Where have all the patriotism gone?

Well just the other day there was a big discussion and it was appalling to note the attitude of few of our next generation youngsters-who calmly were indifferent to the blast victims or for that matter the rampant poverty present in our country. According to them even if we give a helping hand then it would not make much of a difference as the ills of the nation like corruption, terrorism and poverty would still continue to harangue and torment the citizens of India . However we can’t just lay back and be callous and lackadaisical towards such rampant issues that are hovering over our nation. I am not trying to preach anything but it comes naturally within oneself to help others when they are in need. If it is within your capability I believe one should not hesitate in trying to offer a helping hand. Let me give you an analogy on this. Few years back India faced disasters in terms of tsunami as well as the Gujarat earthquake. Now I did not earn that time but my father who was earning contributed to the relief fund. That time it was not within my capability to help the victims so I did not help but wasn’t it unconcerned about the whole thing? The answer is no-my heart reached out to all the victims and I felt that only if I had earned than I too would have contributed something. I didn’t go around claiming that since I cannot do anything about this there is no point for others to do the same-where in fact many NGOs, social organizations had organized charities and funds for the sole purpose of helping out the victims. Now with the Bihar floods and the fact that I am earning I have contributed to the relief fund and so has my father. This is something that does not need to be taught by someone-it’s not a cultivated trait-the feeling of social responsibility and the helping nature of individuals of doing something for the country. I am not asking people to join the defense force and fight for the country-all that needs to be asked is a small amount of patriotic feeling, a feeling of well being towards our fellow country men. I have seen and read in papers, articles about people being indifferent about accident hit people dying on the road , or people being thrashed by goons-they just stand and walk away, I don’t understand what debars us from helping them out-is it a sense of fear or a public exposure or has morality been lost completely out here? I know myself and people normally in situations like this would act preemptively and offer a helping hand-even though I might not be strong enough to thrash the goons but at least I can damage control. The point here is we all complaint about corruption etc and other mitigating factors plaguing the nation but if the attitude of today’s youth is bordered on callousness then the country would further plunge into despair instead of any chances of improvement. We have to remember that it is we who elect the leaders who form the government and if they are corrupt it is our responsibility since we have chosen them. I am not saying like in the film RDB we should be rebels and sacrifice our lives for the country but at the same time we need to do something to weed out these problems that are at the root of our country. I have heard from today’s youngsters-14-18 year old who do not feel patriotic as others do-so it makes me wonder what needs to be done so that they have some love for the country. The Western influences largely have to do with this mentality as the perennial aping of the West would never go away from the individual’s psyche. We have seen brain drain pretty much rampant now and it is mainly because our education system is flawed-it is not enough to satisfy the needs of an individual who seeks to better his career. I cant blame the people who are going away outside India to study-it is something that the government has to look into and see how can the education be improved in our country-if you have reservations in every premier institution that certainly is not going to help the cause.  All I am saying is its very easy to say words sitting in your air-conditioned couch that doing anything wont help the over all cause in mitigating the issues but remember that the entire process is cumulative in nature. It is through the combined small efforts of all within each one’s capabilities that the troubles plaguing the nation can be overcome.  Together we stand divided we fall-it is time to make use of this phrase before it is altogether too late. I am sure being born an Indian there is certain iota of love for the nation-the patriotic feeling is inherent in every one of us. Remember there are heretics, there are agnostics and there are devouts in India but it’s difficult to accept that there are non patriots in our country. Dont we all sense a feeling of elation,pride whenever our country does well in sports notably cricket.We all cheer for our players when they do well-be it any sport as had been evident when India won 3 medals at this year's Olympics which also included a gold medal! We all were proud of those who had done our country proud and we held our heads high. Victory in Sports of our counry can instil a sense of nationalistic pride in our country a feeling of patriotism but why cant it be there all the time.Does it really require a push to arouse the dormant feelings in us?

Online Life and Real World..

