To be or not to be....

New Picasa Web Albums Activity

2010-06-29T10:33:00.001+05:30

Recent UploadsPrasanna added 5 photos to America Trip Leg 1 Jun 27, 2010 10:00:32 PM Post CommentUnsubscribe from this user. To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

Roaming the U.S. of A.

2010-06-09T11:06:00.001+05:30

Hello ! Im planning a slightly random trip round the US on a shoestring budget (translation - Ill be sleeping on people's couches) and a greyhound pass. In many of the cities I'm visiting, I have people to stay with, but in many I dont. Im including my itinerary below and the cities in which I have no company are in bold. If you are in any of these cities do please let me know ! If

Swine Flu Article on New Scientist Magazine

2009-10-29T09:14:00.001+05:30

http://www.newscientist.com/special/swine-flu-myths-that-could-endanger-your-lifeand its not cheerful at all.

Update : My Year Off with Theoretical Physics in Canada :)

2009-09-14T19:48:00.001+05:30

Hello Folks !Its been ages since I last sent out an update mail, but that does not mean things have not been happening ! There have been many many months of desperate - and sometimes dangerous - hard work, much agonizing thought about the future, a satisfying amount of cricket, some heart burn some success and a few twists in the tale. Not to mention some inspirational teachers - maybe thats a

New Blog

2008-07-30T06:13:00.003+05:30

This is where I blog nowsee you there !

CLOSED DOWN

2008-04-25T14:55:00.001+05:30

I will no longer post anything here.This blog has served me for a long time, and I'm rather fond of it, but the past suffocates it now, I want to start afresh and write something different.I'll put the new URL here as soon as there is one.Thank you for coming !

Questions for a PGDM

2008-04-05T19:32:00.008+05:30

why are food prices rising all over the world ? how is the price of oil determined ? what justification is given for the assertion that wealth trickles down ? what do consultants do after 5 years of consultancy ? what are they good at ? why do derivatives and other financial "products" exist ? what purpose to they serve ? why are the richest and most cash rich sectors (investment banks,

Chitrangada is Coming Back !

2008-03-31T11:52:00.008+05:30

.I put the same photo again, because I find it stunning. Take a look at this article from Tehelka which gives a good account of her history and the effect she had on people, including me. The article also talks about her upcoming movies and her own reasons for leaving when she did.Finally, something positive happens to Bollywood !

The Greatest Ever

2008-03-13T02:15:00.009+05:30

An article by Rohit Brijnath, this is a moving tribute to Dhyan Chand. It was part of India Today's 100 People who shaped India series of articles. This is the link to the whole article on the India Today website. Notice how shoddily we have always treated our heroes. We are a hugely callous country. We dont deserve our heroes. We certainly deserve our politicians. If you know what this article

But we did not

2008-03-10T04:23:00.002+05:30

India lost 2-0 and will not be playing at the Olympics in Beijing.

I want India to win . .

2008-03-09T14:08:00.011+05:30

against Britain tomorrow in Santiago. India has played in every men's olympic hockey tournament since 1928 (and won 8 of them) and in order to play in Beijing, India need to beat Britain tomorrow in the final of the 6 nation qualifying tournament from which only one team will play in the olympics. India lost only one league match, and that was to Britain a couple of days ago, a very rough match

Its gone too far

2008-02-23T21:37:00.004+05:30

I, P B, hereby declare that I will not watch, read about, talk about, or in any way encourage the proliferation of any event, product, person or subject that has any connection to cricket in India.

2008-02-02T04:57:00.000+05:30

Here's a story.After much huffing and puffing and tension, my exams finally got over on the 28th of Jan 2008. and then, instead of breathing a sigh of relief and enjoying for a few days, I had a take home exam to do to be sumbitted on the 13th of february for a subject we freshers had been advised not to take on account of its advanced nature (and so of course, I went and took it. I insist on

2008-01-25T14:07:00.001+05:30

Thats Chitrangada Singh - for those of you unfortunate enough never to have seen her before. Her first movie was the superbly made "Hazaaron Khwaahishein Aisi" (2003) - a movie that lingers in the mind long long after its over. It is set in the 1970's in Calcutta and traces the stories of 3 characters who - in all their flawed tragedy - symbolize the spirit of those times. But the movie goes

__________________________

2008-01-20T03:32:00.001+05:30

ख्वाब तो मैंने बहुत देखे है, लेकिन दिल लगा कर खेले हुए बरसों बीत गए. शब्द बड़ी आसानी से निकलते है मुह से, मन मे महल बड़ी आसानी से बनते है, लेकिन डाव लगता नही है मुझसे, ज़ंग लड़ी नही जाती, मंजिल तै नही कर पता हूँ मैं - लाब्जों की दीवारों के पीछे छुपकर मुकर जाता हूँ मैं. हारना तो मैं जानता ही नही हूँ - मैंने खेलना ही कहाँ सीखा है ! ख़यालों मे खोया, फ़र्ज़ निभाना भूल चूका हूँ मै. बडे दिन हुए सिर

I have seen the light

2008-01-13T02:39:00.000+05:30

I write this to remind myself of that fact.

