The Sun is producing nuclear energy. Attack the Sun.

Big Tobacco fights Breast cancer.

"Big Tobacco has joined forces with the breast cancer industry in the launch of its newest product aimed at raising money for breast cancer research: "Pink ribbon" SlimSmokes cigarettes for women. For every pack of cigarettes sold, the manufacturer pledges to donate two cents to breast cancer research. "We aim to raise money to help find a cure for breast cancer," said Yin Hailing, spokesperson for Phillip Porous, the maker of pink ribbon SlimSmokes cigarettes. "Because the longer our best customers live, the more they can smoke! " 

Furthermore,  

"Accordingly, the Susie B. Wheezie Foundation proclaimed that buying these pink ribbon cigarettes is like "investing in your own future," since funds from the sales will be used to find a cure for the disease caused by the product itself. A new event called, "Smoke for the cure" is planned for next year as a way to increase product sales and raise more money for breast cancer research."

Read the rest over here . 

The UnShakeable

One of my favorites from the yonder years -

Conundrum on being an Indian Liberal

Found this paragraph in a book review for Tharoors "The Elephant, The Tiger, and The Cell-Phone "

"

Liberals, like nerds, can be bullied. But unlike the nerds, liberals are not too bright. They do not have the spark of genius of the nerds. The liberals are mediocre in the nice sense of the term. That is, they are normal folk, who believe in the good and right things. And they assume the role of opinion leaders because they are articulate and express themselves in earnest tones. They are evangelical and self-righteous as well in what they believe and in what they say. 

International bureaucrat and novelist-essayist Shashi Tharoor is a liberal. To make things worse, he is also an Indian liberal. Unlike the Western liberal, who is willing to accept diversity and differences, his Indian counterpart wants to embrace everything.

"

How very apt a description, of the subtle differences within differing liberal mindsets. 

Good Music loops on and on and on ...

Good music is that music, which never really ends. 

That music which is forever - music which plays on, even when its source is gone - is'nt that true ?

Presidential Race '08

Despite the obvious anti-incumbency induced  Presidential lead the Democrats have, I have been unsure of a clear victory for them. The last months have shown a number of possible candidates in the fray - some with true potential of being the next president (mostly Democrats), while some who are plain in-the-running-just-to-show-my-face-to-the-public.

Although I do not have a horse in the race - I did like some of them. Barack Obama was by far the most impressive candidate to me - he seemed to be an  intellectual with his ethics and values in the right place. Hillary looks to be a credible woman and  a good candidate too - although she appears to be a tad of boorish and shows a pretentious intellect to me - but thats what American presidents of recent past are - eh ?. Mitt Romney was another person that talked some sense,  while Edwards was a nice and like-able underdog candidate too. McCain and Giuliani are too right-wing for my liking. Bill Richardson is another guy who seems to be a sensible choice - though unfortunately he does not have the star-power that some of his competitors have. 

I definitely had some favorites - Obama, in particular, but nobody seemed head-and-shoulders and more above the others. 

Nobody I could see who had the combination of both Intellect and Ethics, a balance of Sophistication and Humbleness, someone who had not only the vision but also followed a dream, a person with a sense of Purpose and a sense of Humor - no one who seemed an ' Atal Bihari Vajpayee' style winner in my mind. 

Until I saw this one.

Vote for Colbert for 08 !

A Real World Champion

In times where the the nation talks about  pseudo cricket champions, almost richest person in the world, emerging economies, one of the biggest software companies, potential super power status - it is a pleasure to see a real undisputed champion.  

Great performance from a truly great sportsman. Heres wishing him to show Kramnik his place in the 2008 title defence too.

Racing - It is a state of the mind.

Anything you can do - I can do better.

( Watch for the ending. )

For want of a nail - the kingdom was lost.

The US-India Atomic Energy Act promises to be the one of the most crucial treaties of the modern times. This is an act that not only establishes co-operation between the largest and the richest democracy's - but is also an harbinger to enhanced ties between these two giants.

In a time when even the signatory members of the controversial NPT - countries such as Iran and the once ratified North-Korea are facing flak from the rest of the world for developing nuclear technologies - here we have a non-signatory member being offered an option for technology transfer. This move is not only unprecedented, but also a great moral victory on a global stage for India.

It is an win-win situation for both countries as one can see it. India - a developing country facing acute power crisis gets accelerated access to advanced technology to fulfill its power needs and also establishes friendly ties with the most powerful and like-minded friend that one can have. United States on the other hand has clear commercial benefits to reap - and the added advantage of cozying up to a sleeping giant that is well on its way to wake up and dominate the coming century. It is in the interest of both countries to continue to build their relationship to next levels.

The deal looks all set to augur a new era in world politics - one that not only confirms the eastward shifting of the balance of world power - but in a way, also signals an unspoken acceptance to India's concerns over the nuclear-discrimination caused by NPT .