Well when you see around many online internet sites, forums and blogs where people from different parts of the world meet, unite and make friends doesn’t it all give a sense of déjà vu- I mean people try to use these online forms of communication as an escapist route from their troubles and worries in Real Life…Let me take you more into the analogy between the two.  Online sites like Orkut, etc –well they are nothing but a sort of virtual reality, a virtual simulation game where in the people we meet and make friends online are the virtual entities, the virtual characters playing their role…you have not met them in real life and there is no guarantee that you would meet them but why do people find solace in these so called online relationships? Why is it that even though the mind is separated from the physical being of the individual (in the sense that despite your physical absence you actually pen down your thoughts by writing down, scraps, blogging, posts etc) do people actually sense a kind of closeness to each of the other so called ‘online’ friends the virtual entities to be precise? This is one question that seemingly reclusive on its own might have some explanation…  Consider the virtual online world to be The Matrix- a metaphysical world where the physics of life don’t validate or govern an alternate dimension and time frame where despite the physical disparities in the location of the individuals- the characters of the game unite with their minds, their thoughts. However can we expect feelings to be transferred from one person to another- a feeling of closeness to the individual, maybe development of mutual admiration and affections despite the fact that all the individuals have not even once met in real life?  Well as I had earlier stated there might be an explanation to it-after all you cannot expect online relationships to blossom and flourish and get converted into some thing as marriage unless the twain don’t meet! Even then the cases where such have been established are rare…they have happened- like the 2 souls met each other through online first and then in real life and went ahead and married-for one thing this is not easy-you cannot vouch for all the credentials that the said individual is posting on his or her behalf and trust me putting a genuine pic also would not suffice-it can be morphed for all you know.  So how do the trust and friendship develop- is it only through words, the style of writing that one can figure out :- a) the gender of the person. b) that the person is not a poseur? Well partly yes and this also brings us to the 2nd level of communication- and that is voice chatting and telephone conversation-here despite the advances in voice modulation you cannot obscure the true nature of your voice no matter how you try and as you gradually speak along you get to gauge the person somewhat better as you would have say while chatting or orkutting.  People meet become friends virtually but to me it doesn’t make much practical sense – it is just that you are temporarily transferred to a make belief world where almost everything is perfect and going according to you-a place where you can share your thoughts and feelings with everyone, discuss about your interests and that’s all there is to it without going into any emotional attachment of any sorts. Friendship is something which cannot be solely established through the online world-no matter how much a smooth talker you might be and how much you portray yourself as the sane individual who is utmost in terms of character and morality. It goes beyond that-it transgresses the mind and conjugates with the physical being of the person-in short unless you meet ,you cant just call anyone your friend per se-at the most acquaintances.  This is because whatever happens in the alternate dimension-the virtual online world is shut off once you disconnect the internet and shut down your computer-whatever connection was their with the virtuosos it all goes off once everything is shut down- just like when you disconnect yourself from a virtual reality world. It is akin to coming back to the ground reality –if you stay alone then sinking once again into your couched hermit life or if you are among friends then once again digressing into the mirth and laughter with them.  So who does seek solace and comfort in the virtual world-people who are lonely and those who might have got bored and frustrated with life that they think spending 40% of their lifetime on the internet would help them find people and meet people and give him or her that much added sense of relief. However life is so fast paced in the current world and it is so competitive that rarely do you find such categories of people but even then there are sections of them that do exist. So which one do you prefer-online world or the real world-the question itself sounds inane but I just want to derive an opinion out of everyone out of this article I wrote and what do they make of it. For me I would obviously prefer the real world even though I am a self confessed net addict :P

Of progressive rock and Dream Theater

Octavarium album and the title song is epic in every sense of it.The track with a length 24 minute long encompasses in its final few stanzas all the prior 7 songs of the album.What more the ending tune of Octavarium leads to the opening salvo of the first song of the album-The Root of All Evil-in fact the album is like a loop quite aptly put by the lines-"

Trapped inside an Octavarium" it s the lyrics,the vocals and the awesome guitaring of Petrucci and drumming of Portnoy that makes DT a band worth listening to.Metrpolis Part 2-A Scenes from a memory is probably one of the best concept albums in progressive rock that I have listened to.

Images and Words would always remain their core popular album what with tracks like Pull Me Under,Another Day,Under the Glass moon scoring heavily with the fans.

