the fact that he has created something. Therein lies the victory. Perpetuation and growth are the motives of the uninspired. Of the meek.

For all the scorn, the mockery the first timer faces. It is to him we owe our existence.

The day everyone accepts it, will be the day mankind will implode..

Delusional

I always believed work, jobs, technology, amenities, governments, economies, sports, medicine, entertainments, literature, yada and yada existed so as to make our lives more content and happier. A belief-system which is receiving a stiff beating from civilisation as we know it today.

I live in Wisconsin right now, a place which I personally believe competes with a lava spewing volcano and a pit full of venomous snakes for a rank on the top holidaying spots in the world. It is cold. Eight letters which never could have been truer.

So when faced with a spell of unexpectedly balmy weather, I got thinking, we always receive a snow day off, or when it is too cold to come to work/classes, or it is raining too much.and things are getting flooded. Why do we not receive a day off when the weather is amazing (read as humane). Looking in a more fundamental manner, even the snow days are given because the lives of the employees might be threatened, and not out of some benevolence for the employees. If people devised a way to transport themselves from one place to another, without being at the mercy of the elements, we can promptly kiss snow days goodbye.

So the concept of getting a sun-day really evokes a fundamental question, do we work to live or have the roles been switched? In the rush of achieving targets and profits we have forgotten the fundamental premise and reason for work. I know I might receive pages full of people rambling about identifying themselves through their work (something, with no offense, I feel means, their own identity is too weak, their own psyche is too dependent on an external system without which their value in their own eyes is zilch). Still the question begs an answer, why today we have to take a hit on our employment record if we call up our work and say, the weather's great, I am taking a day off in lieu of all the crappy days I have worked on. Why are people expected to stay indoors and do run of the mill jobs. I can understand emergency services, but accountants, clerks, teachers, students etc. why are they required to make themselves breathe canned air and look with the help of artificial light. I can see people penning down the reason you do not have to, you can quit if you want, no one is forcing you, yada and yada. But why can we not be judged for not wanting to make ourselves miserable. Why can we not be evaluated for our thoughts, aspirations, creativity and work, rather than the mindlessness we are able to display on a regular basis. Why is contentment and happiness no longer the true pursuits of happiness. Why do we need 2000 words to describe what do you want to do in life. All said and done is it not in the end a pursuit of happiness, mental peace and contentment?

I find myself more and more disconnected with the reasons and machinations of the world.

Watch it !

A watched pot never cooks.. an unwatched pot on the other hand will burn...

.. Self

(though I have a feeling it is fairly obvious and there might be someone else who came up with it)

Internet

I am studying, old fashioned, from a book. My computer is turned off. I come across something which makes me want to look up some online resource posted by the faculty member. I turn on my computer.

I forget what I came to look for. I find facebook, youtube, blogger, wikipedia and a series of tubes.

There is always a fact to be verified on wikipedia, a notification on facebook to be responded to, a viral youtube video to watch and an xkcd/phd comic to be read and discussed.

I long for the times when internet was a series of narrower tubes with smaller tanks :)

A bit of..

.. breeze..

Killer continued

Did you hear about the guy who came out of the closet?

They say he walked out with gay abandon.

;-)

This was a triumph!

Political..

..speeches in the US.

A combination of the following words.

Security, Patriotic, Real America, Hard working, Hockey Mom, Small Town, Socialist, Moslem, Lipstick, Pig, Job, Economy, 9/11, eye-rack, eye-ran, NUCULAR (sic),

.. interspersed with a smattering of nouns and verbs.

Ridiculous..

.. has a new definition.

This just might be it..

at least for the time being, till we come up with something better...

More Redundancy

After years of waiting, we have finally managed to make this path breaking discovery.

http://www.livescience.com/culture/081009-babies-music.html

Is it not amazing, for once we can say with certainty how our babies are feeling while listening to music. Forget hunger, war and famine and energy those are peripheral problems. This is the path breaking stuff that mankind has been waiting for all the while.

We should push for more funding for such studies. We need our best people on the problem...

Bah!

Best..

.. time to lock yourself out of your office?

After midnight.... and before day break.

Wikipedia...

Amistad (the movie) --> Powdered Wigs --> Wigs --> Tirupati --> Hinduism --> Shiva --> Mt. Kailash --> Nude sherpa on Everest --> Mt. Everest --> Eight-Thousanders --> Mt. K2 --> Jerzy Kukuczka.

Jerzy Kukuczka and Amistad ... go figure the relation.

(oh well ...)

... also losing

.. our ability to communicate!

Maturity ..

.. need not come with age.

Wisdom and tolerance has no correlation with the position one holds.

Sigh!!

They are fighting like high school students, trying to show who is cooler...

Somethings might never change..

Critical..

..Mass: Mass of unwashed Clothes, needed before it can sustain life on its own.

..Time: Length of Time that you can go without washing the pile of dishes in the kitchen sink and not risk eviction.

..Height: The maximum height of plates and dishes in the sink that is achievable before the whole system tips over.

Nice...

If used by a guy: I really do not care a lot for what you just told me, but then, you are hot enough that I would like continue to this conversation and I had to say something.

If used by a girl: I really do not care a lot for what you just told me, so you better be really hot, or say something good to interest me, if you keep expecting I to speak with you.

Losing

our Freedom!

We are on the way!

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-5_lifestyle_activities_that_can_get_you_fired-427

Well... It was expected.. The book was not very off the mark!...

Things

are changing. Slowly, ever so slightly.

But yes! :)

Change?

Bruno Big!!

Bruno Strong!!!

Bruno Win!!!

Sigh.................

Cake

This takes it.

I was required to show my age-proof at walmart to buy some superglue.

Apparently, they do not want children to sniff glue.

I seen everything. I love this country.

Fraction

Funny,

2/3rd of an advice is actually vice.

Fractions were never truer.

One Step

I just had a bit of a hassle with a Trojan downloader on my computer. I had to go down to editing the OS registry entries to get it out. It turned out to be a wee bit tougher than the run of the mill virus/worms.

Its better now and I have managed to solve the problem. But, it brought to mind this comic published on xkcd.

http://xkcd.com/251/

Paraphrasing the comic, Sure, I may have won today, but, I also feel, I am also one step closer to a man-(machine/computer) war.

Sigh!!, Never thought I would say this, Although a bit un-related to the present case, but the vision envisaged in I-Robot, does not now seem all that surreal.

Who Says

Time and again I am reminded of the Tata Safari Advertisement which says

Who says slavery is dead, you just stopped recognising it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOQWA-S26Q&feature=related

Reclaim your life!!!

p.s.

This post was originally made in October 2006. I recently found the youtube video for the advertisement., hence the reposting.

Beauties

Normally, I am averse to writing posts about the day to day happenings in my life. But this one truly calls for a celebration.

I made vegetable puffs. And Trust me they came out to be beauties. Not to mention they taste amazing.

Ole!

Sex, Pregnancy Link Found

In a major discovery which might usher in a totally new horizon in the world of science, a major correlation has been observed between sex and pregnancy. Sounds quite fantastic, but that is what the scientists at the University of Quackland at Moron are saying. Reproductologist Cretin Mooncalf in his latest sensational paper which is soon going to be published in Journal of Charlatan Sciences has suggested that in the 1823 subjects he and his team of graduate students studied, a major correlation has been observed been observed between the subject having been part of a sex intercourse and having become pregnant. The study which has come as a shock to many proponents of the "Stork and Sling Theory" says that the processes involved in a sexual intercourse might be the real reason behind a woman becoming pregnant. Though Prof. Mooncalf, also goes onto the state that it is not necessary that a woman who has had sex becomes pregnant, but statistically it has been observed that the reverse is definitely true. That is there has been no subject till now, who has been found pregnant and has not been a part of a sexual intercourse. It was observed that 85.23% of the women having sex were seen to become pregnant.

Prof. Mooncalf is now in the process of writing up a new grant proposal requesting additional funding for his study which he wishes to perform the study on a greater sample size with additional control factors which might include trying to find if any other factors, like diet, sleeping patterns and family size were at all inducing their pregnancy. The research proposal created quite a brouhaha in the parliament and led to the adjournment of the session on account of violent behaviour of a few members who were completely against the conduction of such a study. And it remains to be seen whether a study of such paramount importance is conducted. Till then we might as well believe in the Stork Theory. This is Dorothy McMahon signing off on BXN News Network. Bringing you quality news since 1845.

p.s.

This is a piece of fiction. But given the redundancy of the studies being conducted nowadays to link anything and anything, and what is being perceived as news being I thought I might as well begin with the obvious. This article is inspired by these two articles.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAN/tb/9191

http://www.rxpgnews.com/specialtopics/oddmedicalnews/article_4168.shtml

This is a follow up to an older post of mine relating to the same issue.

