Decisively Confused

2011-09-11T03:54:00.000-07:00

"Bodyguard" Movie Review

It's amazing how Bollywood makes profit out of mega-budget movies that have no stories. I can not understand why the producers undertake such projects. Except for the designer dresses for the lead actress and some dialogue lines, nothing works in the movie, Bodyguard.

"Lovely" Singh, the protagonist (Salman Khan) is hired as a bodyguard for Divya (Kareena Kapoor), the daughter of Sartaj (Raj Babbar) while she completes her studies in Pune (probably at Symbiosis College). Apparently Sartaj has made many enemies fighting against criminals. These goons are a threat to her life. For a college-going actress who is waiting to get married to a London based NRI, studying is only a formality.(Indian MPs and their sons are richer, more powerful and well-connected today). So far so good !!

No one can be happy if such a macho bodyguard hovers around all the time, wearing the same uniform and acting mechanical. The bodyguard is also supposed to wake her up at 4am in the morning, help her in the gym and teach her self-defense moves. He's so serious about his job that he follows her to restrooms, classrooms, library everywhere.

Being tired of her bodyguard, Divya decides to bring changes in him if not get rid of him totally. First, she tries to make him lose his uniform in vain. Following which, she decides to make him fall in love with a girl. In order to execute her plan, she keeps making anonymous flirtatious calls to Lovely Singh as Chayya. After all, man is a man !! The plan works. He falls for the girl behind the voice. This is the only "Oh Shit !! Now what ?" moment in the script.

Divya enjoys her daily prank as it works in distracting her bodyguard from constantly following her. Here comes the twist. The villain goons spot Divya in a bar and their intention is to kill her (out of enmity with her father). Predictably the bodyguard saves her from them, killing & injuring them shown through a cliched action sequence. What is the outcome, Divya immediately falls in love with him. He is already in love with Divya (or Chayya). Bloody fight killed some goons and the brother (Aditya Panchali) is furious on his brother's death. He and his team pledge to take revenge on the bodyguard and Divya.

Divya is in dilemma how to express her love to Lovely Singh. Her friend suggests her against it, reminding her of her father's expectations. One day Chayya asks Lovely to meet her at a park on Sunday. On Sunday she accompanies him to the park requesting him that she would only see his meetup with Chayya from a distance. Here is an emotional turn. She makes him do a dry run on how to express his love and feelings for Chayya. She gets very emotional hearing his confession of love for Chayya. Then he leaves to meet Chayya.
Divya calls Lovely from a distance pretending to be Chayya to say that she will not meet him as Divya has accompanied him to the park.

I do not understand what more to be told in the script. Now, the villains are really really angry. They want to come back hard. Before that happens, Divya makes the final call. She can't take it anymore. She wants to get married. So, she tells Lovely to meet her at the Railway station (Pune). Her friend listens to this and informs her parents. Sartaj is very angry, obviously...

The goons come back before she leaves for the station with Lovely. This is followed by the final fight between them and Lovely Singh. When Lovely along with Divya is about to head out to the station, the father with his gang arrives to the scene. In order to escape the wrath of her father, Divya lies about her love for Lovely and makes Lovely go to the station. Obviously she cannot not get married immediately.

The movie is still not over. It cannot end like this. Since Lovely singh has to show that he will meet Chayya, Divya sends her friend to the station. Otherwise, her father's assistant will know about her lies. The best friend reaches the station but instead of telling Lovely the truth, she betrayes Chayya/Divya. After all where can she find a better and handsome husband. She pretends to be Chayya and subsequently gets married. They have a son.

However, as Karma would have it. She suffers from a terminal disease and dies. Soon after that the son and father come to meet Sartaj. Surprise, Divya is still single. No more London business. The son's name is also Sartaj. This only adds to the humor when Sartaj's assistant (Asrani) calls the kid as "Beta Sartaj" (son Sartaj). The boy comes to know about Divya and her love-sacrifice reading his biological mother's diary. He insists that Divya should accompany them as her mother.

Finally, they board the train and somehow Lovely gets to read the diary and they live happily after.

2010-09-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Probability Question

It is interesting to interview fresh grad candidates. I'll post interesting questions as I find them. Please let me know if you have good solutions. I often find the candidates in interviews cannot answer the following question correctly.

A couple has two children. One child is boy. What is the probability that the other child is boy ? Assume that a boy or girl child is born with probability 1/2.

Another interesting version: A couple has two children. One of them is a boy who is born on Sunday. What is the probability that the other child is a boy. Assume that a boy or girl child is born with probability 1/2.