All of it was looking good - until a few spoil-sports, started creating obstacles - for reasons that seems to be inspired from local and petty political considerations.

It is sad to see the state of affairs.

Those opposing the deal, do not even site concrete reasons/solutions/alternatives to solve the energy crisis the country is facing. They talk about dangers of getting 'too close' to the capitalist powers of the United States - while conveniently ignore the very poignant fact that India has been registering record GDP rates only due to the money flowing in from this 'capitalist' country.

It is my hope that such short sighted political agendas do not derail the chance of a greater good-will and common-sense to prevail.

It reminds me of a poem I heard when I was perhaps seven years old. May be - the members of CPI should brush up their third standard literature syllabus - they surely seem to be behaving like seven year olds !

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Heres hoping that for the want of the nail of petty polics we do not loose us the kingdom of friendly co-operative co-existence.

Finally - a Brown Prime Minister

Do you people ever feel that the Liberal World has dawned upon the democratic nations in a blink of an eye ?

• We have a woman candidate and a black one as front-runners for the US presidency.
• We are just about to have the first woman president in India - right after the Muslim president ends his term.

If you though that was enough - this one takes the cake with the cherry on top.

• We now have the once Imperial Great-Britain run by a Brown Prime minister - one who is doing a great job at it !

Aaah- the good days are here - the days of us liberals are finally here.

Take a Minute. Donate An Hour. Change a Life.

Putin thinks he is the next Gandhi ?

Russian premier Vladimir Putin gave a statement to the effect of calling himself the complete democrat.
At one point he says

"After the death of Mahatma Gandhi there's nobody to talk to,"

I have been a supporter of Putin. I think he is one of the smarter world politicians - someone who has done considerably well in rebuilding Russia in the past few years.

There might be a slight chance that the Mahatma was fooling the world. May be - in reality Gandhi was a black-belt karate expert who sipped wine while his countrymen were hungry. There is a possibility that Gandhi did covertly order a few wars to be fought, and that he did ask his people to indulge in violence.

But I have a small suspicion that you are seriously wrong on this count, Mr. Putin !

Maradona is back

Lionel Messi scored an incredible goal for F.C Barcelona some weeks back.

The similarities between this not-so-messy messi goal, to the goal-of-the-century is eerie. Maradona had scored in the exact same way, only one goal after his infamous hand-of-god goal of 1986. Both the players have similar physiques, similar styles, and of course, both wear their white-and-sky-blue's when they play for their country.

Messi demonstrates all the prime qualities expected of the world's top striker - the close ball control, the incredible burst of speed, the deceptive change in directions and for the finale, pin-point accuracy in front of goal. All of the qualities evident in one incredible goal.

A spectacular goal from yet another brilliant Argentine forward. Take a bow, all you Ronaldo's - we have another Argentine striker on the blocks.

Peace and Growth in the emerging new world

In a beautiful dissection of the state of affairs for India and the world in general, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon gave a speech titled 'India and International Security'.

Menon talks about the change in the world that has occurred as Indian has matured from a fledgling new born country into a world leader.

At independence, it was natural that the primary task of India's foreign and security policies was to enable India to begin the process of economic and social transformation that a poor and backward country required.

The immediate objectives were therefore a peaceful environment, strategic space and autonomy, free of entanglement in Cold War conflicts or alliances. Non-alignment, as this policy was called, was the ability to judge issues on their merits and their effect on India's interests, or, as our first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to say, 'enlightened self-interest'.

Six decades later, we face a different world. The end of the Cold War, accelerating processes of globalisation and the salience of trans-national challenges characterise the current global scene. India too has undergone a profound internal change during this period.

Economic growth and modernisation are transforming our society at an unprecedented pace. The impact of technology is being increasingly felt. Movements of goods, services, capital and people connect us more closely than ever to once distant societies.

He discusses in detail the role of India in its immediate neighborhood as well as in the World. A very well made observation is the seemingly obvious, but unfortunately under-appreciated importance of co-existence.

Menon discusses India in context with all its immediate neighbors and emphasizes the importance of not only maintaining peace, but points out the inter-dependence that these countries inherently have.

He also addresses the other concerns that our global society faces - he addresses the over-rated issue of terrorism and the under-rated issue of Environmental Change (in my opinion). A very interesting and legitimate point he makes in understanding these concerns is, where he mentions how the new world must re-align itself to the new world order.

If our international institutions are not dealing successfully with the challenges of today, one reason is the fact that they no longer reflect current or emerging realities of power.

A very interesting article. Check out the entire speech over here.

An hour with Colbert

A video where Colbert is interviewed for a change. Take a look.

Colbert did some hilarious segments on bollywood some time back that may be known to all. On a slightly different yet interesting note though, here is another interview he did with Shashi Tharoor. Funny !