Queer

How Bill Gates is blasted for his Request of Visa Relaxation and Support of Outsourcing, which is followed by how American Security is compromised because of Outsourcing of Defense Contracts which is followed a Report on how someone is being convicted for supposedly owning a gun (when really he was convicted for lending it to someone) to "protect" himself and his freedom is being compromised.

After seeing it on primetime news, I find CNN's ordering of news reports quite interesting. Not to mention how they conspicuously manage to veneer away from the topic at hand and rant about on the usual rhetoric.

And Curiously

Devil is the reverse of Lived.

Go figure!

Evil

is the reverse of Live!!

Funny...

Why

you laugh a lot once you come to the USA

http://www.kenoshanews.com/article_comments/view_comments.php?articleNum=2461489

Questions..

There are times, events, happenings which make me question...

I am confused...

Lost

Eye

of the Tiger

Satiation

I am currently pursuing my graduate studies in Nuclear Engineering. Every time I tell someone what I do, I get only two responses,

Wow Nuclear!!!… So going to solve the energy crisis.

or

Hm.. Nuclear eh!! Gonna make more bombs.

Definitely not bombs, but yes I would love to work on the energy problem.

The whole issue made me think. Pretty much everyone is of the opinion, the day we conquer fusion, all our woes for energy will be perma-solved for eternity. Yes maybe we will be better off on the energy side. But the main question is how long.

Human requirement for energy started with fire for cooking. Then for tool making, then over the course of the millennia came the industrial revolution, which really jump started the requirements. And we began to look for better sources than wood. Coal and petroleum came out as the worthy options. It must have been thought at the beginning of the industrial revolution "The day we are able to use Petroleum to its max potential we will forever solve our issues".

Which brings up the main question. Our perception of enough or the ultimate is always based on our current requirements. So now we have a situation where the solution from yesterday is no longer enough and we are looking for better options.

Yes in the near future hopefully we will be able to conquer Nuclear Fusion. But who knows how long we may remain satiated.

Also, the processes and mechanisms we develop are always developed in a manner to use the available resources to the max or even exceed them. It is like computer games, the hardware is never just enough for the latest version of Halo. So once we get over fusion, the whole energy consumption curve might require new functions to describe its upward trend. But eventually given humans’ previous track record we are bound to run out of it and want something new. Who knows maybe even a few hundred years down the lane fusion is also seen as a polluting source with a change in the definition of pollution. Maybe then something called Quarkular Implosion might be the problem to work on.

Who knows!! What the future of it may be…

JOY

Evolution

I always thought, the press stood for freedom. Well even though in cases it too gets bogged down by politics. But nevertheless, it stood for freedom and always fought for the right to know and let everyone know. So the drama over curbing essential press freedom and rights took me by surprise and made me think about the whole issue of freedom in general.

Humans essentially came out of animals. The animal kingdom as most of us will know has little or no restrictions on personal freedom. Well at least when compared to humans. As humans evolved out of the animalia we grew into a social structure with its sets of do’s and do not’s. Over the millennia this list has kept growing. And today we have a structure which at best can be described messed up and logic defying. But its no denying that we have grown from a stage where we could do almost everything we wanted to do to a situation where there are rules guiding every aspect of behaviour. Take the course of mating. Its simple in animals. If I look good, if I am strong, I get lucky. Someone feels he wants the chick I sleeping with; we fight it out in plain old fashion. Simple, not very complicated. And well mating rules in humans lets not get into it leave it to the Psych-PhD’s. And even they have undergone a sea-change over the millennia and are currently at a point where its almost impossible to clearly understand the ground rules now.

All this made me think, does social evolution necessarily lead to increased curbs and lesser satisfaction and the feeling of being disturbed. Also, do we necessarily benefit from all this evolution? To think about it, the countries which on a conventional standard of development, are more developed do have more restrictions on their behaviour. Yes on paper, they do have more freedom, but also they have more rules and guidelines. They are that much more parameters to think about. And in the so-called lesser developed ones we have more freedom. Even if that means its used still in a manner akin to the animal kingdom. But we have we have more freedom on an absolute level. Lesser aspects to worry about and control. Also, it’s a known fact which is even pretty much proven by conventional scientific methods, people in the “lesser developed” places appear a lot more content with the deal they received even in the light of all the struggles for survival when compared to the developed ones where people appear to have a general sense of personal discontentment.

Which brings up to the essential question: Are we moving towards a society which is less and less free on an individual level? Where everyone flows in the general direction and no one with a mind of his/her own. The thought conjures up the early 90’s movie Demolition Man and how it’s envisaged the future as being a society where all natural human instincts are controlled, curbed and restricted.

Scary! Should we really chase Utopia?

I long to be proven false.

Questions

Are you from India?

...Yeah...

Which state?

... (...pause... damn.. are you not happy with the fact that I am Indian?)

Standstill

One Billion!!

One Moment.. everything ceased to exist...

The pause!!!

Agony... ecstasy.. Joy.. Disappointment ...

Victory!!!

We Won!

Sanity on the way?

I am not one to rant on about political correctedness and yada yada!!

But, I came across this piece of writing and it was heartening to see something of this sort is actually the reality now. Maybe, inch by inch we are getting closer to utopia. The ideal, a world where religion is only as important in decisions as say the colour of one's shirt.

I quote Mukul Kesavan from his post after the India Pakistan 20/20 final

It is a world where Muslims, Hindus and a Sikh currently play for England, where Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and a Hindu play for Sri Lanka, where Hashim Amla turns out for South Africa, where a Patel plays for New Zealand, where Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Hindus play (and have always played) for India.

Though the context in which he quoted that was actually based on propagation of communalism. But the fact that such a situation is the reality is something which is good to hear.

Maybe, just maybe for all my cynicism, I would love to be proven wrong!!

Utopia here we come.

Playing Games

It irritates me no end, that we often choose to read a selective version of the truth. The news channels were all ringing with the oh! so abhorable act by the Hisbullah by realeasing a video game modelled on the Lebanon war, where the players have to kill Israeli Soldiers.

Yes, it was despicable and it is despicable playing with the minds of children. But like often, I guess the Hisbullah are not really the inventors of such a strategy. Thinking back, I remember playing a version of the video game called Cuba back in India when I was a kid. And I guess at that time the Americans can too be accused of such a strategy of releasing a video game to brainwash children into believing that whom they purport as evil are actually evil.

I mean for all the media revolution, I feel it is all a load of bollocks. Public opinion is the result of the actions of the media. What they choose to report or shall I say allowed to report is the main deciding factor behind what the public feel. So much for democracy.

Disgusting!

Capitalism or Cartelism?

No such thing as Capitalism has ever existed, its always been Cartelism.

Sigh!! .. For all the brouhaha about free markets....

Advantage

Cynicism does have a Statistical and Historical Advantage.

Killer - III

Why is Michael Jackson's toilet so expensive?

Coz... Its a Jack-POT!!

Killer - II

1. A pigeon and a hen were sitting together. The pigeon flies away, the hen dies. Why?

A. Bird Flew!

2. What do you call a goodlooking Equadorean insect?

A. Kate Moss-Quito.

3. What do internet addicts have for lunch and dinner?

A. e-meals.

4. What do you call a hep and happening electronic component?

A. Diude (diode+dude).

Bordering

Fringes of Misanthropy!

It Dawns

Realisation...

We are just keeping ourselves busy while we are at it...

Limitation

The problem with Philosophy is, I guess, anyone can..

Philosophise.

Packaged Tours!

The Critics Came Down Heavily on the Poor Acting...

This is one line which I come across frequently while reading movie reviews. About how poor acting in general or of a particular actor was in some movie.

It made me think. What constitutes a good actor? A rational chain of thought would point to the fact that, any actor who can potray a character and an emotion realistically is a good actor.

Which brings me to the point, in real life most of the people are not the most articulate of the ones. Generally are not ones who would react perfectly to some incident. Characters pertaining to someone living in a slum or in a chawl or for that matter anywhere are not the most lucid ones one would come across in life.

A sneak peak into the real life people would make most realise that what generally constitutes bad acting is what happens in reality. People generally find it difficult to convey how they really feel in reality by the words they use, the expressions they have on their face. Real life is ad-libbed. People just react on the spur of the moment. So saying a certain actor was very good, because every facial expression of his conveyed every emotion he was in, sounds imperfect in the sense that it is too perfect. Which I guess is never the case in real life.

So the snarl which Viviek(ha!) Oberai carries on his face throughout the movie Shootout at Lokhandwala might be conveying the internal emotion of Maya Dolas, but I doubt if he conveyed truly how Maya Dolas was in real life. Which I feel is the real job of an actor. To potray how a person was in real life. Without meeting the actual character, to judge that someone acted good/bad maybe becomes a tad.. well trigger happy.

So by the conventional definition of a good actor, all around us, everyone in this world is able to convey every emotion he/she feel through the words he/she chooses, the way he/she speaks and his/her body language.