Exams, Cricket etc

2008-01-11T14:23:00.000+05:30

I've become very bored and too comfortable in the middle of the exams. I liked my subjects while I was studying them, I was excited, but now that the exams are here they have become a drag. I fail to see how performance in an exam can be a good criterion for judging a masters level student's aptitude for research, and they are certainly a HUGE waste of time for all concerned, so I'm very

On Solitude

2007-12-28T01:46:00.000+05:30

I have had unparalleled opportunity to be alone with myself and meditate, both upon my life and upon my subjects, and (I regret to say) after making a very promising start 3 months ago I rather tired of my quiet isolation and yearned for the company of old friends and the comfort of old haunts, the warmth of home and the careless lethargy of an unambitious life. The splendid solitude of the

I Sea.

2007-12-24T22:35:00.001+05:30

The Giant Squid (genus Architeuthis) has been photographed alive in the wild only once (2004) and taken on video alive only once (2006), on both occasions by a Japanese expedition. Giant Squid are the stuff of countless maritime legends, but their existence has been scientifically confirmed only for a couple of centuries (in 1888 to be precise), and attempts to study them have been severely

Let there be Light

2007-12-15T13:53:00.002+05:30

I dont know how else to put it - I have been taken over by science. Physics and mathematics are all I seem to be able to talk about, my thoughts revolve around questions as arcane and arbit to most other people as they are delightful to me - questions about everyday life, and the world around us.....a common one, "How is a rainbow made ?" the answer to that is surprisingly intricate and pretty

A brilliant series from the BBC

2007-09-18T23:50:00.000+05:30

http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=135http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=136 http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=137These are links to episodes 1, 2, 3 respectively of a BBC documentary series called "The Power of Nightmares : Rise of the politics of fear". Wide ranging in scope and with some absolutely brilliant footage as well as superb and startling journalism, it surprises

2007-09-06T19:29:00.000+05:30

In a beautiful country of chocolates, cobbled streets, waffles, civilized rivers and quaint buildings I sit in a room and feel time flow past me. I loose myself in the current, letting the past wash over me, knowing that its over and done with. I let visions of the future, multitudinous and fantastic stalk me enticingly, knowing full well how short lived, weak and pathetic they are ! The present

Big Jan and the TdF

2007-07-18T21:59:00.000+05:30

Something I stumbled across - Associated PressJuly 11, 2007Jan Ullrich criticized former teammates Rolf Aldag and Erik Zabel for "acting like saints" once they had admitting their doping past. Ullrich, who won the Tour de France in 1997, was one of several riders kicked

Raireshwar, Kenjalgad and a jolly good weekend !

2007-07-16T10:59:00.000+05:30

I reached S's mama's house in Poona late on friday night (after hitching a ride with a man who turned out to be a newspaper editor fighting for superstition !) only to find that M and N had not reached yet and that nothing had been decided for the weekend ! After assorted arrivals (everyone seemed to be surprised that nothing had been decided) a plan for the next two days was sketched out (

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid

2007-07-10T18:37:00.000+05:30

I finished the book in one sitting. The narrative is fast and often subtle, but overall, the book is slightly disappointing. The characters are not as consistent and well fleshed out as they could have been and the author does not tell us anything new about ourselves. The plot and the setting too are fairly ordinary, and only interesting because of the prevailing political and cultural climate in

Contrasts

2007-07-07T22:58:00.001+05:30

I could not sleep that night. In that remote, impossibly beautiful place, with my head throbbing painfully every time I moved, cold, uncomfortable and overawed by the sheer scale of everything around me - the mountains, the sky, the silence - I walked slowly around camp, alone, (which is when I took the photo that accompanies this post, the only star in the sky) with my puny headlamp, thinking

Lies

2007-07-03T22:22:00.000+05:30

A word which describes everything. What we accept as the truth is only what we want to believe and what follows (through meaningless sophistry also of our choice) from what we believe. The basis as well as the structure of all arguments and discussions about people, ideas and the 'real' world are fairy tales which we seem unable to escape. Even the most trivial, unnecessary statements are