The answer to everything

Do you want to know the answer to the meaning of life ? Do you wonder about the answer to the universe ? Would you like to have that one single answer to everything ?

Hold your breath.

Concentrate.

Hear it from me now. Hear the answer you have always been seeking.

Here is the answer which will solve all your problems, end all your wanderings and be the ultimate fruit of all your cogitations. Here is the path to eternal tranquility. Here lies the seed of brahman and here is the sound of Aum.

Are you ready for the answer ? pakkka ? ? Here we go then.

The answer is 42.

Sounds incredible ? Check it by googling it up or check it here.

Tathaastu ! :)

A lead in the war against HIV

A series of important meetings are taking place that could decide the fate of upcoming HIV blocking drugs. Pfizer seems to have taken the lead, but there are other Pharmaceutical giants, including Merck which are closing in on HIV inhibitors.

A panel of experts meets in Rockville, Md., to advise the Food and Drug Administration on whether to approve Pfizer's maraviroc to fight HIV. If approved it would be the first in a new class of treatments that block HIV from entering white blood cells through a pathway present in some patients that carry the virus.

There have been numerous research directions that have given moderately successful results - with several candidates for cancer inhibiting markers being discovered. The fight against cancers is not completely won, but the progress has been commendable.

HIV, along with cancer remains the holy grail for the biotechnology world and all advancements in combating them come as great news.

The developments are heartening and the success of this research would not only go a long way in providing a boost to the Pharmaceutical industry,but much more importantly - help in saving lives.

The game of Consolidation ?

con·sol·i·da·tion
Pronunciation: k&n-"sä-l&-'dA-sh&n

2 : the process of uniting : the quality or state of being united; specifically : the unification of two or more corporations by dissolution of existing ones and creation of a single new corporation

As the world grapples with the new realities of a seamless world, there has been a marked change in the way business is carried out. These changes have stemmed from the development of better communication with the advent of the industrial revolution, and has been exaggerated with the digital revolution triggered in the 21st century.

This is an age where boundaries are getting hazier. It does not matter whether one is ensconced in a plush developed country or if one is in a relatively underdeveloped part of the world. The digital age and the modern age has brought a parity in the world that was not present before.

This new environment where 'boundaries' mean nothing has also drastically changed the way business is done. This is the day and age where any Industry would work best if it works 'across boundaries' rather than within them.

The boundaries I am referring to are not necessarily just political boundaries across countries. These could boundaries across locations such as states or cities or even boundaries across different corporate cultures, practices and different ways of working.

Consolidation is the name of the game right now - and we can slowly see many industries waking up to this reality.

Take a look at the changes in the very important steel industry in the last few years. Consolidation in the steel industry began a year back and is now a process which has snowballed into a trend where most of the major steel companies have continued on, by forming mergers and/or through acquisitions. The Software sector has seen a spur of activity primarily due to Google going through a slew of acquisitions, right from YouTube upto DoubleClick.

There has been some consolidation in the Financial sector with merger news from Barclay and ABN Ambro, Nasdaq improving its stake in LSE being the latest such news. The Pharmaceuticals Industry has seen some activity, with some acquisitions by Merk, GSK, Eli Lilly and Pfizer. The acquisition of MedImmune by AstraZeneca is the latest big acquisition in this Industry. The Automobile Industry has been relatively non-affected by the waves of consolidation as of now. But then, pure logic would point to a need of consolidation in this industry - perhaps a tie up between GM and Ford ?

The Consolidations that we have seen until now - may just be the tip of the Iceberg.

Are we going to see a wave of consolidations across all Industries in the future ? Time shall tell.

Long live the king, the king is gone.

Lara quitting from all forms of Cricket would mean him all but handing over his Test Cricket record to Sachin. That was the first selfish thought that came to my mind as I heard the news. But as I thought some more, I realized that Lara was never a man to run after records anyways.

His retirement just shows the kind of man that we know Brian Charles Lara to be - a great player who went on to break all the big records that could be broken - all done with the nonchalance of not needing to break them. That same aura of nonchalant brilliance could be seen in the way he batted. The slightly high bat lift, the slight jump as he shifted weight and then that exquisite flashy square drive. It is all etched in the memory of all cricket lovers for eternity.

I never confessed this before, but this may be the best occasion to come out clean. The best batsman in the world has retired.

Thank you for the entertainment ! There will not be another Brian Lara for quiet some while


P.S: I meant Test Batsman - but of course.

Tagore and Jasraj - A Classical Classic !

Here is a beautiful video song. The lyrics to this song were penned by Rabindranath Tagore, while the song itself is sung by the maestro - Pandit Jasraj.

The song is about a gathering of minds, about knowledge, about working for your motherland, and most importantly - about 'working for the perfection of the spirit of man and a universal humanity'

A song with meaningful lyrics, excellent music and a great vocal. The video is not bad either. Check it out.