Well if that is the case, I guess... Welcome to Utopia.

p.s

In retrospect, I feel, if people acted in movies the way they are in real life, I guess it would be a waste and totally non entertaining. And would take the whole thrill out of watching movies. But I sincerely feel, that people stop comparing films with real life then. And in the process stop branding certain actors as good and certain as bad. Maybe, just maybe the guy branded the most boring actor actually managed to convey how a real person might react in real time, even though in-advertantly. But then he did his job required of the logically true definition of a good actor.

You Blew it up!!! God .. Damn You

For all said and done about the ICC's way of functioning and the tomfoolery they have been indulging in, I keep on getting reminded of the last scene of the 1968 movie, Planet of the Apes.

With Charlton Heston after leaving the ape society, finds a half buried Statue of Liberty and realises all that might have been committed by the human society.

I guess we are not far from that day!! as far as cricket is concerned.

When deep into the future we realise all that we have committed.

I ache to see the spontaneity of the game again. I ache to see politically unconcerned guile of passionate cricketer once again.

I feel sad, it has been a game I have always loved and felt passionate about.

Madness!

Madness has its merits. Madness is creative, non chalant of the situation, unfettered in chaos and distress. Madness can imagine, visualise and most of all execute. There is always a certain amount of method in madness, a certain portion of genius. For all the sane people in this world 206/5 chasing 210 with 5 overs pending would have been all but over. After all they are sane. They are realistic is what they would put it as. But not for the insane, for the mad. The mad choose to believe that they can take 4 wickets in four balls. The mad choose to execute it. Its the method in madness which keeps it mad. The plan in it. The imagination it has.

Its the madness which has brought us where we are today. Its madness which helps us go places where no one has been before. Its the madness which keeps us sane. Keeps us alive and the game alive. There was a madman who said it was the hand of god which won Argentina the world cup. It was the same madman who could imagine to run from his half to the other all on his own and shoot and strike with the sane doing nothing but revere and wince at the madness.

Madness is the life of life.

Killer!

How is Sheersaasan defined in English??

Bottoms UP!

Of Math, Possibilities, The World Cup and Neural Networks

I love mathematics. Its a funny subject. It gives everyone a chance, at least a mathematical one. For mathematics was one subject I used to rely on while in school and college. It helped me a lot in calculating what are my chances of scrapping through. How many marks I needed to secure a certain percentage of marks in the larger picture (now don't expect me to reveal what the targets were). Nevertheless, coming back to the point of math giving a chance to everyone. Take the case of the ongoing world cup in the Caribbean. Specifically group B, with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda being a part of it.

No Team Played Won Lost Points NRR
1 Sri Lanka 2 2 0 4 +4.59
2 India 2 1 1 2 +2.46
3 Bangladesh 2 1 1 2 -2.00
4 Bermuda 2 2 0 0 -5.00

Now technically most with a sane mind would only focus on the upcoming India SL match and the result of that match would more or less be the deciding factor for who makes it to the next round namely India or Bangladesh (on a personal note, I am saddened that such a situation arose)

But not mathematicians. Mathematicians are anything but sane.
Here are a few mathematical possibilities

Case 1
India Win Against SL

Sub Case 1.1
Bangladesh Lose to Bermuda
India Goes through, not much math required in that, simple pointing.

Case 2
India Win Against SL by say 50 runs or about 5 wickets

Sub Case 2.1
Bangladesh Win against Bermuda, but not by a big margin. India goes through.

Sub Case 2.2
Bangladesh Win against Bermuda, but by a margin of 400 runs. Well Indians pack the bags.

Now here are the more interesting possibilities.

Case 3
India Lose to SL by a margin of say 50 run or about 5 wickets or something less.

Sub Case 3.1
Bangladesh too loses to Bermuda, and by a big margin, say about 1000 runs or finish off a target of 600 runs in 20 overs. Funny though it’s both India and Bangladesh who pack their bags and Bermuda goes through.

Sub Case 3.2
Bangladesh loses to Bermuda, but by a narrower margin, say about 50 runs. India again funnily goes through to the next round.

Sub Case 3.3
Bangladesh Win and go through to the next round on simple pointing.

Sub Case 3.4
Bangladesh Lose but do enough to overcome India’s Net Run Rate and go through.

Case 4

India Beat SL By a margin of say 1000 runs

Here is the funniest

Case 4.1

Bangladesh beats Bermuda by a Margin of 1000 runs and overtakes SL on net run rate and its India and Bangladesh which go through.

I guess no one but maths could have given a chance to the Bermudans. I honestly feel if any Bermudan politician reads this, and if they make politicians anywhere near the quality they make here in India, he/she would surely make maths the national subject of Bermuda and devote a lot of money for the development of Math in Bermuda which would involve unveiling of Busts of Aryabhatha, Bhaskara and a statue John Nash with of course John Nash pointing his finger into eternity asking dogs to carry out their business somewhere else. Making maths a compulsory subject from the time a child is a mother’s womb. Making sure that 8 out of 5 people in Bermuda are math literate and lastly but not least, certainly not least, confer upon me an award for upholding the pride of Bermuda and thinking and writing about a possibility where they at least theoretically could rub shoulders with the best in cricket (namely Ireland).

So for once lets stand up and applaud all the work done by mathematicians over the years.

p.s

Honestly, its good the concept of drawn matches is not as prevalent in Cricket as in say Football. Else, we would have required a full-fledged neural networks model to count the possibilities arising from the various situations.

Symbolic

I sat up till 5 in the morning watching the Pakistan-Ireland match. One of the scenes flashed on the screen as the match finished was that of Bob Woolmer packing his stuff, putting his laptop into his bag, putting in his papers lying around.

That was the last live image of Bob Woolmer I saw. I guess some things are symbolic of the events to come in future. Sad that a coach as good as Bob left on one of the lowest points of his career. Pakistan as a team I felt did not do justice to his talent. It was almost as if a pilot flying around in F-23 all his life was handed a bullock cart to roam around. In my 22 year life so far I have not seen a team as uncouth and uncivilised as the Pakistanis. Everything said and done about their talent, unpredictability and killer spirit. I really feel they are still a bunch of tribals. Stranded somewhere in the course of evolution. Both emotional and mental.

I am not the most sensitive of people and definitely not one to rant about writing orbituaries. Still I felt a pang of sadness and shock set upon me as I read on cricinfo about the death of this amazing leader.

May his soul rest in peace.

The Joy of Being Small

I am an Indian. I was thoroughly disappointed to have seen India lose to Bangladesh today. Today seems to be a day of sorts when the Davids killed the Goliaths by the Dozen. Hopefully India still have a chance to bounce back in the world cup.

But it was something which was obviously noticeable. The expressions even before the match on the faces of the Irish, the Bangla, the Pakistanis and the Indians. Of course before the match no one with a sane head even gave a thought about the Irish and the Bangla. Still the expressions on the faces of the Indians and Pakistanis even before the match began showed something was amiss. People bogged down by their own expectations. The weight of 1000's of one dayers they played. The thoughts of endorsments contracts back home. There appeared ego battles taking place. Whereas the Bangla and the Irish appeared to enjoy the moment thoroughly. And to think that most of the Irish lead a full time agrarian or pastoral life and are not even full time professionals.

I feel the main reason why we won the 1983 world cup was that we enjoyed outselves during the thing. It was the enjoyment which was there even during the 2003 world cup amongst the Indians, even though we lost the final, we came out as winners in spirit.

It is something that comes the joy of being small. Not small in stature, but small in arrogance, small in ego and small in expections and wants. The joy of being happy with what you are doing. I sincerely hope that our team finds back that joy, something which I really felt was missing during out first encounter. And as far as Pakistanis are concerned, they have epitomised the subcontinental mentality. Their faces on the field looked anything but the inspired and happy faces of 1992. When again we had an Inzamam, an Akram in their early 20's enjoying what they did. Without any endorsments to think about. Without thinking what is going to come after. Just singing for the moment.

As Nike puts it, Just Do IT. I guess the Irish and the Bangla Just DID IT,

Freedom?

So much being said about the fact, the layman will get a voice and platform to speak up on with blogs et al. I feel little has changed. Blogging has been reduced to a cult activity, with everyone vying to be listed as a "Blogs I Read" on the more popular ones.

The blogger polls seem a bigger farce with limited number of participants their followers, friends voting and recommending. In the end not much has changed. Not much will change, humans will have a tendency of forming groups, ghettoes, and parties. True freedom of speech will never be attained. A true unbiased platform for everyone to speak up on will never exist.

The power will remain in the hands of a few. Previously in the times of newspapers and magazines it rested with the editors and owners. Now in the times of blogs and personal websites it rest with people who have a tag, of having studied somewhere. These are the times when literature is written with the titles like "a student of some reputed college's love story"

Well, for once I ache when what Captain Planet always said will come true, "The Power is Yours!".

Unaccounted!