Fall into Infinity also has good melodious numbers as in Hollow Years,Take Away my Pain-with the epic concluding It was Raining,etc 3 part track.

Progressive rock is defined largely by Dream Theater being at the core but bands like Porcupine Tree,Rush are also good in this genre-Neil Peart is a great drummer,an idol for many drummers that includes Mike Portnoy.

PS: I intend to buy the DVD of Metropolis Part 2.No idea about the prices though.

Chennai 600028 review

Over the weekend I saw a very good Tamil movie recommended to me by my friend, Chennai 600028 with English subtitles of course :P .The movie has everything-action,drama,comedy,romance- it’s a movie based on a theme that is the nation’s favorite sport-cricket. It showcases from gully cricket to tournament cricket and also the rivalry between two teams-Sharks and Rockers. Along the way it highlights team unity,amity,friendship, fights, interpersonal rivalry, ego clashes and also some minor quibbles that happen in friendship but above all it highlights the spirit of the game which is cricket.  The movie starts and ends with a run out albeit the out come is different for the both. The climax of the movie is the all important cricket match and just like Lagaan it goes all down to the wire-the last ball of the match and few runs required to win. The ending is climactic all right and all the actors have played their role well-notably characters playing Shanmugam,Karthick, Raghu( a former Rocker team player turned Sharks team’s lead bowler) and Selvi’s brother(forgot the name who was the captain in the final for Sharks).  Entertainment throughout with a good soundtrack the movie was enjoyable. PS: Learnt some Tamil words in the process-machan=buddy,ball podu pa=bowl,thambi=younger brother-these are the few that caught me the most along with poda=go.:P PPS: I heard Venkat's 2nd film Saroja is equally good as the first and I would check it out once the DVD is released of it with subtitles..the reviews look good so far of it.The star cast is basically the same as that of Chennai 600028 so it should be a good one.

48 Hours

Time is a very important aspect…as Floyd’s Time song specifies…Time and tide waits for none…we often are hard pressed in our lives for time and we hardly manage to squeeze in some rest or entertainment in between our daily hectic schedules..so I was wondering what would happen if say we have 48 hours instead of 24…mind you all other parameters remaining same-you have the same 8-9 hour job…etc…considering I am a kind of insomniac I can do with less sleep..so I would indulge myself more on the entertainment front..be it going on a reading spree..I love reading..or watching movies on a trot…I am a movie buff or for that matter completing the pending series..yes I watch series too..I have lots to occupy myself with and of course I have studies of MBA to tag along with…maybe squeeze in an extra few hours of sleep-here and there maybe 7-8 instead of the normal 5-6 hours of sleep…browse the net at home for more hours..

So tell me what would you do if a day had 48 hours instead of the normal 24 hours?

PS: I am expecting people to say they would sleep for the majority of the hours but one never knows..answers can be unexpected too!..One can visit another city inside 48 hours…Around the world in 80 days…Around India in 48 hours..does it sound too far fetched :P ;)-(one would have to travel by flight only then to make it possible considering the reputation of Indian railways and the faster trains which are a rarity these days..apart from Rajdhani..

LHC-Big Bang Theory replicated-CERN

From the flagellants of the Middle Ages to the doomsayers of Y2K, humanity has always been prone to good old-fashioned the-end-is-nigh hysteria. The latest cause for concern: that the earth will be destroyed and the galaxy gobbled up by an ever-increasing black hole next week.

Well the experiment had been performed and there was no cause for concerns whatsover.The clockwise rotation of the proton beams was successfully done within an hour as it moved through the LHC.The anti-clockwise motion followed suit.On October 21st the LHC would be officially unveiled following which the two proton beams would be made to collide at high speed thus generating large amount of energy.Of course it might create miniature black holes but there are no cause for concerns as by Hawkin's radiation those black holes would be absorbed by gravitation.