Before it starts ...

There is nothing quiet like a good Joke about a beer. Before reading on, can you pass me that chilled one ? Please :)

Rest in Peace - a selfish world.

What happened in Blacksburg, Virginia some days back was a horrible and shocking incident. My condolences to the deceased.

The reaction that I saw in the media and on the internet after that though - is something I fail to comprehend.

Why are the deaths of these 32 people being blown out of proportion ? Do not hundreds of people die everyday ? Are not hundreds of people killed in Kashmir, in the Middle East - while we sleep cosily in our houses ? Do not thousands die in Africa out of hunger while we eat our McDonald burgers ?

Why are these deaths mere statistics to us - while the 32 who died in Virginia Tech hailed as heroes ?

The reason, I believe - is that humans have become too selfish. They do not grieve for the dead. They are just vicariously looking at the dead and hoping that they do not get into the same situation.

They know that they will not be killed in Kashmir. They know that they will not die of hunger in Africa. However, they could be walking in a campus or a superstore and get shot at by lunatics. And that really scares them. They are just selfish about their own well-being.

If we people were so genuinely compassionate about the suffering of fellow human beings - we would know that there is far greater suffering in the world than what we saw at Virginia Tech.

This post does not say that what happened in Virginia Tech was forgivable. Not the least. All I am saying is - please learn to put things in a proper perspective !

If there can be so much hue and cry about the deaths at Virginia Tech, We could also write articles about people killed in Kashmir and the middle East. We could raise awareness of people dying in Africa. We could do so many more things for the benefit of humanity.

We should raise concerns about humanity as a whole - not just about things that could only affect us.

If we want to claim to be good human beings - we should stop being selfish !

Just some food for thought.

Update:

233 people were killed in Iraq today, and I do not see any one even raising an eyebrow. No CNN headlines - no countless blogs - no orkut communities. What hollow people we have become !

25.999999999 ...

One more trip round the sun for me, and I happened to take a look at this.

At age 26:

American anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote her famous dissertation, Coming of Age in Samoa, which claimed that in some societies adolescence is not a particularly difficult time.

Albert Einstein published five major research papers in a German physics jornal, fundamentally changing man's view of the universe and leading to such inventions as television and the atomic bomb.

Benjamin Franklin published the first edition of Poor Richard's Almanac, which was to play a large role in molding the diverse American character.

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Chereshkova became the first woman to travel in space.

College dropout Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer.

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, revolutionizing the economies of the United States and Britain.

Antoine Joseph Sax invented the brass saxophone.

"Johnny Appleseed" brought apple seeds to the Ohio Valley.

Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy.

Gon Yangling memorized more than 15,000 telephone numbers in Harbin, China.

Orion Krynen of Denver, CO reached this age without much incident.

British ethologist Jane Goodall set up camp in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve on Lake Tanganyika and began studying the lives of chimpanzees.

Ken Kesey published his first novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Thomas Pynchon published V., for which he won the William Faulkner First Novel Award.

Jimi Hendrix choked to death on his own vomit.

Kirsteene Luhrmann of Melburne, Victoria quit smoking.

Stephen Breen from Dublin, Ireland found this site.

Darren Blackburn became the first and only athlete of the Principality of Sealand, despite being somewhat lacking in athletic ability.

Syd Jesus co-founded the dUdU Art Collective in Oakland, California and turned an entire warehouse space into a conceptual art piece entitled "The $5000 Gallery."

Matthew Royer took a dog for a walk every day of the year in Minnesota, with a coldest daytime high of 0 degrees F. The average walk time was 30 minutes.

Derrick Pallas was horrified to realize he was losing his hair, just like Dad.

Jan Birkeland from Norway managed to get to work without hitting a single red light.

Angie Olson got so drunk on her 26th birthday, her friends were able to dress her up as a clown.

No stellar world-changing-achievements to report from my side as yet, and no major regrets in this unfinished life of mine too.

The last 26 rounds of the sun have been real good - lets see how the rest of the story goes.

Puneri Patya

One of "those" things about pune -- puneri patya !

"Patya" are notices/warnings meant for the onlooker, meant to convey some information. What sets some of them apart is when these 'patya' become overtly loud and informal in language. The result being - they become more a source of humor than of any real information.

Take a look at this sampling of puneri-patya and enjoy !

1. This one is self evident.




2. This one warns people from parking illegally, threatening 'deflating' the offending vehicles tires.






3. This one says " I am Donkey for parking in front of the gate " !





4. This one asks people not to 'chit-chat' near the doors. It explains that this is a business place and not a "chit-chat-hall'.