2009-11-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Vacation.

Mostly spent time at home relaxing. Original plan was to go for shopping on early morning. However due to stomach ache, had to stay in. Managed to visit a couple of electronics shops on Black Friday with mild stomach pain. Such was the power of discounts offers of Black Friday :) As asked by Dan Ariely, why is it difficult to resist temptation for free (discount) stuffs? Why do cheapest stuffs sale so fast although the next expensive stuff is only a few dollars more?

Visited software section in different stores. I found that many software were FREE after mail-in rebate. For example, one could buy AVG anti-virus s/w (valid for 2ys) for $60 and they would get cash rebate within 8 weeks. I am wondering why people were not buying? Do we value $60 and its depreciation so much that we hesitate to keep it in someone else's pocket for two months?

2009-11-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

Books Read/Reading in 2009.

1. 401(k) for Dummies
2. Predictably Irrational
3. Outliers: The Story of Success
4. White Tiger
5. Kite Runner (reading)
6. Super-Capitalism (reading)
7. Effective C++ (reading)
8. Code Complete (reading)

2008-12-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Haven't watched the movie but from the review it seems many people like me can identify with Mr Suri (SRK character). The songs are awesome -- quite relevant and meaningful and were sung by good singers -- Sukhwinder, Sonu, Shreya, Sunidhi, Roopkumar etc.

The song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" is so funny in that an amateur singer often mixes up different songs and their tunes. What an observation from the composer !

"Dance pe Chance" is a song on how to teach dance steps to a novice. I can really identify as I had the same experience in my dance classes. The instructor would break it down into basic steps.

2008-09-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Convergia Rip-Off

Yes, there are still scam and fraud businesses in US and can rip one off blatantly. Convergia is a Canada based company and has agents in India and elsewhere. I kept getting annoying calls from agents probably located in India. They would call me periodically and used to offer a great deals for calling to India. Convergia agent told me that the deal would be flat rate of $60 dollars and unlimited calls to any numbers in India from US. The first month would be free for trial. They gave me a code and asked the local carrier such as AT&T to add that code. They told me there was no paper contract and I could disconnect anytime. I could pay the bills using check or card card.

The deal sounded quite reasonable and I subscribed to it. After using for 3 days, I could not make any further calls to India. After trying for many times and waiting for long long hours, I got hold of the customer care agent. She told me my account was blocked by the computer due to over-usage. But there was no mentioning of it in the contract. Actually there was no contract (my mistake that I didn't have the proof). I immediately cancelled my subscription on phone. After a month, I got a bill of $111. They mentioned that I was charged for all the calls. Wait a minute, I was told the first month was free. It seems they didn't cancel my account. I didn't send the bill. In the second month, they send another bill of $222. I sent a check of $111 and wrote on the check "my account should be canceled as soon as this check is encashed". Now, I have a proof of cancellation. But I am still trying to resolve $111 that was charged in the second month although I made no calls.

2008-07-22T00:29:00.001-07:00

Garmin GPS

I have been using GPS navigation devices for sometime. I was told Garmin was the best brand for GPS. It's hard to judge how good a brand could be unless one uses some other variety. So, last week, I rented a Hertz car in which they had already installed a GPS which was custom made. I would say, the GPS only helped me find a route between a source and a destination. The interface was not friendly at all - it was not a touch screen and the keypad prompted every key I pressed a key. Pressing the letters and numbers was inconvenient. Morevoer, there was no option to search for businesses close to a place. It happened that I pulled over the car and searched for the Starbucks cafe. However, it returned all addresses in different states and cities. I realized that I was standing next to a Starbucks cafe and the GPS failed to locate it. What a performance !

It is obvious that the Garmin GPS is indeed among the best. First of all, the vendors underestimate the value of simplicity and user-friendly (Google-like interface). The interface needs to be touch screen. It's a pain to punch in keys. Today I was traveling from LA to Riverside and the traffic on the freeway was extremely bad. However, the Garmin GPS kept finding alternative routes for me. The GPS takes into consideration an existing congestion in the freeway. For example, at one point of time, it told me to take an exit and re-enter the same freeway from the right side (it was awesome that I could cut through the traffic for 1/2 mile several times). It does many other optimization to save time. Another feature that I like in Garmin GPS is the option to localize near by attractions, restaurants etc.

Interesting thing is that all the GPS devices have the same broadcasted information from a satellite, still there is so much difference in performance.

2008-07-17T16:07:00.001-07:00

More Interview Questions:
As I went through more interviews, I was asked some interesting questions. If you happen to know the solutions or want to know the solutions, you write to me.