Should we be scared? No. In June, CERN published a safety report, reviewed by a group of external scientists, ruling out the possibility of dangerous black holes. It said that even if tiny black holes were to be formed at CERN — a big if — they would evaporate almost instantaneously due to Hawking Radiation, a phenomenon named for the British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose theories show that black holes not only swallow up the light, energy and matter around them, but also leak it all back out at an accelerating pace. According to Hawking, if tiny black holes occurred at CERN, they would evaporate before they got a chance to do any damage. (Even if Hawking's theories prove to be wrong — no one has yet witnessed black-hole evaporation — scientists at CERN say the LHC's collisions are already known to be harmless: an equivalent amount of energy is produced hundreds of thousands of times a day by cosmic rays colliding with the earth and other objects in the cosmos — always without incident.)

Now what would recreation of what caused Big Bang effect help the scientists and science in particular?

Well it would answer many questions about matter,antimatter,dark matter,about the Higgs boson aka God Particle,about CP violation,quarks and other such phenomenon-it would in essence enable science to answer all those questions that were previously considered to be unanswerable.

Scientists believe the LHC's results will help fill in gaps in the Standard Model, the far-reaching set of equations on the interaction of subatomic particles that is the closest that modern physics comes to a testable "theory of everything." For example, scientists believe the LHC will produce a particle, the Higgs Boson, that will end debate over how matter in the universe acquires mass. It could even provide evidence for more ambitious theories of the universe, such as string theory, which unites quantum mechanics and general relativity, the previously known laws of the small and large that are currently incompatible in the Standard Model.

Well with all the unconfounded fears being allayed,and the world still being intact,CERN should definitely deseve the credit due to them..for having performed the first round of experiments successfully..Hawkins is skeptical that the God Particle would not emerge after the collision...he feels it should better not, as it is going to turn a lot of aspects and principles of science head over..but in the end..its a feat that CERN scientists have accomplished and they deserve the praise that they are getting..

The Dilemma

Rakesh had always been the model student for his college..he was good in studies and a decent sportsperson especially in cricket where he was a decent all-rounder…
One day there was a challenge that he had to face…he had got into a fight with one guy who challenged him-in fact his team to play a best of 2 Test Matches.
His dilemma was amplified by the fact that during the course of the Test Matches in fact from Day 3 of Test Match 1 his internal exams would be commencing. He could not let that pass as he was pretty serious about his studies…nor could he manage two of them simultaneously knowing that if he played he would have to practice and that would affect his performance in the exams.

He played the Test Match but he was not performing as he would have wanted to…his mind was elsewhere…this allowed the opponents to get a hold on his team during the first 2 days of the match.
Frustrated and in despair he went to seek the help of his genius scientist uncle…who listened to his dilemma..and then asked Rakesh to undergo few tests one of them including taking a sample DNA from his body…Rakesh had no clue as to what he was up to but knowing the capabilities of his uncle he confided in him. His uncle told him not to worry and told me to get back and concentrate on my studies…I had no clue as to what he would be doing to ensure that my team obtained victory in those two Test matches which was crucial from the point of pride perspective which was at stake.

Well Rakesh’s internals went on smoothly and he managed to do well but he had no idea what was going on in the matches-was he able to come up with someone substantial to replace me or could do better than Rakesh?
Well after the matches when he came to college he was astonished to see everyone hugging and congratulating him…he was about to ask someone what happened..was it because of his marks but then someone told him..man you were a one man show against the team…we won the 2 Test Matches solely because of you man..

Then he read the headlines..Rakesh turns around with his superlative all round performance with the bat and the ball to clinch the test series for his team, his college…and when he saw his photograph he was stunned…it was him in the photo..now how was this paradox possible..he was writing his tests..and he remembers his marks distinctly so how could he have figured and played in those matches…
I rushed to my uncle whom I knew could tell me the answers to this..and when he replied I was stunned:-
“Rakesh, congrats on your clone successfully performing the feat in test matches…I made him watch the cricket videos and the clone being able to memorize everything was able to replicate the performance on field when you were busy writing the tests…I had molded his brain accordingly such that he could pick things up fast..”
There he saw sitting beside his uncle with a vacant emotionless face was Rakesh’s clone..

Spoonerism

A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis). It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency.