5. This one tries to shoo off inquisitive onlookers. It says " Do not look inside. There is nothing interesting here".




6. This one says "Do not stamp your feet ". [ do not make noise while climbing the stairs]




7. This Cycle-repair shop proudly calls itself 'A Cycle Hospital'.




8. The overtly proud Puneri here claims in the red letters - "The owner of this building is Mr. Shridhar Madhusudhan Marathe ".




9. This last one is a gem - my favorite one among this lot. It says "Oh Lord, be generous to all of humanity -- but start with me " !

Cricket circa. 2009

Rohan sent to me an article with prophetic predictions for the Indian cricket team in a few years time.

The Times Of India 14th Feb, 2009:

India is playing in a 5 nation tournament ; the other countries being Uganda, Sudan, Papua new guinea and the mighty Bolivia. Today is a must win match for India against tournament favourites Bolivia for a berth in the semi finals. The winner of the tournament will fight for a place to enter the top 35 rankings in the world.

On the morning of the match, a strategy session is being held by Greg and Rahul. This is how it goes.

Greg: Boys, this is one of the most important matches in the last three years. We have to beat Bolivia. Lets go through the batting line up and the bowling line up in this meeting.

Greg: So Sourav, you will open right?

Sourav: I don't know. Bolivia has a pace bowler who only bowls short pitch deliveries. His pace is consistently in the range 55-60 miles /hour. I cannot handle all that pace.

Greg: Oh, thats ok. He won't dare to bowl short pitch stuff against the Indian batsman (we have such good credentials). If he does by mistake, just to make a statement to the media, get Hit Wicket and come back. Such non sense should not be tolerated.

Greg: So who will partner Sourav.

Rahul: I think Sehwag should. He looked in form in the last game against Sudan. He hit 5 fours between first slip and second slip before he got caught at second slip. I think he is in the pink of his form and he should open.

Greg: Thats good.

Greg: Sachin, you will bat at four ... ok?

Sachin: I don't know.I have to go shopping at 11. That means I can't bat beyond ten overs.

Greg: Sourav and Sehwag will last till six overs. So, you will come then. Don't worry, just play your natural game and follow your instincts. You will go by ten overs.

Greg: So Dhoni, you will keep?

Dhoni: I am not keeping. Last time, I kept for three hours. My hair is getting spoiled. I have thousands of lice in my hair. As a result, the cows in my village have started snubbing me and my advances. These days, dragonflies have started staying in my hair as their food lice is there. I need a haircut, I am not playing.

Greg: Please play just one more match, its the mightly Bolivians, just one last one. Please !

Dhoni: Ok. But don't do this next time.

Greg meanwhile was going through the batting averages and noticed that Dravid had the longest stay at the crease for the last 67 matches. So he asked Dravid to give a presentation in front of the team as to what motivated him so much and what was the secret to his concentration.

Dravid: My wife is extremely ugly. So, I try to stay as long as possible away from her. That is why I play a low risk game (In the last game, he hit 3 runs from 92 balls). If I get out, I have to go back to her.

Everyone starts applauding. What an inspirational cricketer.

Now it is time to decide on the bowling line up.

Greg: Obviously Zaheer is opening. He was brilliant last game. (Zaheer had bowled only 23 wides in the last match and he picked up three wickets. The secret to this brilliant bowling performance was a result of a mentoring session from Venkatesh Prasad. Prasad told him that to bowl from mid off and aim at Third slip. As a result, Zaheer returned with the best figures in the match.)

Greg: Off-late I have noticed that Rahul has been facing a lot of pressure and so we have decided to come up with Batting, Bowling and Fielding Captain to relieve Rahul of some of the responsibility.

Greg: I have noticed that Munaf Patel has stayed not out in the last three matches (all the other batsmen had got out by then). I admire the commitment of this lad and as a result he is the Batting Captain.

Greg: I was also going through this figure. Sourav has been involved in 177 run outs. But he himself has never got out. He values his wicket so much. I think we all need to Congratulate him on the price he sets for his wicket. Sourav, you are the running-between-wickets captain.

Greg: Anil has been sitting on the bench for the last three years. He keeps taking snaps throughout the match. He is such a team-man. I think we need to recognize this loyalty. Anil, you are the Bowling Captain.

Greg: Harbhajan is the fielding captain.

Rahul: But he dropped the catch in the last match when he dived to his right to take it.

Greg: At least he dived in the right direction.

After this intense brainstorming session, India looks all set to take on Bolivia. Please pray for the team's success.

Invade Iran now ?

A Video footage of the British Captives taken hostage by Iran has just been released. The detainees agree to trespassing into Iranian waters and also claim to have met with "friendly, hospitable and thoughtful' people.

It is very interesting to note that the voices coming from the British Ministries have a much harsher and an indignant tone than the people held captive in this report. There have been reports of other even more drastic developments .