Pune rave bust.. people will be raving (pun intended) about it for sometime. But something caught my eye in the oh so many reports on the web and the newspapers about the corruption beset upon Indian youth.

The police seized seven bottles of phenyl fine hydrochloride, which they suspect the youths were consuming. The samples from the bottles have been sent to a forensic laboratory for further tests. Apart from these bottles, police recovered two and half kg of marijuana (ganja), 100 gram of hashish (charas), beer cans, cigarettes, music systems, a car and mobile phones, totally worth Rs 5 lakh.

It is fine till the 100 grams of hashish, but the concept of police confiscating everyone present on possession of the person whenever someone is arrested is actually something which is confusing. Beer cans?? was it not legal to consume beer in Pune? Music Systems? How are they part of the drug peddling. Mobile Phones??? I mean people use mobile phones. How can they be confiscated. And what happens to all this stuff once the case loses steam and eyeball share??

I would not want to get into the debate of drug use etc, but the fact remains time and again in an effort to aggrandise its work, police confiscates everything they can lay hands on. Who asks for an account of all these objects. Does this whole exercise in a way not become mere facade for getting the swankiest stuff for the police. Who, who was arrested that night was will go back and ask for his/her stuff?

Even the work done by the police, their intentions are something which can debated upon. But let me not get into all that now.

And...

And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night...

And he is watching us all through his .. eye of the TIGER

The EYE OF THE TIGER

Desire

The delusion persists...

The hope remains...

Relativity

So Many Times...

So many times it happens to fast... You Trade you Passion for Glory...

Dont lose the grip on the dream of your past, you must fight just to keep them alive...

What do we want?

For all the sense of morality that the so called Leaders of our country try to impose on us, whether it be the recent blocking (banning) of AXN, or banning of movies, filing cases against actors, protesting against condoms, against movies etc. etc... A line from an A R Rehman song from the nid-nineties comes to mind..

अगर आज़ादी न हो तो,
स्वर्ग मिलने से होगा क्या?

I guess we have to decide what is it which we want...

Just a man and his will to survive...

Back...

Conspiracy Theory I

A lot has been said about the way Kiran More, as the Chief of Selectors treated Dada. And from the looks of it, More tried his level best to get Dada out of contention once and for all. But what really happened in the end.. well.. needs no mention.

It got me thinking, as to what kind of personal vendetta might More have against Dada. Came to mind the incident involving a 19 year old Dada in Australia, when asked by some senior player to get drinks onto the pitch for the players he retorted saying, "I come from a good family, I have servants to do stuff like this for me, If you want to take water for the players, why don't you do it yourself".

Now.. was it More who was at the receiveing end???

That is something hard to prove and well... hard to disprove..

I mean... Desperate

Heights of it...





(taken from an ad flashing in my Yahoo! inbox)

Hope

Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,

Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya Tadatmanam Srijami Aham'.

Whenever there is decay of righteousness O! Bharatha

And a rise of unrighteousness then I manifest Myself!"

- Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)

Lets keep the hope alive...

Come on India....

Rising up

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger...
The eye of the tiger....

Its Tough..

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि

Not Much

The more I know, the more I feel...

Not much has changed...

Guess will not...

Might just have to resign to that fact...

How much do we know?

Having been working on reaction mechanisms and reactor modeling since the past few weeks it has dawned upon me the fact that

It is not that we have not been able to find the Ideal System,
It is that we have not been able to find the Ideal Equation

And there Ladies and Gentlemen I rest my case.

Height of Paranoia

The Actual Realisation

Autorickshaw drivers are the same... everywhere... Trust me!!!

Realisation

The meaninglessness of life... The futility of existence.

Redefinition

Foreigner (in India) : The only person who will use a zebra crossing to cross the road.

Footpath: An almost non-existent piece of pavement snaking parallel to the road which if present will serve the purpose for hawkers and chaiwalas to sit while the pedestrains will use the road.

Zebra Crossing: A piece of road painted black and white which most motorists in India think is the start finish line of formula one and will promptly stop over, while revving up their engines before breaking the signal at least 10 seconds in advance.

The Foot: A part of the human body which auto rickshaw drivers in India think is the legally defined body part to be used to show which direction they are turning (or not turning to..?)

Indian Driving Policy: We are in a post liberalization era. We are against communists, we have nothing to do with the left, and hence the right side of the road is where we will drive no matter what the law says or anyone says.

Fare Meter: A part of the Indian Auto Rickshaw which is as volatile as the Stock Market and can result in fares with figures which normally feature in the Annual Reports of Multi National Companies.

Uniform Colour Code: Red.. owing to the amount of red stuff we spit out in public everyday. I am sure when Indira Gandhi asked Rakesh Sharma how India looked from outer space? (as Rahul Phondke the Humour Columnist on MSN.co.in once said, a contender for the dumbest question in recorded human history), he must have replied: "Red.. My fellow cosmonauts think we are communists"

Get the priorities right!

While surfing randomly, I bumped into this quote on the website of Hamner and Partners a PR firm... and well... was again too tempting not to have posted...

Reality must take precedence over public relations; for nature cannot be fooled..

-- Richard P Feynman

Confusion!

There are times I wonder... Whether things are getting better or going from bad to worse...

Sometimes it is just too hard to tell them apart.

Serious Stuff

I came across this quote recently..

And well.. was too tempting not to have posted it here...

"I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians."

- Charles de Gaulle

Elephant's Memory!!!

Recently I was singing a song, titled Breathless. It is sung by Shanker Mahadevan and in the whole song the singer keeps on singing without a break so much so as not even for taking a breath. And hence, the name breathless.

Combining part 1 and part 2 it adds up to around 7 minutes. As I was singing it, I wondered how I was able to remember the whole song without any mistake and not just this song but any song for that matter how do I remember it correctly even if I have not heard or sung it for a long time.

The thought came to me that human memory unlike computers is not stored explicitly. But, in a manner, that one thing leads to another. In simple terms as a mathematical sequence where one only needs to know the expression for the nth term and the first term and can derive the rest of the terms from the previously expressed terms. For example the Fibonacci series is one such example in which each number is equal to the sum of the previous two numbers.

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21... and so on and so forth.

This thought brought me to the question of Computer Memory. Computer memory is pretty much stored explicitly. That is, for example if the computer had to store the Fibonacci series, it can do so only up and till a definite nth term. And not more than that since each of the number is stored explicitly and all of them exist on the hard disk independently of the other. All the numbers would be converted to binary and stored but all of them would be stored separately and independently and would coexist without the computer being aware of the relation between the numbers (except if we create a program to generate the Fibonacci series, but that would not be a general but a specific case). So even if we had a series 1,1,1,1,1,1,1… n number of times each of the numbers would be stored, even if all of them are equal. Rather than storing the relation that all characters are equal and repeated n times.

But there is an alternative, if we are able to develop a software that can find out the relationship between all the digits or for that matter binary bits and bytes and store only the sequence expression and the extent to which the sequence is to be expanded i.e. the value of the n, so that the sequence can be expanded till the nth term, then we will be standing on a threshold of a major revolution in computer memory up gradation.

A good example of this can be songs and videos, which occupy a major amount of hard disk space. If each song can be stored as a combination of a mathematical formula and the data points then we will be able to expand it into a song whenever we require it. And just store it as an expression when we do not. Pretty much like human memory one thing leads to another.

I am scared to think the kind of increase in data that will take place if such a technology is actually developed. But for that we need a really fool proof software with tonnes of coding in the first place and amazing Statistical amd Mechanistical Capabilities. Which itself will hog up a major amount of space. But once made, it can code itself into a mathematical sequence and decrease the space it requires to stay on the hard-disk and then code others thereby reducing memory requirements. So effectively even if the actual space on the hard disk will not increase the effectiveness of that space will increase manifold.

And the profits…?? Well… do the math!!!

Hey all you Maths and Computer Science guys!!!… Wake up…

Interesting Coincidence

Call me a chauvinist or a sexist, I could not help but notice..

Why is it called a Night"mare"?

After all a mare is a female horse...

It seems the framing of the word is very much justified, females and Night"mares".

End of Case!

So much is said nowadays about the world becoming more and more hostile, children becoming ruder, dishonesty increasing.

I came across this quote in Times of India, Ahmedabad edition.

Our Earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching.

- Assyrian Clay Tablet

2800BC

And there, Ladies and Gentlemen, I rest my case!

Fundamental Right

Considering all that has been happening around us, at times makes me ask about one of the Fundamental Rights Enshrined in our Constitution...

Is it Freedom of Expression...???

or

Fiefdom of Expression...

Sick...

At times this country of ours stupefies me.

First we had the movie Water being stopped (mind you stopped not banned by the court of law) from being filmed for supposedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Then we had Fanaa stopped (again stopped, not banned) from being shown in movie halls because a certain political party’s youth wing leader wanted some mileage in the state and made an issue out of an independent stand taken by the actor in the movie on a sensitive issue.(Whatever happened to freedom of expression)

Then we had movie The Da Vinci Code being dragged to the court for supposedly hurting the sentiments of a certain community.