Write again

2007-06-28T22:20:00.000+05:30

I wrote something on another blog not so recently, and this is the link.....http://hivaatdoorjaate.vox.com/I'll dump "lit" stuff here, and write more of a personal diary sort of thing there. Lets see, I have not written in such a long time, I no longer know if I can. I find it impossible to write without some target audience in mind, and the person who was always the audience in my head, who

2006-05-16T19:28:00.000+05:30

I'm finally home and as a consequence am feeling more peaceful and comfortable than I have in a long, long time. With peace and comfort comes a strangely easy and wonderfully pleasant lucidity. Take away physical discomfort and let a chap feel removed from the turbulence, the trauma and the wild moods and extreme views brought on by the skewed perceptions, lonely unfamiliarity, unnecessary

2006-04-06T15:30:00.000+05:30

I'm still around - struggling, thinking, searching, happy, miserable, ill, worried, looking for peace, for reassurance form a world that's built to disappoint, getting things done, keeping it afloat, excited sometimes, bored mostly, appalled that the universe is unkind enough to exploit every weakness, every anomaly, every mistake one ever made and extract the market price. That is the only

2005-12-31T15:45:00.000+05:30

And therein lies a tale.To be blank insideWith the remnants of promises madeDreams wovenLingering uncomfortable shadowsTugging persistentlyLike ghosts that wont let goReminding, painfully painfullyOf a world that had meaningA life that had faithSmothered by thoughtTextures so subtle and fascinatingFlattened by knowledgeThe magnificence of the universeThe insignificance of manThe arbitrary nature

The beach.

2005-12-14T09:45:00.000+05:30

Its a lovely 'ol place is our campus beach, about two kilometers of white sand, fringed with a large variety of palms and other trees, with some very charming approach roads and our very own lighthouse on a hillock with a temple.The vast sea with its slow but intense moods, its constant overbearing rhythm, the sky sometimes tinged with the most delicate, tender and wispy pink and othertimes heavy

I wait

2005-12-12T12:43:00.000+05:30

for Silence and Solitude to fill the emptiness that curled up and settled inside me so long agothe emptiness that has no business being herethe emptiness that causes reasons and feelings to implode and explode alternatelythe emptiness that makes words lose meaning and conversations hollowthe emptiness that leads to doubt fear and defeatShe speaks in a soft cajoling sympathetic voiceShe spouts the

Sachin's 35th.

2005-12-10T21:05:00.000+05:30

I walked into the TV room of a nearly deserted hostel when he was on 77 and settled down on the floor there in the hope of watching him create history, regain his lost form and most important of all, become once again a beacon of hope to millions, a source of pride and a good enough reason to be a complete, absolute and unhesitating fan.His appeal lies in the fact that he has become what he has,

Take yourself away

2005-12-10T12:12:00.000+05:30

Disappear, fight, conquer, observe, smile, live and don't give a damn.

On Culture and Liberalism. Part 1

2005-12-08T18:09:00.000+05:30

This is a world in which geographical distances are fast being reduced and a world which is becoming 'smaller' in a very real way. It is remarkable that this process has not - in general - made different cultures and races more acceptable to more people. On the contrary, it has resulted in more people being insecure about their own identities because of the unexpected proximity to a large number

Happened to notice this....

2005-12-04T14:38:00.000+05:30

"People's Democracy" - the weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on the subject of Savarkar."...For the major portion of his life after making peace with the British his politics was oppositional to the Congress and the Left led movements rather than the British. As leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, he made sure that movements like the Quit India movement of 1942 passed without any

Sunder Kavita.

2005-11-16T07:14:00.000+05:30

How much should I give, and how much should I takeThe Sky has come to an endThe moon comes into the cup of my handsWith softly shut eyes.I'm trying to traslate this, but as you can see I'm terrible at it.Please help !Its a poem by Mangesh Padgaokar from his collection "Oonjhaleet Swar Tuzhech"

"Servant of God, Well done ........."

2005-11-14T13:30:00.000+05:30

Yes, times are bad and I'm in a really really tight spot.The huge inertia of a dismal position, the months of indolence, the opressive sinking feeling in my stomach and the crushing weight of seemingly inevitable disaster which I feel upon my heart is fast taking me inexorably towards the end I'm so desperate to avert. The tension which makes action impossible, the fear which precludes clear

Diwali.

2005-11-02T11:10:00.000+05:30

I'm not even sure what I would like to write about.I could write about how the festival has been celebrated in my little city, and how things have changed over the years, how the euphoric and blissful diwalis of childhood under the watchful eyes of grandma seamlessly gave way to the daring deeds of boyhood when parents and elders were viewed as needless nuisances to be kept away from the

What sort of a person am I ?

2005-10-26T16:28:00.000+05:30

I genuinely do not know.I have deliberately forgotten.Because then I would not have anything to be melodramatic about.