Coming back to the original report, I do not find the attitude of the detainees hard to believe. It is easy to imagine a group of Britishers being treated well by people of Iran. Yes ! One can imagine an Israeli man shaking a friendly hand with a Palestinian and how very easy it is for an Indian to have a Pakistani friend. It does not sound unbelievable at all. It is natural - You meet someone new and different, and it is instinctive to be respectful !

It is a real pity that when the Governments are involved and when societies as a whole interact with another alien societies - the possibility of peaceful co-existence always seems more remote. Societies as a whole are always wary of each other.

I hope that the governments of USA and UK do not leverage incidents as these as an excuse for another invasion ! It is important that these powers of the world realize that it would be much more fruitful to develop bonds of peace - rather than to start wars.

It is important for economic and humanitarian reasons that USA and UK learn to live peacefully with the rest of the world.

A power which cannot control itself, is no power at all.

Whether good sense prevails - time shall tell.

Slinged 4 in 4

In a brilliant display of fast bowling, Lasith Malinga captured 4 South African wickets in 4 balls - including the well set Kallis.

On observing his bowling carefully I am left wondering if he "bowled" his way to the 4 wickets, or "Slinged" his way to 4 wickets ?

I know there is no bent elbow - Even then, am I the only one who finds his action a 'bit of suspect' ?

A bad bad day ...

I saw a forward in my inbox after the India-Bangladesh game.

It was one of those marginally humorous jokes that you tend to read - the kinds that get twisted a bit here and a tad there before being sent out for their bouts with our spam filters - till you must have read ten different flavors of the same joke.

When I read through it - I thought to myself that it was funny in a gloomy sort of way - one of those that attempt to draw a silver-lining smile from you from an otherwise gloomy cloud. It did make me smile though.

But looking back in hindsight - that forward in my mail-box was a cruel cruel one. It was plain sadistic ! People ought to think before forwarding such cruel things !

It is just a game. I know. But it has been a bad bad day.

Here is that cruelly humorous forward.

HER DIARY

Day night, I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a cafe to have some coffee.I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk, he agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong - he said, "Nothing. "I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving.I can't explain his behavior; I don't know why he didn't say, "I love u,too."When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore . He just sat there and watched TV. He seemed distant and absent. Finally I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed. I decided that I could not take it anymore, so I decided to confront him with the situation but he had fallen asleep. I started crying and cried until I too fell asleep.I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else . My life is a disaster.



HIS DIARY

India lost the cricket match against bangladesh.

Nike Cricket - A great commercial

The Pleasure of Finding Things !

For people who enjoy "finding things" - here's a video of Richard Feynman himself. A great watch !

Prisoner

Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali is one the premier works in Indian Literature. Here is a great work from Gitanjali - Prisoner

Prisoner

`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?'

`It was my master,' said the prisoner.

`I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power,

and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king.

When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord,

and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.'

`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?'

`It was I,' said the prisoner, `who forged this chain very carefully.

I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive

leaving me in a freedom undisturbed.

Thus night and day I worked at the chain

with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.

When at last the work was done

and the links were complete and unbreakable,

I found that it held me in its grip.'

- Rabindranath Tagore

World Cup '07 Bhavishya-Vani

The Mega Cricketing event of the year will be commencing tommorow- can't wait for the action to start !

I will try to make some predictions on paper (err ... on keyboard) before the event begins. Time will tell how these predictions pan out in the long run. :)

In my opinion, this will be the most open world cup ever. Since the Australian team has been showing signs of vulnerability for the first time in many years, there have emerged plenty of contenders to challenge the Aussies. India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan should be able to do well in the West Indian conditions, while England and New Zealand have a new found confidence after beating Australia. A Brian Lara led West Indies, playing at home should also be a very dangerous team to come across - especially if Lara is on song.

Lets make this interesting by rating each team by how likely I think they are to win the world cup. In theory this approach should be a much safer approach then predicting one outright winner.

My Predictions for the Teams to Win the World Cup:

Australia -------------- 1/3
India ------------------ 1/3.5
Sri Lanka ------------- 1/5
South Africa: --------- 1/5.5
West Indies: ---------- 1/6
England: -------------- 1/7
Pakistan: -------------- 1/7
New Zealand: --------- 1/7.5
Zimbabwe ------------- 1/800
Bangladesh ------------ 1/1000
Kenya ------------------ 1/Inf
Netherlands ----------- 1/Inf
Scotland --------------- 1/Inf
Ireland ----------------- 1/Inf
Bermuda --------------- 1/Inf
Canada ----------------- 1/Inf

I will also be more adventurous and try to predict the performances of "my" team for the tournament - Team India. I will try to guess which players will do well, by putting numbers for their batting/bowling averages for World Cup' 07. At the end of the tournament, I can look back and see how close I was to predicting the fortunes of my favorite players .

So here is team India, and I have rated each player for what I think will be the batting average and a bowling average of that player for WC '07.