But why does no one notice movies like Tom Dick and Harry, Pyare Mohan, or for that matter Golmaal, which bluntly make fun of the physically challenged, be it deaf, dumb or blind.

Where are all the human rights organizations which create brouhaha at every instance they can. Where are the supposed protectors of the poor who will go great lengths to fight for them? Where is Maneka Gandhi, who held up Rang De Basanti because it did not have permission to shoot with animals in the movie, even though nothing serious was done with the animals in the movie and nowhere was the dignity of the animal compromised? Why does not she say anything on the cheap thrills and humour which people are deriving at the expense of the physically challenged. In fact people are thronging to the movie halls to see these movies, supposedly being “A Gem of a Comedy”

People talk about Sardar Patel, Gandhian Principles etc. in their election speeches, is this the country they have envisioned?

Pathetic…

And to say we call ourselves a Non Materialistic and Progressive Society.

Nothing to Rejoice

Prince survived, but at least on two separate occasions over the past three years we have had two kids who could not have been brought out of the pits they fell in. One in Gujarat who fell in 170 ft and hung on for 32 hours and other in Mysore fell in 32 feet. None of them came out alive (though i am not aware if they came out at all, even their dead bodies)

http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=news&xfile=July2006_news_standard2998

http://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=news&item=10231

No amount was announced for the other two deceased or their kin.

Why the double standards? Just because all the news channels were following Prince and not the other two? When will the state stop discriminating against its own people?

Not done, this is simply not done…

When???

Preposterous...

Yes, Prince had a bad fall. Yes it was very brave on his part to hang in for 50 hours in total isolation, showed a lot of balls for a 6 year old. Yes, the army did a fantastic job in rescuing him. Yes, his parents went through a lot for two days and courtesy the news channels, so did the whole nation. Yes he deserves every bit the medical care he is receiving for it was in a way the state's fault that unguarded construction work was going on in the vicinity and the whoever was doing the work did get permission even though the safety norms were clearly breached.

Yes the jawans deserve every bit the Rs. 50000/- they have received from the state government.

But the whole concept of paying the boy an amount of Rs.200000/- completely defies logic.

What good is the money to him, at least as of now, if it is given just as a lump sum? His parents casual labourers will just live it up for the next 6 months to year and then what, back to square one. If the government really wants to do good for the boy, why does it not take full responsibility of the Child's future and his education or for that matter the responsibility of the children/family of any person who dies or is killed in circumstances that have resulted from the failure of the state machinery and the system.

The whole concept of paying a lump sum to any victim of a natural disaster, a terror attack, or for that matter any army personnel perishing on duty just defies all logic.

It is a clear case of the state washing their hands of the case by paying the money. And it is not uncommon to see our leaders (oh hell i hate that term) trying to earn brownie points (and yes votes) by promptly announcing a 5 or 6 digit amount to the victim/kin whenever something happens that leads to large scale deaths or some high profile death. Is the value of a life of an Indian just Rs. 200000? Converted that is just around 4500$, what an average american earns in a month or two. Are we so cheap?? Mind you, even this money is announced only if the death(s) makes a story. Millions perish on the street everyday.

Salman Khan's car overran the homeless sleeping on the pavement. The state is trying to make an example of him by trying to make sure he ends up in the prison.

But why doesnt the someone ask the state: Why were the people in the first place sleeping on the pavement. After 55 years (then) of independence why do we still have people sleeping on the pavement? Yes maybe Salman was driving rash, but how many times it happens that drivers due to reasons out of their control or trying to evade someone or some other animal on the street lose control of the vehicle and end up on the pavement. Does it mean they will be responsible if someone is sleeping there and dies. Should the state not be the one which is responsible that a situation is created that there are no people sleeping on the pavement.

In such case the government even doesn't annouce the bounty for the victims.

Also, even when annouced the money rarely reaches to the person it is intended for.With babus, clerks and peons eating up, up to 50% and even if the money reaches the person, it does so after an eternity of waiting, filling up forms, proving he/she is related to the victim and what not.

When will the state realise that what the family members of a person who have lost their breadwinner while he/she was on duty for the nation or because of the failure of the state (or can we say because of the politicians many of whom at most times are very much aware of any impending attack well in advance) need more than just money.

When will the state or for that matter the Mentally Deranged Politicians stop this madness???

When will it actually owe up?

Saddest Part of it

One of the saddest part of modern day existence...

We have a Marketing and Public Relations Department.

sigh...

No matter...

Italy won the Football World Cup... Life will move on...

But as Muhammad Ali once said...

"No matter where I go, No matter what I do... I will always... be... The World Champion"

The Definition...

Creativity:

A supposed skill, possessed and bragged about by people who have no hard measurable skill to show for themselves...

The Future of it...

Just saw the movie Krrish… it was a reasonably well made science fiction movie.

The plot of the movie is about this corporate giant who utilizes Krrish’s father’s super intellectual capacity to construct a machine using which you can peer into the future. Fair enough...

In all there were three instances where the machine is used. And in all three instances the various people who see the future try to change it. The villain tries to kill the kick ass superhero who he sees trying to kill him in the future; Krrish’s father tries to stop the assassination attempt on himself by the corporate giant. But in all instances the future as shown by the machine does happen.

Which actually made me think. The future is always a result of the past. Events do not happen in vacuum and are always a result of cascading effect of something that has happened in the past. If we ever see the future, and do attempt to change it something will still happen in the future which will be a result of the future which we have done. The future that will happen will take into account our actions of the present and in the time between the future in question and the present. And the future which we have seen might very well be the future that which we are trying to change and in the process made it happen.

This actually is interesting… which will make us ask: Will it make any difference if we can really see the future? Because the future which we will see will be a future that will take into account that we have seen the future and will try to modify it and the very reason the why the future as we have seen occurred is that we have seen the future and tried to modify it.

And that brings us to the real question… Does it really have any use in attempting to see the future???

Well do the math…

Funny!!!

At times I wonder about the banality of life... Funny how we keep ourselves busy doing things which rarely make sense...

The Beauty and Irony of Indian Polity and Politicians IV

The greatest sham of all time...

Gujarat has a wing of the Communist Party of India, who were recently protesting over the petrol price hike... (of course with rented supporters... 50 Rupees per person per hour!!!!)

I mean Communism and Gujarat.. of all the states....

HA!!!!!!

Karma Caught Up...

Personally I am very much agnostic, generally do not believe the existence of any ultimate reality. I always supported the argument, that it is very much a meaningless existence and the only reason religion or any faith exists is so as to stop the masses from thinking about all this meaninglessness. Always saw phrases and sentences like Karma, What you give is what you get return, more as a necessity, so as to give this existence of ours a semblance of stability and that there is a measure of discipline in the populace.

But as the final Whistle was blown in the match between Korean Republic and Switzerland, the sense of Karma dawned upon me. The match ended in the most controversial of circumstances, with the line official first giving an offside,which made sure the Koreans stopped in their stride, making way for the second Swiss goal and then the field referee over-ruling the offside call thereby making the Swiss goal valid and in a way sealing the fate for the Korean team in the Football World Cup Finals, with France beating Togo convincingly 2-0 thereby edging the Koreans out of the round of 16.

I personally found it very much apt that a refereeing error was what it took to eventually put an end to the so called march of the Red Army.

A little strain on memory will reveal how Korea had benefited from a string of Refereeing “Errors” during the 2002 World Cup which was held in Korea and Japan. “Errors which helped the Koreans eventually reach the Semi-Finals after which the least I would say is sanity prevailed.

On a personal note I am huge Italy Fan, simply love their game, and was extremely disappointed when Christine Vieri’s Golden Goal in 2002 was turned down when he was clearly on-side. It was actually very conspicuous to notice that all the sporting tournaments, Football or otherwise, which were held in Korea around that period, seemed to have a string of what were called as Refereeing errors, and almost all the times in matches featuring Koreans and inevitably in their favour. There may not be any evidence to support this claim, but it was a trend which was clearly observed and was happening right in front of our eyes. Yes the officials in matches are neutral, but to dismiss it just as conspiracy theory would be a little too overweening, considering the strong correlation with the “Errors” and the eventual manner in which they affected the outcome.

But finally it seems Karma caught on with Korea and finally I seem be believing in the Karmic Teaching, What you give is what you get return, the only thought that came up in my mind as I witnessed the shattered expression on the faces of the Korean fans, very much reminiscent of the expression on the Italian Fans’ faces on that fateful day in 2002 when they were I would say clearly cheated off a victory and a possible berth in the Quarter Finals. But as they say let the bygones be bygones.

But for once I believe in Karma, for once I believe, What you give is what you get return.

Eh!! Koreans…

Or was it just an aberration???????.....