While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue resulting from unintentionally getting one's words in a tangle, they are often used intentionally as a play on words.

 

Quotations attributed to Spooner include:

• "The Lord is a shoving leopard" ("loving shepherd")
• "It is kisstomary to cuss the bride" ("customary to kiss")
• "Mardon me, padam, this pie is occupewed. Can I sew you to another sheet?" (Pardon me, madam, this pew is occupied. Can I show you to another seat?")
• To a student: "You have hissed all my mystery lectures, and were caught fighting a liar in the quad. Having tasted two worms, you will leave by the next town drain" ("missed ... history," "lighting a fire," "wasted two terms," "down train")
• To a lady at a college reception: "You'll soon be had as a matter of course" ("mad as a Hatter, of course")
• "Let us glaze our asses to the queer old Dean" ("Let us raise our glasses to the dear old queen")
• "We'll have the hags flung out" ("flags hung")
• "a half-warmed fish" ("half-formed wish")
• "Is the bean dizzy?" ("dean busy")
• "Go and shake a tower" ("take a shower")
• "a well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle")
• "Let us pray for our queer old dean"

Serial Killers

Disclaimer: - Work of fiction, any semblance to anything real is purely coincidental and unintentional. 

Part 1 

There was this case going around…a strange one where in the serial killer was entitled ‘Cord Killer’. The person (it was not yet made sure what is the gender of the person) got hold of numbers-(landline numbers) of people, seemed to know the exact time when they were at their homes and then called them up-and while they picked up the receiver, came from behind and strangled the person/persons using the telephone cord of the instrument. This was one way of killing and the other one was –calling up the mobiles of the victims and then coming from behind and strangling using a telephone cord again! The police were clearly baffled and even the detectives were aghast by these series of incidents-one common thing they noted was the victims were all either- beautiful married women or they were rich businessman.

 

So one detective, Miles took the services of me, since they knew that I had a reputation of trying to find a pattern among serial killers-though I never really helped the police with any of this kind of work-apart from helping them to nab a serial thief! However murders are a totally different game.

 

I was actually an IT professional by service and these were nothing but hobbies on my behalf so one day I decided to accompany Miles to the scene of one of the crimes to look for any pattern or clues. As we were looking around for clues Miles received a call on his mobile-it was from an unknown number-he couldn’t even figure it out who he was-I told him to be careful as it might be that the serial killer is somewhere on the scene looking for any intended victim.

 

I told him he might have come across some incriminating evidence against the killer-and he said he had-got hold of one handkerchief which had the initials AS printed on it. When I saw it I realized immediately that it was one that could actually nail the criminal. Just as Miles was telling me, I think I have seen this handkerchief somewhere and that AS sounds familiar- I called him up on his number-I had several spare cell phones with me so that no one could trace it back as to who might be the caller. As he picked up the phone, I slowly crept behind him and with my cord-I strangled him till he was suffocated to death.

 

That day I had killed my 25^th victim and still I roam about scot free J

Motives for crime: - Frustrated with lack of love life and with IT job.

 

Part 2

 

You all must have seen serial killer in movies and read them in books etc but have you ever seen or heard of a serial killer of a kind that I had met quite some days back in the city of Monte.

 

Well I decided to pay a visit to the home of one of my friends Andrew, whom I knew had a strange hobby of collecting insects, reptiles etc. I was aware that when I go to his room he would show his collection to me. And as I entered the room I smelt something putrid emanating from the air-and that seemed to come from a store room. As I ventured there and entered I was shocked to see a huge container that contained bodies of dead creatures piled on top of each other-you name it from frogs to lizards to snakes to flies and mosquitoes and I was wondering how anyone can stand that smell.

 

Just as I was about to leave the room feeling nauseated, Andrew came in holding a dead frog and dropped it into that container-“saying there goes my 50^th”! He said he kills animals especially insects and amphibians and reptiles for fun and that was his 50^th victim.

Have you ever come across someone who kills creatures for fun? Creatures have life and even though his felonies wont put him into imprisonment but doing it for fun seemed like a horrible fad to me.