[1] Given an array of n integers both positive and negative integers. Find the sub-sequence of the array which has the largest sum. Find the algorithm with a better complexity than brute force one.

[2] Given a character array, print all the palindromes. Find an efficient algorithm.

[3] Write a C program to show if stack is growing into higher memory.

[4] How to make a server accept client connections in a non-blocking mode efficiently ?

[5] Find the Kth largest element in a binary search tree.

[6] Many more to come ...

2008-06-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

Good Interview Questions

Sometimes I wonder what is the purpose of asking problem solving questions in an interview ? Some of the interesting questions I came across in the recent past are as follows. I have solutions to some. Do let me know if you have an effiicient solution.

1) Given an array of integers randomly selected from [1,n], what is the average number of comparison to be made in finding the minimum integer ?

2) What is the complexity of merging two lists of numbers ? How will you improve the complexity if one list is very large compared to other ? What if the numbers are distributed uniformly in [1,n] in both the lists ?

3) Given a circular list of integers (some of which could be -ve), find an index i such that sum of integers from index i to index j is never < 0. First find out if such an i exists.

4) Given n sets and each set consists of characters. Let the sets be S1, S2, S3, .., Sn. Given a string denoted by x1..xk. Find out if the string x1..xk can be constructed from S1, S2, ..., Sn by first looking at S1 and then S2 and finally Sn in an efficient manner. You can look at any set only once and you need to follow the ordering for looking at the sets. In one case, assume that you can skip a set. In another case, assume that no set can be skipped.

2008-03-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

SPAM

I have been getting this spam again and again.

"Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2008 13:08:14 +0800
From: Miguel Wall <a-3446@agenziairis.com>
To: dhiman
Subject: Chatting online

Hello! I am tired today. I am nice girl that would like to chat with you. Email me at Gunnel@WilderGoLovan.com only, because I am using my friend's email to write this. I will show you some great pictures of me."

I am sure there is a person sitting on the other side who edited this. However, I am wondering why does a girl who is tired today want to meet me ? Also, if she could log in to her friend's email, why couldn't she login to her own account say, yahoo or gmail or aol or hotmail ? Why would I be interested in seeing her pictures ?

2008-01-04T12:37:00.000-08:00

Reality and Talent Hunt Shows

These days talents shows are at rampant. Personally I find these shows quite interesting. I have been following the Indian reality shows mostly. A few years back, when I had visited home, my sister used to talk about Abhijeet Sawant all the time. I could not understand why she was so excited. Then she suggested me to watch Fame Gurukool. It was silly that I was spending time to watch how those teen aged girls and guys would talk/act something useless in front of camera. However, I started enjoying the singing part of the shows. I also started liking the comments from the judges more. My vacation got over but I used to discuss with my sister until the show got over.

Due to popularity of Web 2.0, now we can access media content of all such reality shows on Internet. As a result, I could follow many reality shows such as SA RE GA MA PA, Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Indian Idol, Little Champs, Chhote Ustad, Indian Cricket League and recently started Jhoom India. I want to hightlight some of my observations.

Its quite encouraging to see how these shows have offered accessible platforms to middle-class and poor sections of society to showcase their talents. If you follow Chhote Ustad on Zee TV, you will find a kid named Aamir Hafiz who cannot go to school and his father is an auto-rickshaw driver. There is another girl named Vasundhara Raturi from Delhi who is blind. Although North and Western India are mostly well-represented in such shows, there are two talented girls from North-Eastern and Eastern parts of India as well. People might also remember that a few months back, there was a wave of Indian Idol fever across Darjeeling and North-Eastern India when two guys from those parts of India won to be the finalists of Indian Idol 3. So, such shows are definitely creating opportunities and jobs for many.

Until I saw Fame Gurukool, I didn't know who was Krishna Kumar Menon (or famous Kay Kay). I didn't know who composed music for DUS, Om Shanti Om until I came to know of Vishal-Shekhar Duo. Many people don't know that a song like "Aalha Ke Bande" was written by Vishal. He is same person who sang "Dhoom Again...". After watching Rubaroo of Indian Idol, I now know who choreographed dances in Dhoom 2. It is through Indian Idol guest judge Adnan Sami, I could see how to lose weight 100+ lbs in a few months. Many such tidbits (although useless information) came to my attention.