My Predictions for Player Performances :

Rahul Dravid Batting: 55 Bowling: NA

Sachin Tendulkar Batting: 60 Bowling: 45	Sourav Ganguly Batting: 50 Bowling: 40
Ajit Agarkar Batting: 10 Bowling: 25	Virender Sehwag Batting: 25 Bowling: 40
Harbhajan Singh Batting: 15 Bowling: 30	Zaheer Khan Batting: 10 Bowling: 27
MS Dhoni Batting: 40 Bowling: NA	S Sreesanth Batting: 5 Bowling: 30
Dinesh Karthik Batting: 25 Bowling: NA	Robin Uthappa Batting: 35 Bowling: NA

Anil Kumble Batting: 10 Bowling: 28

Yuvraj Singh Batting: 35 Bowling: 40

Irfan Pathan Batting: 20 Bowling: 30

Munaf Patel Batting: 10 Bowling: 24

Pictures Courtesy - http://cricketworldcup.indya.com

And Last, but not the least - I will also try to stick my head out and pick one player from each of the major contenders for WC' 07. These are the players that I think would be the most dangerous/valuable players for each team ( be it due to their batting/ bowling/ fielding/ captaincy/ experience/ .... ). Ultimately - I deem that a great WC '07 for any of these players could lead to that particular country doing very well in the tournament.

Here are my picks for valuable players :

Australia ------------- R. Ponting
India ----------------- S. Tendulkar
Sri Lanka ------------ S. Jayasurya
South Africa --------- G. Smith
West Indies ---------- B. Lara
England -------------- K. Pieterson
Pakistan -------------- Inzamam. Haq
New Zealand --------- S. Fleming


Let the games begin ! Go India !

UPDATE: results

Bemtya Joshi's new found spirituality

Gaurav Sabnis has been translating some of Pu La's works and posting them online. Check out this part of "Asa Mi Asa Mi". A lot of the humor may be better appreciated in the original marathi rendition. But even in the translated version - Pu La ROCKS ! :)

Divide Pakistan ?

There has been an interesting and even outrageous series of advertisements, articles and even a book detailing the role of Pakistan in fostering terrorism. The author of the book is a France based gentleman called Jamaluddin Syed.

Mr Syed raises some interesting arguments about Pakistan's role in world terrorism - especially pointing to the grooming of the "terrorist mindset". He claims that no other country in the world other than Pakistan - be it N. Korea, Iran or Syria, actually "groom the terrorist mindset" as Pakistan does.

He further delves into the cause of creation of this "terrorist mentality" - arguing that the manner in which Pakistan was created in 1947 had a large role to play.

He also offers an outrageous but interesting solution to the problem - advocating that the International community initiate a division of Pakistan to help curb the terrorist mindset from spreading.

A lot of it ends up sounding very far-fetched - but a very new interpretation none the less.

Check out this site - especially the videos

http://www.dividepakistan.blogspot.com

Disclaimer : All these are the views and opinions expressed by Mr. Jamaluddin on his web site - not necessarily mine.

India Booming !

India's economic march in the past few years needs no introduction - the world has been witnessing it for some time now. But even keeping that in mind, the sheer force with which India is rising boggles the mind. Just a cursorary look at the Forbes List released today throws up some amazing numbers.

The Ambanis - Mukesh and Anil, are placed at #14 and # 18 this year - last year they were #56 and #104. Anil Ambani has gained a net 12 Billion this year, while Mukesh has gained some 10 Billion. In 365 days. Pause a bit to think that they have not even started their dream projects of setting up mega retail chains and the other mega ventures.

India now has more billionaires than the economic powerhouse of Japan. India has more billionaires in the top 20 list than any other country - bar the US.

But that just covers the the richest of the rich, you say ? - Look again. And look again carefully.

India's GDP is growing at a net rate of about 9 % for quiet some time, the forex reserves have never been higher, and the BSE index breaks some record almost every day you check.

The Infrastructure is growing. The Airline Industry is opening up. India just signed a deal with the US to generate nuclear power. India is one of the premier countries working in the field of rocket science. The Indian pharmaceutical companies are booming - competing to take over the divisions of US Pharmaceutical companies that they would not even dream of competing with 10 years back.

The largest aluminum company in the world now is India's Hindalco. The worlds largest steel company, Mittal Steel, has set its future interests in India. Tata Steel succeded in an outrageous bid to take over the very reason for its former rulers power - British steel - the very company that fueled Britain's Industrial revolution. All the major car manufacturers have their eyes set on India to fund their growth in the coming years. Let us not even speak of the many smaller industries and companies that are trying to get their foot in the door.

This list does not even talk about the software and the services sector. We do not even need to go there.