Tear away the cobwebs !

2005-09-11T18:34:00.000+05:30

The years of inaction and directionless meandering come back to me and attach their long sticky filaments to my person. The minutes, hours, days, weeks wasted in pointless dallying and sordid wallowing all shoot fine and persistent threads that effectively imprison my mind and consign it to an existence of shallowness and fear. They weave a stifling cocoon around my heart, deadening it, unable to

Inside out and Blank.

2005-09-08T20:37:00.000+05:30

Smooth, gooey, tasteless and silent.

2005-07-29T01:47:00.000+05:30

The warm grey twilight of the Deccan, a sky painted with bold strokes of vibrant purples and reds, the mad games and the glorious mud, the ajjis and ajobas walking with a slow and easy gait, kindly smiles and twinkling eyes all bestowed by long years fruitfully spent, walking and watching us as we played the exuberant and carefree games of our vigorous and happy childhood, watching us but seeing

2005-07-26T14:56:00.000+05:30

And Suddenly, I do not want to write anymore. When its all one can do to keep from imploding into the vaccum within, its difficult to throw anything out. Its difficult to speak when a brooding silence fills the void, engulfs the heart and subdues the mind. Faint and vague ripples over the texture of conciousness - silent but disturbing - give subtle but sanguine indications of a struggle - slow

I do not mind.

2005-07-26T14:49:00.000+05:30

(Why should I ?)

About itself.

2005-07-16T13:22:00.000+05:30

Its quite sad really, and makes me feel not a little guilty, that I dumped into this post and subsequently deleted, two random thoughts that occurred to me before I started blogging. The purpose of my blog you see, is to write. My purpose in writing is not to blog. Its strange that the deepest guilt and hurt are felt when we defeat our own purposes. If our purposes are defeated by circumstances,

One for Buzz Aldrin.

2005-07-11T10:02:00.000+05:30

Along with le Tour de France, two very different but inextricably entwined stories will come to their conclusions on the 24th of July 2005.One the story of an average man overcoming great adversity, and rising to dominate his profession to an extent unprecedented in history. The story of a man who is as revered as he is disliked all over the world. His successful fight against debilitating and

To 'flow', 'lilt', 'tune' and other precious things

2005-07-07T20:45:00.000+05:30

Sarojini Naidu: Palanquin-BearersLightly, O lightly we bear her along,She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,We bear her along like a pearl on a string.Softly, O softly we bear her along,She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;She springs like a beam on

One for Bertie.

2005-07-05T21:10:00.000+05:30

Note that a lot of what is said below, applies to itself.Implicit in maintaining a blog, is the wish/expectation that it be read. It may help the writer organize his thoughts, yes. It may help the writer write better, yes. But a blog is primarily meant to be read. Otherwise, one would write in word, and make a folder on the pc, and not take the pain (not that there is much of that) to put it all

"As long as she swims, I will cook !"

2005-07-01T17:39:00.000+05:30

If time is not flowing in the smooth, mellow and scenic way that one would want it to, if the whole idea of continuing in the same way has begun to seem dull and uninteresting, if one more obstacle in the way threatens to end the journey, if one is enmeshed in a web of spoiled relationships that threaten to slip carelessly away, if hollow, insecure, bitter, petty aims and feelings threaten to

The way ahead....

2005-06-28T17:13:00.000+05:30

The light at the end of the tunnel..a mere speck though it may be, gives man access to reserves of hope and optimism that he did not know he possessed.Give a man the chance he never had, and he'll take it.Give a man hope and he will go on.Give a man the spark that he had lost, and watch the trail blaze.There is no hole so deep, no problem so big, and no man so lost that he may not one day climb

.......and lo !

2005-06-28T14:38:00.000+05:30

The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back. -Markus Annaeus Seneca

sad day.

2005-06-23T14:27:00.000+05:30

Just a bad day.One of those when just as you think you're getting somewhere, walking past the shadow, the past comes up, grabs you by the throat, and shows you your place.One of those days.

well well well.....

2005-06-22T08:11:00.000+05:30

Its almost dinner time, and I ought to have figured out the hspice netlist for the scba by now, but I've been playing around for the last couple of hours, reeling under the shock of an unexpected capacitance value. It turned out to be a typing error ( that was about 45 minutes or so ago ) and so I ought to have got on with the calculations, and finished my work well in time, done some extra,

and so....

2005-06-22T01:07:00.000+05:30

So I did finish (more or less) what I ought to have finished. Would have been nice if I'd run the simulation and seen what the graphs looked like, (they're expected to look really really bad...I dont expect anything to work) but the've some server maintainence to do, so thats that for the night.Well....as ol' Scarlett so famously said, "Tomorrow is a new day...."