One thing which I believe holds universally is that "beauty lies in details". It sounds charming when music gurus point out the intricate details of music and songs. Another thing to note is that people like "Originality" and "Newness". This is true even in research work. Sometimes I feel politicians should be selected through such reality shows in that politicians have to compete in front of Indian population. There will be debates, eloquence, decision making tests and so on. Voting process can be made more tamper proof. Kapil Dev tried to implement the concept into cricket to certain extent. I think most of the award ceremonies should take into consideration Peoples' Votes in finding the winners.

I hope the until some other concept proves better, reality and talent hunt shows will continue to entertain us more and find better talents from every section of society.

2007-10-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

First Two Weeks in Bay Area

I became fond of Bellevue in three months. However, I forgot the heaviness in heart amidst hectic packing and checking out spree on the day of departure. Little did I know that my first two weeks in Berkeley would be so un-welcoming. I had booked a room in a Hotel room near UC Berkeley before leaving Washington. On reaching the Hotel in Berkeley at 10pm in the night, I was informed that someone had cancelled my reservation. I am still searching for that person did that. Hotel looked quite dazzling from outside but it was such a run down place from inside. The bathtub, broken sink, furniture, spider-web and ambiance all gave me an impression as if I was in 1960. I decided to checkout immediately and call a cab. A cab came and the driver was Nepali. It was already 11pm. All the restaurants were closed. I was dead hungry. How could an area near a university campus be such dead closed so early ? The driver stopped near a Chinese hotel which looked closed. I called the manager from outside the gate and he answered, "I will open the hotel later, go and have coffee and come back at 11:30pm". I told the driver to go to another hotel. I checked in an expensive hotel and after staying there for two nights I felt it was ripping me off by wallet, so I went to another cheaper Motel, the best known Motel in the town.

A new challenge in my life was to find an apartment as soon as possible. I never had to do apartment hunt before in life. Every morning I would get up, sincerely search Craigslist, seek appointments and meet Realtors, property owners and who not. Sometimes I got frustrated, but sometimes I met interesting people. I did this for two weeks, every day without failure. I would visit India grocery stores with the hope of finding some housing ad. I came to know of an Indian realtor and I decided to give it a shot there. On visiting the realtor's office, I found an Indian lady (I think she was wife of the owner) at the office who was from Hyderabad. Following is an excerpt of conversation with her:

Me: I am looking for an apt in Berkeley. Do you have anything available ?

She: When do you want to move in ?

Me: If possible, now.
She: No, we don't have anything now. We will have one available on Oct 19 and one on Oct 9

Me: Do you think any tenant might move out by Oct 1st ?

She: If I FOUND, I'll call (pronounced as kyaall) you. PEOPLES sometime move out before lease ends.
........

She was giving me different options and every sentence she uttered had some grammatical mistake or other, and she was speaking so confidently in typical southy accent. Although I saw two units she suggested, but I didn't opt for either. Both were quite badly maintained and environment was dirty. However, I still remember her punch line, "If I FOUND, I will kyaalll you".

Later that day, I went to Point Richmond area in East Bay area as I was getting an apt for 3-4 months lease. I wasn't even there to meet the realtor, I decided not to rent to an apt in that locality. I was passing through the most crime-proned areas and even during day I could sense that. However, later on the realtor (young American-Asian) guy told me that people in Point Richmond area wanted to keep the area as it was. He told me, Pixar company was started there. Essentially he was trying to entice me.

Next day, I had another appointment with an American landlady and she showed me a lot of her attitude. My first question to her, "So, where do you live ?". She answered, "Do you need to know where I live ?". I immediately decided not to rent her apt, although I stayed and let her show me her two units. The units were nice and furnished. She kept cracking meaningless jokes. I left her units with a sense of failure in finding an apt.

The following day, I had an appointment with another person who I later found out to be a billionaire. On seeing him for the first time, I got an impression that he must be a janitor as he was wearing shabby and dirty clothes. He then showed me an apt which was stacked up with antiques and different collectibles from China and India. He told me about his real estate business and other foundation work. The next day, he came to my Motel since he wanted me to show his other two properties in San Fransisco and East Bay area. He talked about his past and how he made all his property. I was impressed. Then he told me that I could stay in one of his mansions for almost free but in return I would have to develop some software to be sold to Google. Later on I decided not to rent any of his apt. At some point of time, I was wondering if he was like that old man in the movie, "Hostel".

It was almost two weeks I was staying in that Motel. Every morning, I would call frontdesk and extend my stay for another day. Meanwhile I befriended the manager there and his assistant who was Nepali. The assistant was excited as Prashant Tamang became the 3rd Indian Idol. I had not eaten home-cooked food for more than two weeks.