Measure!!!

Instead of Measuring how many people who matter know you, a better measure of your importance, the quality of your work and your popularity is to measure how many people who DO NOT matter know you and are aware about you.

Not all...

Not all that is gold does glitter...
Not all those who wander are lost...

J R R Tolkein

There is no Spoon...

The mind is the origin of everything. It is the mind which perceives energy, light, matter everything. It is the mind which correlates ones one phenomenon to another. It is the mind that gives birth to feelings and sensations of all types. It is the mind which hears the sounds and processes them. It is the mind which sees light and distinguishes one colour from another.

All of us recognize red as red, but is it possible that what we perceive as red maybe perceived as something else by another person. Its just that both of them agree that the same thing is red is what causes the coherence. He might be seeing red as something else. It is just the nomenclature corresponding to a certain shade which is common. Also regarding nomenclature, when we say a certain word, let us say RED only, we hear it as red. Maybe some other person hears it as something else. But just that both the individuals concur on the fact that the sound which is emitted is red or whatever which the person perceives it as.

We keep on thinking if there are intelligent life forms in this universe. Maybe there are. Maybe there are other forms of life right here in out solar system. It is just that our senses are limited, that we are not able to gauge their presence along with us. Maybe they also are not able to perceive us, maybe they are. It is possible that they are also present on earth at the same time and place albeit in a different dimension. Maybe it is because of the limitation of our mind that we are not able to perceive them.

The mind is the mother of everything. The mind is the grave. It’s in the mind that the perception of thought originates and it’s in the mind that it stops. Ever thought if a new born baby is straight away thrown onto a different planet and supplied with oxygen food water and nutrition how his mental development will take place. He will grow up in a different environment devoid of any prejudices, devoid of any human interaction. Maybe after some 20-30 years at the sight of another human he may give an unexpected reaction. His mind will be different from ours. His perceptions different from ours.

As what was said in the movie Matrix, the mind is what creates everything around us. Conquer the mind and you conquer everything that is around us.

There is no spoon…

Easier said than done…

Freedom to be... Azaadi Dil Ki...

I always thought that the future will be a freer tomorrow. I always had this impression that the 21st century will usher in a new kind of radical society. One without boundaries, without limitations, without censorship, without overbearing rules. As a child I always used to feel much suffocated with the rules and regulations imposed on me for being a child and otherwise. What time to get up, what time to sleep, what to watch on TV, (and more importantly what not to watch on TV) when to play, when to study. I always had this impression that things will improve once I grow up.

About the society in general I think from whatever I had read, learnt or for that matter heard, the 70’s was one of the most radical era with the hippie culture and all. I feel that was one period of time, when the concept of personal freedom took its real form. What we are observing nowadays is a mix moral, political or religious policing.

The man who is supposed to be the most powerful politician in the world seems to be more concerned about banning gay marriages than addressing real issues like the plight of millions of Iraqis who lost of their homes, means of livelihood and their families just on the pretext that the president of one country “THOUGHT” it possesses WMD. A president who feels killing embryos for the sake of stem cell research is un-ethical but killing fully grown human beings on false pretext is not. A person who feels gay marriages disturb the society but not brutal and demeaning treatment of prisoners in modern day concentration camps. We have the press being stopped from being reporting certain incidents which he feels breaches security but feels it is perfectly alright to listen to people’s private conversations by eavesdropping them.

We have the most populous country in the world imposing censorship on something that I personally thought was uncensorable, the Internet. A country which still believes that blocking facts from its own citizens is an effective way of retaining control over the country. A country which feels it has the right to decide what kind of knowledge and facts its citizens are exposed to. A country which still retains archaic laws and rules regarding personal freedom and thought.

In our neighbourhood, we have clerics and leaders of the most populous religion in the would issuing statements (read as Fatwas) concerning everything from what women should be wearing, to what the followers of their religion see, listen read and in many cases even think. People who feel anything that remotely allows people to have an identity of their own goes against their religion. People who feel anything that allows people to have a brain of their own goes against their religion.

Closer home we have the biggest democracy in world with a government which isn’t very bothered that a major chunk of its populace goes around without clothes but feels that the wardrobe malfunctions of a few models on stage are more important topics which are to be debated in the parliament on the pretext that they are demeaning to the Indian culture. We have political parties which feel that they have the right to stop people from viewing a movie because its lead actor made a few comments which they did not like, and these people are hell bent upon shoving their opinion down the throats of 50 million people of a state. We have some 4 states in the country banning a movie which supposedly hurts the religious sentiments of people of a certain religion. A religion whose followers exist in much larger numbers in Europe and who have expressed no particular qualms about the movie.

Globally we have managers; we have supervisors who try every possible dirty, clean, fair or unfair trick in the book to make sure that they retain full control over their subordinates. Full control over how they think, how they behave, what they wear, their timings. Full control over their life.

For once I ache to see some of the radical thinking which was visible in the 70’s. For once I ache see people behaving in a manner irrespective of political correctedness. For once I ache to see people being allowed to practice the freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, the freedom to see what he/she wants, the freedom to read/listen to what he/she wants, freedom of thought in a manner which I always visualized when I was a child. In a manner what I thought constituted freedom in the truest of truest sense.

For once I want freedom … complete freedom…

As an old advertisement of Pepsi goes …

Freedom to be… Azaadi dil Ki… (Freedom of Heart)

Sanity Prevails

Lot of brouhaha over how Brian Lara behaved during the confusion over Mahendra Singh Dhoni's dismissal. Many said it was very much arrogant on his part to behave in such an insolent manner with the umpires. Yes, the players should respect the umpires and there should not be such scenes for people to witness every now and then.

But, sport is a vent for human emotions, for human character, human aggression. Yes what Lara did was not in the best of tastes. But we should not forget that he is one of the most respected players all over the world. Respected for his ability as a cricketer, his honesty and integrity. Lara might have lost his cool for sometime during the whole hullabaloo. But he only expressed what he felt about the whole incident. India was on the verge of declaration, on seeing Dhoni being caught Dravid called his players back, but once the umpires started consulting the TV umpires he asked them to stay back.

As a fielding captain I feel such incidents can be really infuriating. I am sure had the TV’s replays been conclusive Lara would have been happy to have accepted the decision. What I feel was the tipping factor was the way the umpires were dragging their feet on the decision. The umpires were not able to give a solution and neither were they ready to accept Lara’s word for it. I feel every sportsperson has the right to have felt exasperated at such an instance.

Cricket has already undergone a lot of dehumanization. Soccer is still the most popular of the games all over the world. Why? Because soccer is fast, soccer is hard and soccer doesn’t take into consideration Action Replays. It still has protected itself from the invasion of technology. It is very much like life, it goes by instincts and does not care to recheck. By introducing technology at every nook and corner cricket has become too slow, much slower than what it already was.

Apart from serious offences people are not rounded up and disciplinary action taken against them in soccer. But in Cricket, in the name of being a Gentleman’s game everything from a minor twitch of the eyebrows to increase in heartbeat seems to be perceived as dissent against the Match officials. It’s a lot easy to comment and referee someone sitting from the comforts of an Air-conditioned Officials Cabin, than going out and playing in the heat. An athlete is supposed to run, play and give his hundred percent Physical and Mental best to the Sport, not think about what he is saying or control his expressions.

Technology should be used to enhance the experience of a sport not making it too inhuman by introducing checks and double checks at every point.

No action was taken against Lara for his outburst. The reason for this is unknown; maybe his past record was taken into consideration. Maybe the referee thought that a sportsperson should be allowed occasional bursts of emotion. After all it’s the emotion that maintains the spirit and fire in the game.

Whatever maybe the reason, I feel in the end Sanity has prevailed in upholding the spirit of sport, not just cricket, but sport in general as a platform for human excellence, human strength and guile.

The Signs of Times

You know something is wrong with this world when you see that the two bowlers bowling in tandem for the West Indies Cricket Team in a test match are both Spinners,

Times sure have turned funny...

Cynicism Around Rampant...

Thought I should write a bit on the cynicism which I feel is rampant all over,

But then decided otherwise,

It will not improve anyways I guess...

(damn...)

The Decree...

and.... thus arriveth..

the age of practiced ad-libbing &
politically correct incorrectedness...

The Beauty and Irony of Indian Polity and Politicians III

Krishna Menon was the defence minister of India during the time when India had gone to war with china...

At a time of heightened tensions during the war over a disputed piece of Land in Kashmir with China... Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru made a statement at a public event..

"Kashmir is a piece of wasteland... No one can live there.. Nothing can grow there... and it does not have any minerals either... we are only fighting for pride over there..."

Krishna Menon who was present at the moment and already under severe duress with the proceedings of the war of course did not like the statement.. His immediate and prompt reply...

"Sir, your head.. has no hair on it... no hair can grow back on it... it cannot even support even lice anymore... but still if someone attacks your head... with you not fight back and protect it?"