I had met an american friend when I was in Pune few months back and he had said to me then - "I still do not see what the fuss is about - the roads, the cars, the infrastructure is nowhere near what is present in the western countries "
My reply to him would be this - " Yes - we still have a long way to go, but consider this - If we are doing so well with what we have right now - can you imagine where we will be - when all these problems you talk about are dealt with ? "

To put things into perspective, recall this. The United States - which is an economical behemoth of almost unrealistic proportions, was near bankruptcy by the year 1929/1930. The backbone of the US - its interstate highway system was started in the 1950's. The USA beat USSR to the moon in the 1960's. Thousands of Nuclear weapons were piled up - just as a gentle reminder to the world. By the 1970's , US was one of the foremost powerhouses in the world - powered by a generation of brilliant industrious americans - those that we call the "Industrial Baby Boomers"

Now take a look at Modern India. Post Independance - upto the 1970's India was near bankruptcy. After opening up the economy in the 1990's- the money started flowing in. India developed indigenous missiles, beat Pakistan in the "Nuclear Club" race - oh yeah - our gentle reminder to the rest of the world. The Golden Quadrilateral was completed by 2005. The Railways - managed by a rustic leader - set record profits in 2006.

Lady History loves repeating herself and the stage is perfectly set for India. It is for India to take the lead and set the trail for the next century - and the young generation of Indians have to shoulder the responsibility of acting as the "Software Baby Boomers" of this century. We must not fail her.

Indians form the largest pool of the worlds educated youngsters. Millions of young educated people - living in a free and democratic country. Millions of them eager to get a chance to prove themselves. Millions who, from the very day they are born - are pushed by everyone around towards just one goal - to be successful.

Something is bound to happen - one way or the other. The road ahead is long and a lot has to be done. We all know that no work is done until it is really done.

The world still looks on as India is waking. As India is Rising. She must not forget her tryst with destiny.

At the very Limits of Modern Science

Here is an interview with Dr. Robert Lanza. Dr. Lanza seems to be asking a lot of very interesting and very pertinent questions.

Read the transcript as below -

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Wired News: You call your theory of the universe a biocentric theory. What, exactly, does that mean?

Lanza: This new theory presents a shift in world view with the perspective that life creates the universe instead of the other way around.

WN: I imagine that a lot of physicists will be rather upset by your article. How do you expect them to react?

Lanza: People are not going to be very happy with what this all means. This theory is going to invalidate their (some scientists) entire life's work. I will definitely get crucified.

We've got the scientific structure and framework incorrect. We need a theory that is internally consistent. We can't do this without creating a biological understanding of space and time. This will require restructuring science so that biology is above physics.

WN: Does that mean you think that big physics and astronomy projects should not be funded?

Lanza: Of course they should be funded. I don't think that everything should be changed. What I am saying is that there is a missing piece to the puzzle of how the universe works. The answer is biology. It is as simple as that. The biological picture of space and time must be integrated into our understanding of physics.

WN: Why do you think that there is such a deep misunderstanding of what time and space really are?

Lanza: Our minds are structured to think that way. Even Einstein avoided the question of what space and time are. He simply defined them as what we measure with clocks and measuring-rods. However, the emphasis should be on the "we," not the measuring.

WN: Do you expect that some people will read your article and think you mean that they can sit on a mountaintop and meditate to change the world around them with mind powers?

Lanza: We can't decide that we want to jump off the roof and not get hurt. However much we want, we can't violate the rules of spatiotemporal logic.

WN: In your article, you make the assertion that time and space do not exist. What do you mean by that?

Lanza: There is something very unusual about them. We can't put them in a marmalade jar and take them back to the lab for analysis. Space and time are forms of animal sense perception. Space and time are not objects or things -- they are forms of animal sense perception.

Thousands of articles and books have danced around the desire to toss off the current mechanical world view that has dominated Western culture for hundreds of years. While some imply that time and space may not in fact exist, this article diagrams, for the first time, such a universe -- a universe in which time and space do not exist as physical realities independent of humans and animals.

WN: You seem to disagree with how the world was created.

Lanza: There are serious problems with the current world view. We pride ourselves in our current beliefs and then we (scientists) say, and by the way, we have no idea why the big bang happened.

WN: Can you explain why we should doubt the things that are accepted as the truth in science classes everywhere?

Lanza: For the first time outside of complex mathematics, this theory explains the provocative new experiment that was just published in Science last month. This landmark experiment showed that a choice you make now can actually influence an event that has already occurred in the past.

Source : http://www.wired.com/news/technology/medtech/0,72910-0.html

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To say that the answers to these questions have been the holy grail of all physicists since time eternity would be an understatement.

In these hazy realms where the modern western-centric science fails to answer some questions, one could turn more eastward for some of the most profound ideas ever thought of.

Dr. Lanza may not find all the answers over here - but i deem that this and this is the closest that anyone has ever got to answering all these questions !

I would rate Vivekananda and all those who thought of these concepts, among the brightest scientific minds to have walked the face of the planet !