Eventually, I started seeing some light of hope. I visited the most posh area in Berkeley, Emeryville. I increased my budget limit so that I could find something. The real estate agent showed me an apt on 30th floor in a posh complex offering a nice view of San Francisco and Pacific ocean. Pacific Ocean was around 500 meters away from that complex. Strong breeze and sunlight would be there always. It was a high-end luxurious apartment. However, USD 1700 per month was beyond my budget. However, I do dream to stay in such apt someday. After that, I found an apt in a complex very nearto it within an affordable rent. However it was unfurnished. I had to furnish it. The landlady is the best landlady I have ever met. She is a Filipino. Here I am little settled now, going to work regularly and eating home-cooked food.

2007-09-03T00:48:00.000-07:00

Lost In Translation

I realize how a lousy translation can kill the essence of something and make it sound funny. I can understand it may not be always easy to translate something from one language to another without losing original meaning, humor and flow but why is it so difficult to translate simple dialogues of Bollywood Hindi movies to say English. I wonder how Tagore had translated Geetanjali from Bengali to English. Let me give some examples from some movies that I watched recently.

In "Apne", Sunny Deol was going afroad on business purpose but his father wasnot happy with him . However, his mom said to him, "...Mein unhe samjha lungi..".Subtitle on that diaglogue was: "...Don't worry, I will satisfy him..". In many other movies, translators just translated word-to-word, e.g., Butterfly for 'Titli', 'Bhabi' for sister-in-law. I am wondering how would viewers understandwhat Bhabhi is if they cannot understand original dialogues. I was also surprised to see incorrect translations of dialogues in "Aporajito", a sequel of Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray. "Appu" (correct one should have been ApU) was baptised as a priest and he was instructed to pour Ghee (like butter) on fire. However, the translation was "Put honey on fire". Is Ghee same as Honey ?

Earlier I used to tell my friend -- I would like to work for Quality Assurance in Netflix, that is, I would like to get paid for watching movies. Now seeing such incorrect translations, I tend to feel more motivated for QA job title.

2007-07-18T00:35:00.001-07:00

On Move

Writing after a long time. Was busy shifting from Riverside, CA to Redmond, WA. It does not rain that much in Redmond now. Shops, grocery stores, restaurants are close by compared to that in Riverside. Lush green surroundings add to the beauty of the place. Interestingly, found an Indian restaurant named Preet's Casual Indian Cuisine. This place serves snacks like parathas, chaat, tea, etc and not main course dishes. Such was the restaurant I was looking for in US. Next, this place is full of Indians (H1,L1,F1)s and GCs and can also see many married couples stralling in the evening or going back home carrying grocery bags. Also notice many Indian pregnant wives. I hardly used to notice such crowd of Indians in Riverside. Probably because it is university campus environment. Have to visit several places in WA. At least Redmond hasn't alienated me so far.

2007-03-27T03:55:00.000-07:00

Silver Line

Every Dark cloud has a silver line. After abysmal performance of Team India in World Cup 2007, millions of cricket fans are furious. However, India's defeat might be good for several other things.

Several board, entrance exams are scheduled in April and May. IIT JEE entrance is scheduled on April 8. Students can now focus and study instead of watching matches on TV.

India's early exit from World Cup tournament also teaches several Indian players (hopefully ! and others too) that success does not come from past laurels. There is no substitute for hardwork, dedication and determination. Money and stardom cannot buy victory.

2007-02-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

Awesome Talk

During the course of PhD, it often comes to mind if doing PhD is really worth it. Several thoughts cross through mind -- all friends are doing job, they are settled and even have family of their own; parents need helping hand; am I really going to change the world with my work etc etc. I feel if something is difficult it means something worthwhile, even if the thesis does not turn out to be ground-breaking. The uncertainty a person goes through teaches one to become patient, matured and persistent. Sometimes, I feel doing PhD is meaningful only in places like MIT.

Attending to technical talks is integral part of PhD life. But theoretical talks are most interesting as was today's talk by Nicole Immorlica which made me realize once again how exciting research could be. She got PhD from MIT and has been working with Microsoft Research. I learned some nice theoretical results in Algorithms Game Theory. Specifically, she gave nice application of Classic Secretary Problem. The Secretary problem states:

"If an office wants to hire a secretary from a set of N secretaries, assuming that each secretary has some measure of her goodness, and decision to hire or reject should be done at the end of interview. The question is how to ensure that the office hires approximately the best secretary (if once rejected secretary cannot be hired or once accepted secretary cannot be rejected later)."