What was that? I do not know...

But it sure is the Beauty and Irony of Indian Polity and Politicians.

The Beauty and Irony of Indian Polity and Politicians II

I do not know much about Pramod Mahajan... apart from the fact he was one of the more public leaders (though i think the term is often misconstrued in Indian Polity) from the BJP...

But I do remember one of the statements he made during a No-Confidence Motion which was moved against the United Front Government..

During the tenure of the UF Govt. He had apparently gone to China on an official visit.. he was part of a contingent comprising of One member from BJP.. One from Congress .. One I think from the Left... and One from JD (JD being the party which was officially invited to form the government) ( do not remember who the other leaders were so it will be X, Y, Z)

Now coming to the statement he made in the Parliament..

He was narrating how he had Introduced all the four to a Chinese Delegate..

"I am Pramod Mahajan.. I am an MP.. and I belong to the Single largest Party in the Parliament The BJP... I Sit in the opposition..."

"This is Mr X, He is an MP.. and belongs to the second largest party in the parliament.. The Indian National Congress.. His party has not formed the government and neither is in the government.. but supports it from the outside..."

This is Mr Y, he is an MP.. and belongs to the third largest party in the parliament.. The Left Party... his party has not formed the government.. but is supporting it from the Inside..."

"and Finally this is Mr Z.. he is also an MP.. and belongs to the fourth largest party in the Parliament.. The Janta Dal... He is the only one who is in the government and whose party has formed the government..."

Good?... Bad?... I do not know...

But that sure is the beauty and Irony of Indian Polity and Politicians.

The Beauty and Irony of Indian Polity and Politicians I

Elections results in four states are out... So the left gets to form governments in two states (as Rahul Phondke the Humour Columnist at MSN.co.in once wrote.. Two states whose sole means of Income are the money orders Sushmita Sen and Dhanraj Pillay send back home)...

But have you ever wondered about the irony of Indian polity..

The Communist Parties of India (Both CPI and CPI(M)) ... two parties which say communism is what they want and they fight for...

They contest "ELECTIONS"....

Is that the good thing about Indian Polity or the Bad?.. I don't know..

But that sure is the beauty and irony of The Great Indian Polity and Politicians.

Words, Never so True...

A two liner written by Kahlil Gibran, words could never have been so true,

Paida Hua Vakeel, to Iblees ne Kaha,

Khuda Ne Mujhe Sahibe Aulad Kar Diya...

:-

When the lawyer was born, satan exulted,

allah has blessed me with a progeny of my own

End of Days

A close friend recently finished her examinations and ended up feeling sad about the fact that college days had come to an end...

A few lines came up in the head, here they go..


Things Start, Things Finish,
Reminiscences, forever you will cherish,
Time stops when you have to leave,
It’s an emotion you cannot believe,

The road ahead beckons you,
Move ahead, you have to do,
As the dusk dawns and you feel sad
Remember not every separation is bad,

Man reached here, he refused to cease,
He had a hunger, hard to appease,
Everytime he had to move, sad he felt,
But he did not let, his heart melt,

You must remember you cannot forget,
Pain getting to you, you cannot let,
Emotions inside you, you cannot let fawn
Remember it’s after the darkest hour comes the dawn…

Achooo!!! What kind of a sneezer are you??

So it seems mankind has finally achieved it. After thousands of years of prodding and thinking... we have finally arrived on to a system of jugding a person, from everything, the way he holds his keys while opening the door with a stray dog barking up his behind, to the angle of inclination of his hand when he writing, or be it measuring the distance between two words (increasing which in my school days used to be a technique enployed to fill as many pages as possible in my homework copies) to the time period of oscillation of ones head while he answering the call of nature (Applicable only to guys)... we have studied, understood, theorized, documented, cemented a complete theory for understanding an individual.

Latest in this long line of personality revealers is a Study done by an Atlanta based consultant ..

http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandorav3/output/News/df261a09-c9ff-4635-ad74-120478703825.aspx

According to her the way you sneeze can actually provide thoughtful insights into a persons abilities and his/her personality traits. She categorizes sneezes into basically four types. As nice, be right, get it done and enthusiatic.

She sure managed to shake my fundamentals on why we sneeze which as far I remember is a natural body mechanism to expel foriegn objects from our olfactory system.

So from the next time onwards you sneeze ask yourself how you did it. And within a short time the human resources dept of your company will be applying a policy of making all the employees sneeze in a uniform manner so that it reflects the company's goal and vision statement.

So.. i guess that increases one more line in the long forms which we have to fill in our visa application, ranging from the colour of the eyes, to the colour of my dogs eyes, and from size of the underwear to whether i wear any underwear (and if i do why and if not why?)... (Digressing again, Ever wondered why these immigration officials ask questions like "do you intend to carry out any terrorist activity during the period of your stay in our country" or like " are you related to the King Chigumbura Pmulelo Bhangwa Chibhabha Matambanadzo of Limpopocatapatic Republic of Africa, on whom sactions have been imposed by our country for harnessing weapons of mass destruction (Flatulence causing herbs???) and for supporting Steven Seagal's Movies?") The question being: "What kind of a sneezer are you?"

Anyways not digressing from the topic (a statement which by now you must have realized I use liberally in my blogs)... Sneezing.. is it not funny how these Psychologists tend to relate everything and anything a person does to his personality traits and his strengths weaknesses, how successful he will be in life, whether he will have a happy marriage or whether he will have a marriage.

I sure feel the resources of the world can be utilized a lot more effectively, rather than wasting computing power, money, time and energy on a subject or topic which is of little consequences. In the absence of any scientific mechanism to prove or for that matter disprove a theory.. the world of psychology has been reduced to a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals most of whom tend to propound theories solely on the basis of statistical analysis without actually giving a thought to the fuzzy nature of the subject they are dealing with.

The result??? Simple... more and more people, organizations and institutions who take these people seriously are making every possible effort to turn humans into a bunch of machines who can do no wrong. To optimize human behaviour, to make it politically correct. One of the beauties of being alive is the fuzzy nature of things around us, the uncertainity that is inherent in human nature, something like the Heisenberg's Uncertainity principle in Physics, everything cannot be predicted and everything cannot be known. Someone Once said "If man came to the earth knowing everything, it sure have been a very boring place to live" Here is where the beauty of being humans comes in. By trying to document and correlate everything a human does as being representative of his/her inner self we are only making him/her more and more concious and thereby making him/her migrate away from their natural self, thereby defeating the whole purpose of such a study.

Psychology as a field developed as a spin off of medicine in order to help people with special abilities and people whose mental faculties are not on the same plane as the majority of other human being. So that they may have a chance of a dignified and independent life.

But more and more Psychologists.nowadays are concentrating on perfectly normal people, on the guy/gal next door and trying to create a distorted or for that matter concocted picture of him/her.

Academics in most places have reduced from a process of individual thinking and knowledge creation to a process or merely correlating statistical data of two very much independent activities using mathematical tools. Its like studying the Effects of Pamela Anderson's Silicone Implants on the Per Capita Expenditure on Ear Buds by the People of Republic of Djibouti(this is a real place).

To sum it all, the best we can do is to make sure we remain human and cock a snoot at all these studies, and all the HR Depts of organizations. And still go on guzzling beers as if it was a life saving drug.

And one should never forget that.. A.. aa.. Aahhh ... aaaaah .aaah.. Acccchooo.... sorry i gotta run have to see my psychologist.. he asked me to maintain a log of sneezes and the corresponding pressure contours created as a result of them, so that he can analyse my personality traits better..

See yah later...

American Paranoia and the Lost Spirit in Sport!!!

American Paranoia and the Lost Spirit in Sport!!!
19/04/2006

Woke up reading the news about one guy called Buddhi an Indian Student at Purdue University, getting arrested for apparently "PLOTTING TO KILL GEORGE BUSH". He had apparently taken part in some discussion on an internet chatroom where he expressed his views and opinion on what he felt about the president of the country.

Now a concerned citizen of the country felt something was wrong. He felt it was his moral duty and obligation to make sure that the perpetrator of the crime which has not occurred should be brought to the book. And sure enough as George Bush once said, the Indian student was promptly “Smoked out”. Many would see this as a swift deliverance of justice and the culprit being brought to book even before we could bat an eyelid. And look up in amazement again at the legal system of the United States of America.

Well personally I see it at a load of horse shitt. Whatever happened to the right to freedom of expression. All the western countries were up in arms over the apparent issue of freedom of expression recently when a Danish Cartoonist faced the wrath of Islamic organization for having published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. Now, these are the same people who are arresting a budding mathematician from one of the most prestigious universities of USA on charges of plotting to assassinate the president. Sounds very much like the Sci-Fi movie minority report, where the police zero in on the crime scene even before the crime has occurred and nab the would be culprit for having intended (mind you intended not actually having committed) to commit a crime. Pre crime is what they called it in the movie. In fact the present scenario is even worse than the movie, since in the movie more often than not the person is actually caught in the act of the crime.