A fly was buzzing around me and before I had realized it lay dead on the palms of Andrew who exclaimed-“You know what flies are a difficult thing to kill-I have killed around a dozen of them before I could master the art of killing them and now I can do so efficiently-In goes my 51^stvictim! “

Lost-A Short Story

We had just been aboard the Space Shuttle on an exploration trip to outer space...we did not even have an inkling as to the time..as you know time flies like anything when one is in space and before you realize it-it amounts to some months and years travelling around like a free body as was in the case of this shuttle in space...I was accompanied by 3 of the fellow scientists-whom I can say my contemporaries in the field and were learning the trade of space travel..
I dont know when it happened but suddenly we were sucked into what it seemed like a black whirlpool...the entire shuttle seemed to spiral onwards uncontrollably towards the black nothingness which seemed like a black hole but to encounter one all of a sudden seemed strange to all of us.
We all knew about the myths associated with black holes and we were praying we do not end up somewhere back in time or ahead of time..and we hoped we kept our physical attributes intact.

Then I dont know how much time had elapsed but we found ourselves hitting something solid-the shuttle came to a screeching stop.

We got down from our 'space ship' and looked around and were amazed to find that the ground was covered with reddish brown soil.Where exactly had we landed up? I wondered...and our curiosities were all the more raised when I saw a number of human like dwellings on the place where we had landed.Was it some distant planet we wondered? And how come it looked similar to earth-though it was not definitely Earth?Where exactly were we-had we gone back to some ancient world or something?These were the questions that plagued our minds constantly.

Then as we went nearby some of the dwellings, we were shocked to see that the people there looked exactly like humans! I mean what were they doing out here we wondered and that too in some sort of secluded planet/world in outer space!
Well our awe was not limited there because we were in for more shock as we went close by.
We saw the people there were actually someone whom we knew who had died on Earth-I saw my grandparents who had expired last year,I was able to see one of my friends there who had expired in a car accident.
Similarly my compatriots were able to see their loved ones or close friends who had long been deceased on Earth.What exactly was going on out there-we wondered,was it some kind of a place where we can see the people spending their after lives i.e lives after death.

We tried to strike up a conversation with them but we couldnt reach out to them.It seemed they were enjoying their blissful lives out there and did not seem to heed our pleas for some conversation. I wondered if they could even see us.We were overwhelmed with emotions when we could see our dear ones so close by yet could not reach out to them.

Then as we were enveloped by this moment we actually forgot about our surroundings and what happened from here on-all I can say was it was something unbelievable.
"Appearances are deceptive they say"-and this is what happened when suddenly one of those 'deceased' persons suddenly changed shape-just like a caterpillar sheds its outer skin-that is exactly what it did and it was followed suit by the entire mass of people out there.
Slowly but steadily the outer 'human' skins were shed and out emerged grotesque shaped beings with prodded extrusions on their head.What more their bodies were enveloped by a thick yellow slime which gave them a more attenuated ugly appearance.If they would have not moved or stayed there things would have helped.However for some unknown reason they decided to charge forward towards us.
What would you do when a hoard of 'alien' beings with some object in their hands resembling laser guns charge towards you?
We were desperately scurrying for cover and managed to dodge some of the laser shots-thankfully we were wearing our suits still and some of the shots we were able to withstand...

We managed to run far but we did not totally shake off the huge crowd that were running behind us...the distance between them and us kept reducing when we were suddenly able to locate our shuttle ship nearby..without further ado we scampered forward...
Just as we were about to board the ship,a couple of those grotesque beings managed to grab hold of my garment..I desperately tried to free myself off them and finally after a bit of struggle and with a help from my friend I managed to free myself but not before I had got a gobble of the thick yellow slime on my trouser cuff!

The alarm bell rang and I woke up.I found myself lying in my room.I wondered if what all I saw had been a dream or not.You know from childhood I used to have these fantasies and dreams of going out to outer space and meeting aliens..so was it really some kind of nightmare I wondered..anyways I had to go to work,so I made way towards the toilet to get myself ready.
As I made my way towards the toilet to complete my morning ablutions, I left a trail of thick yellow slime behind.