Game Theory is one of my favorite subjects and auction-theory that she was talking about is one of its sub-field. Furthermore, I feel one of the features of presentations given by theoretical computer scientists is that those are immaculate -- such talks are absolutely free from rubbish, everything is precise and succinct. In contrast to common wisdom, theoreticians are have also good sense of humor. Basically, a clear and careful thought processing shows up in the presentation. That's when I realize, Aha ! here is the fun of doing research because no one else knew this result before her.

2007-02-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

Indian Universities and Application Process

Although many universities in India have international repute, the application process is those univs is pretty much done in the same old fashioned way. I am sure there is increased number of students, faculty and staff, but the attitude of the people has not changed much. Recently I had to contact several univs to enquire about admission procedure into MSc programmes. Only thing I could say, I ended up being frustrated.

Although many universities have launched their websites, there is hardly any relevant information on those. For example, I was directed to the website of Periyar University to dig information about MSc in Life Science and actually there is nothing on it. I could barely understand, why can't they post contact telephone numbers.

There are different issues to deal with even if one gets contact numbers. I was visiting North Bengal University website and surprisingly there was no contact number. Only contact number one could find was of the company (AMBITION) which made homepage. So, I had to call them to find a relevant number of the Registrar. On another occasion, I tried to talk to staff in a college in Anna University. It appeared as if I made a mistake by calling them, the person was in so much hurry to hang up that I had to request not to hang up before asking every question. I had to send 4-5 mails and call equal number of times to get one piece of information. I really don't understand why they don't learn etiquettes of telephonic conversation.

I was little surprised that one has to struggle so much to talk to staff or people in Delhi University or JNU. Either there is no departmental homepage or even if one exists, there is no contact numbers of staff in the office. One has to go through separate directory search to unravel contact number of only Dept Head or professors. Sometimes, the website of a University is not even accessible, e.g., Univ of Tezpur.

Furthermore, I don't understand why can't they upload .doc or .pdf version of the application forms on their webpages. One has to order the application forms by sending Demand Drafts by post and acquire the application forms. Why can't they make it credit card payable ? What is the point of having booming IT industry ?

2006-12-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas Trips

Decided to take a friend to LA and Universal Studios on Christmas Weekend. A gate pass with head-of-the-line priviledge was quite costly, $79 dollars per person. We were already late, arrived to the Theme Park at around 3pm since we forget to take exit 1C. Poor Annotation on Highways ! We managed to see a few shows. First one was, 4D Shrek. We know about 3D movies where one wears glasses and the screen looks 3D. But in 4D, even the seat moves and shakes so the audience feels the jerks if a vehicle moves. Similarly, there are pores on the back of the seat through which they air is passed and water droplets are sprinkled if there is rain on the screen. Pretty amazing sequel of Shrek they showed.

Then, we went to the Studio Tour on a Bus. Following are some of the snaps from the sets of Hollywood. Its pretty amazing how exact replica they create.

From hollywood

Next day we were supposed to go to Arizona. We set out on 5 hours drive at 7:30am from Riverside. Its amazing how the scenery changes as desert starts. We saw many Windmills. It reminded me how on many occasions I made models of Windmills for science projects in school.

From trip to phoenix

Desert expanses made me wonder about powerful Nature. There was nothing but barren land, cactus and rocky and sandy mountains. There was no trace of water. We could see two roads cutting through the desert.

We reached Phoenix at around 1pm local time. We had tea and then started driving towards Grand Canyon. It was fun as there were three friends in the car and we were drinking, munching chips and listening to hindi album songs. We reached Grand Canyon at around 5pm, it was too late. But we managed to see Grand Canyon from the southern rim and at the twiligh to dusk.

From Grand Canyon

As it was getting, we could feel the chill in the air. When we returned back to Phoenix it was already 10pm in night and we were pretty tired to go to sleep.

2006-12-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

Twin Heroes

Watched James Bond flick - Casino Royale last weekend. Can't say it was impressive. Only things that James Bond movies are good in showing are new stunts and new bombshells. While it was over, I was still confident that Jack Bauer and 24 series were still the best. Just thought of doing head-to-head comparisons of the two main characters.