But here just because someone has expressed his views and wrote what he felt about the an issue gets arrested. If everything that is written expressed or published on the internet is taken seriously, then I sure do not think that the United State of America really has the infrastructure to keep so many criminals in prisons. If every thing that was said is taken as a would be action, then India would have been a superpower by now, considering the Politicians never fail to promise the moon everytime India goes to polls.

Sad that a country like USA which actually takes pride in the fact that it is the most free country of all in the world is actually the scene of such an incident.

The united state of America is today where it is, not because its inherent citizens were brilliant or extremely hard working, but because the United States is the hub for the best minds of the world. A place most people come to because they see it as a country that respects ability over anything. And one of the chief reasons that people from all over the world throng to the United States is it offers freedom like no other country does. Its because the state generally is seen to accept that not everything is perfect with it and it takes all types of criticism with a straight face. It acknowledges its greatness by actually coming back and rectifying the flaws for which it is criticized.

Yes, the student who has got arrested might get released and no charges may be framed against him. Since it was well within his rights to express what he felt. And nothing would be done against him since what he said or wrote was more out of angst and momentary anger than a well planned move.

But in the longer run it goes onto portray a negative picture of America. The supposed land of freedom. If United States wants to continue being at the forefront of most fields it should stop being paranoid about everything. All this paranoia only goes onto benumb people to the extent that they stop being humans.

The very essence of being human is the emotions that one experiences. The fact that we feel is one of the breakthrough in evolution. But lately there has been a move to curb every emotion, everywhere, be it sport, politics, universities anywhere. Players in various sports are rounded up and disciplinary action taken against for the utterance of even the smallest obscenities or expression of what one feels about an incident. An athlete who is running hard cannot be expected to dish out politically correct statements and body language. By restricting them, we are only making them conscious and making them concentrate less on the game and more the peripherals.

Sport if about human valor, human spirit, resilience. It is about how a human performs when he is pinned down, under pressure. When he is in a spot, cornered. By making it politically correct we are dehumanizing sport.

The true spirit of any democracy remains intact only when its people are allowed to express what they feel about an issue.

But by rounding up every person who utters something which is not quiet politically correct the United States is not doing any good to its image. Which if not immediately but in the long run will result in less number of intellectuals opting for the united states as a place where which they would like to make their “Karmabhoomi”.

Its time we actually accepted we are humans and enjoyed the various colours and emotions of being human.

Of Managers, Idealistic Crap and the Absolute Truth!!!!

Someone somewhere said, "Management is all about sitting in a chair and uttering Idealistic Crap, and forgetting it at the end of the day"

Well okay, i said it....

But then, think about it... Most of us work in some corporate or public holding. But one thing that is common across all the barriers are the managers, rather the idealistic crap they dish out most of the time. And at the same time being oblivious to it.(I assume they are, because if they are not and they understand that they are confusing people they sure are a bunch of damned sadists)

Managerial evolution has reached such a stage where it generally observed that a person can move ahead in life only if he/she can also reciprocate with equally outrageous Idealistic Crap. Sad to say but the concept of working with hands has become outdated. To the stage that we are at a juncture in human civilization, that people actually have forgotten to how to work with hands.

There is a popular joke which does rounds on the internet, A Project Manager is a person who feels that nine women can deliver one baby in one month"

Well i guess that sums up pretty much the story about managers and their idealistic crap. It is actually hard to understand, how perfectly normal and rather i would use the term rational people, start making such irrational, unrealistic and in many cases preposterous statements, judgements, once they ascend up in the managerial heirarchy.

How the method of science constantly gets overlooked while taking daily decision. I ask, when was the last time that one of you actually got a proper and straight answer from someone above you. The condition is so bad that people who ape the seniors on the top are actually looked up to and eventually they are the same people who make it to the top, rarely because of the caliber or for that matter their ability to work.

The idealistic crap that we often face is not because the person disbursing it actually believes in it, but more rather he/she is afraid to face the real situation and take a tough decision. Its the lack of conviction that leads to the kind of idealistic crap that people dish out.

Its time people of this world realized that one cannot progress by being politically correct. Mind you I use the word progress not grow. Because many organizations might be growing in today's world there are a only a few that a progressing in the real sense. And the day progress stalls is the day when human civilization will implode.

Humans have reached till here, because someone somewhere along the ages had the guts and guile to stand up and do something which might not have been politically correct. Copernicus was abhored by the society in which he lived, everyone said he is commiting sacrilege, blasphemy.

But there are some people in every society who will regardless of what contemporary mankind feels for them will search for the truth, truth which might not be politically correct or might not form the core of idealistic crap. And it is these people who write the future of mankind.

The person who is seeking the absolute truth will not try to tell it to others but will just put it front of them, if they are able enough, they will notice it themselves and those who fail to do so, well its their own luck.

He will not try to convince everyone about the existence of that absolute truth.

And that is the toughest thing about truth. It is to believe in it when no one else does, and to have faith that it IS the truth.

Mankind should try to see this fact and try to make sure that the so called politically correct managers, do not take over, and we are not reduced to a system where only incompetent gutless people reach positions of importance and have a control over decision concerning everyone.

Its time we learnt to accept that it is okay to be politically incorrect as long as it goes in the longer to do something good for mankind.

Otherwise I think we will be reduced to like i said before Idealistic Crap!!!

Aditya

Spitting in Public, Every Indian's Birth Right?

Random Thoughts of Inversion-I

Spitting in Public Every Indian's Birth Right?

Aaaacctthhoooo!!!!!
"Thukna Mera Janm Sidh Adhikar Hai aur Main Thukke Rahunga"
Well first of all sorry for having modified Bal Gangadhar Tilakji's Famous Statement during the freedom struggle.

But then, come to think of it. How many of us (which is another way of saying everyone) have been hit by this problem, the moment we step out of our homes out into the city, the town or the village (this phenomena is development independent).
The moment we step out of the house the first sound we hear is not hello, neither the chirping of birds but the inpromptu and grossly vulgar Aacthoo!!.

What is it in out genetic makeup which makes any person coming to our country think we are a race chronically suffering from cough, cold, TB and what not all sorts of diseases.

India as a country we are uniform, we have a colour code. our trains, roads, platforms, pavements, stairways, streets, walls, corners, public buildings are painted a single colour....
RED... so red the west thinks we are Communists.

You walk upto any Indian and ask him what he feels about all his country, and the first sound you will hear from will not any discernable phonetic... but an Achtoo!!!... Because he/She(Yep this phenomena stretches across Genders)will spit out his/herpan, padiki or whatever .. and then will go on for an hour or lecturing Indian Culture and how we are superior to the west and all other country are merely jealous of us and thus holding up our mistakes because they are afraid of us, and how the west is so uncultural and their women shameless and how they are a promiscous society blah blah blah and what not!!!, But at no point during the lecture will be/she will actually have even a faint idea about what he/she is doing while giving that lecture on Indianess.... point them out and they will be like hum to aise hi hai, an answer which can have no further discussion. Its like companies saying Sir, its out policy. The moment they say we are more of less helpless. Funny things these policies are!!! they baffle me, well, and so do Indians ( I am one of Them, that is what is the best part)

Now this is something that baffles me, a country that is so very well known for producing one of the most sharpest minds in the world, how come its people are so uncouth and reckless that they are least bothered about their own surroundings, least bothered about how it looks, okay forget how it looks (we are not a physical society remember) but how it feels, smells, and how we have to literally walk with a radar just to make sure that someone who is trying to do his/her bit of Indianness doesn't paint us in the Uniform Colour Code. (Red)

Why!!!!!! is a question every Indian will ask and still go on and spit out in Public. And when i say spitting i just don't mean spitting something physical, I also mean spitting abuses, dirty words, without discretion. How of many of us don't even think twice before cursing or saying something uncouth about someone, something, the govt, the country without even thinking once how we are contributing to all that.

Its time we accepted what we are doing wrong rather than terming everything as "Videshi Takaton ki Saazish"

yeah right.. Pakistan has sent out a virus to infect the Indians and make them spit chronically. Come on Guys!! its out country if we won't keep it well who will.

Why the apathy towards everything that is public or owned by the govt. Hospitals which are supposed to be clean zone are worse. Its actually sad to hear Govt. Hospitals being referred to as Khairati Aspataal. Why??because its the plight of those structure which make people feel that they run solely on charity.
And its not that we don't know how to keep something clean, walk into the houses of people and more of often than not, irrespective of the economic strata their houses will be spotlessly clean and spic and span, but the moment the very same people step out they have a Mr. Hyde kind of a transformation. The magic potion must be in the air outside.

Its time we stood up took responsibility and did out part. So that our kids or maybe theirs will never hear that dreaded sound again!!!Accc............. Hope it never completes.