Character:	James Bond	Jack Bauer
Actor:	Daniel Craig	Keifer Sutherland
Profile:	MI6 agent	Field Ops Director, Counter Terrorist Unit
X-factor:	Charming to girls	Natural Born Killer
Voice:	Barely speaks	Well versed, always ready with answer
Killer Punchline:	My name is Bond, James Bond	My name is Jack Bauer, I am a federal agent, CTU
Weakness:	Hot babes, usually wives or girlfriends of villain	Daughter, Kim; does not care about hot babes
Skills	Aided with gadgets	Highly patriotic, no fear of death, too sharp with contingency plans
Tragedy	Most girls die who he loves	His second love killed his wife
oomph moments:	When he ravishes bombshells	when he talks and obliges to President of USA directly

2006-11-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

Akram's words

Akram has been my favorite bowler, such a genius swing bowler..even my mom's favorite player and personality. Finally he commented on the recent poor performance of Indian Cricket Team. There are some general lessons to be learned from his comments.

2006-11-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

The Book

Finally got my hands on the book, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, winner of Man Booker Prize 2006. Read the first two chapters, awesome start. Deals with a family amidst disturbances in Gorkhaland in 1986. Quite pertinent in today's context since China is claiming Arunachal as it's territory ( what a non-sense ! ).

2006-11-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

Honorary Degrees

I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.
- Jack Benny

Delhi University awarded honorary degrees (Doctorate of Letters) to R K Laxman and CNR Rao for their exemplary contributions to their respective fields. 'honouris causa' was also conferred to Ratan Tata and Mahashweta Devi. I don't understand how Amitabh Bacchan became eligible for such an award. Well, I am no judge. Here is a deal, will Filmfare Award Committee ever consider APJ Kalam for honorary awards for his scientific achievements (if not for his hair style) ? First of all, Big B does not need any award. Secondly, a person who does not pay taxes (or at least does not pay in time) after earning money in crores should be the last person to be considered for any 'honorary awards'. Third, award committees should have some respect for Doctorate Degrees. There are numerous other actors in the world who are better than Big B (for example Keifer Sutherland--yes, Jack Bauer of 24 or how about Sanjay Dutta). Awards should be given to people who really matter and who fight for real cause such as chairman of ISRO or Infosys/Wipro Chairman who create jobs for people. I don't remember how many times Amitabh Bacchan performed for say Army and Soldiers on the border ? Why not confer it to Amartya Sen who was a faculty member at Delhi School of Economics or Kiran Desai -- these people do make India more visible to others ? I would have rather conferred it to Lalu ji who turned Railways to a profitable business, moreover, he is a natural born humorist and entertainer. Why not give it to Sonia Gandhi, that way at least European countries will know that DU confers Doctorate Degree. Why does award thingy look more like a self-service process -- you take care of me, I will take care of you ?

2006-10-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

Counseling for Rapists

It is said that 1 in every 3 women in USA is sexually assaulted. One woman in every 1 minute is getting raped in India. The figures could be little off in other countries. I get disturbed when I hear about death penalty awarded to rapists and murderers. Incidently, after 2004 when Dhananjay Chatterjee was convicted of raping 14 years and killing Hetal Parekh, there were protests against capital punishment. Recently I read about death penalty awarded to Santosh Singh who was convicted of raping and murdering Pridarshini Matto (10 years back when she was 23 and was studying law). My post is not about debating on whether death penalty is right or wrong. Rather I want to understand the psychology of rapists and situations they go through in life. I will tell a guy is lying if he has never in life wowed at a beautiful woman or wanted to get intimate with her. Almost every man has this fantasy to ravish someone he desire(d). Talking about rapists, I think they have less control on their thoughts and emotions. There are rapists of different kinds -- some rape minor girls and then murden them; some are spoilt brat (having influential parents) who think they can get away by assaulting any girl; some are gang rapists (Phulon Devi was gang raped by many); some are so violent to plan with cold heart to rape and murder a girl (taking revenge and pacify ego). Assuming that men have animal instint and given that some men are genetically pervert as far controlling oneself is concerned, rapes will continued t be committed for long time to come. I don't understand why a rapist murders his victim. He can come wearing mask and make sure not to leave any evidence. Why take so much risk ? He can simply go and give her that indecent proposal and offer say Rs 20,000 in return. Who knows it might work since people always need money.

I agree grieving family of rape victim would not like to forgive the rapists, but think how a rapist feels when he hears his death sentence. Dhananjay Chatterjee spent more than decade (may be more 20 years) in prison and was hanged later. Aperson who spends more than 20 years in prison, what can remain left in him ? I understand, on the heat of the moment he might have done a gruesome crime, but hasn't he already suffered for 20 years in prison (recall the movie, The Shwashanka's Redemption). He might have contemplated and repented every day of his life in prison.

Santosh Singh is a lawyer by himself. I wonder how he spent those 10 years after raping and murdering his junior student. How he managed to marry someone later and become a father of daughter ? How could he have spent every day thinking "Oh God, why did I do that ?" How does it feel to think, "After a few months, I will not live on this planet. Why am I studying these law books ? What should I do in the remaining days of my life ? What is going through my parents heart and minds ? I am 35 years old guy, was it really worth to rape her ? My friends who I went to school with must be enjoying life in freedom outside, making their parents proud, and what have I done in life, Oh My God ? Is there any remote possibility that I may survive and see my own daughter grow ? Can I get clemency ? Why didn't I hire Jethmalani as my lawyer ? Oh God, can you not forgive me ?"

I don't know if there are other ways to prevent girls from being raped other than making strict laws. I think it is also important on the part of parents to imbibe in their kids, respect towards girls and their vulnerability. Rape is not only a physical crime, it is a rape on the mind and psychology of the victim. Someone rightly said "ladkiwalon ke lafde mein kabhi mat pado" or "Smart are those who find something more interesting than girls and sex". I remember, seniors in engg college ragged us asking -- assume your mom, wife and sister are about to be raped, and you can save only one. Who will you save ? I was surprised to know from many girls that a guy should try to save his sister. Personally I feel, death penalty should be replaced by 200 years of life imprisonment -- let the rapists get raped by homosexual gays in a prison for 200 years.

2006-10-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

Tabloid of the Day

There are often these useless tabloids which are near the cashiers' counters in supermarker. I am wondering about the quality and joblessness of the readers who go through these tabloids (of course then there are bloggers like me). Here is what I read the last night on a tabloid - "Kate [Hudson] leaving the country for two months, can Owen [Wilson] stay True...". Come on, there is a limit to something...First of all, do we care if Kate Hudson is leaving the country for two months. Given that it is true, what is the point of speculating if Owen is going to be infidel then. Even if you are going to be infidel, dude, look at me, I left my home country several years ago, forget about having a celebrity girlfriend. Are you that helpless that you cannot stand nights alone for two months ?

2006-10-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Cliches of Cricketers

Indian cricketers are so used to making such useless statements that we are better off not reading those. After losing to Aussies in Champions Trophy, Dravid tried to justify "Our bowlers didn't perform well in the first 15 overs...250 is a good score....There are several areas we have to work at...". Duh...you were playing against Australia...today even 400 may not be sufficient in One-Day matches, and you think 250 was a good score ? Dude, thanks for telling us when the top-order batsmen fail and when the bowlers. If bowlers were inexperienced, were you dreaming when team was getting selected ? Are you are there to report that much ? What are you doing to avoid the inconsistent performance ? This is the vision team of India and Chappell for World Cup 2007. I am wondering when India will be done working at all areas of the game (probably when cricketers are banned from making ads) ? Our hero, Dhoni sahab, is busy making statements "I like blondes". We don't care even if you had liked brunettes. I guess, advertisers have endorsed you enough to relax and unleash your romantic desires. Man, learn from Adam Gilchrist who is 8-9 years older than you. Sachin ! we forgot when you played a decisive innings for the team India. You already have enough bank balance, probably its high time for you to retire gracefully and take up a different job -- of commentary or running hotel business. You go around saying, "People have to understand my role in team has changed, I am not longer 19 years old Sachin....even we don't like losing games...". I am wondering what other main role does a batsman have in a team except for scoring runs. Boss, why you don't admit you are now too old for the game and you are scared of McGrath, Lee,etc. Sehwag, you don't have to follow Sachin so closely in scoring style -- you scored nothing in the last dozen of innings. This 60+ score is nothing given your previous inconsistent performance. Guys, bottomline is we want consistent performance, we don't want to see you on Ads. Unlike we graduate students, you are not juggling between jobs -- writing papers, meeting deadlines, doing courses, teaching labs and licking boots of bosses...you are carrying national flag, earning stardom and money...can't you do your only job right ? Let other players be there to gain experience. Is BCCI paying Rs~75 lakhs per month to Greg Chappell to experiment and gain experience by losing games ? I was sitting next to Roger Binny (who was on his way to Bhutan) in Dum Dum on my way back and I was wondering why couldn't we hire 2-3 ex-Indian players as coaches spending the same amount of money if losing does not matter to us.

2006-10-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Why Diwali ?

I grew up celebrating different festivals. Sometimes, I wonder why there are so many festivals in Hindu calendar, more specifically among Bengalies. Diwali has more of a nationalistic flavor, but is often associated with other Pujas such as Kali Puja, Laxmi Puja etc in different regions.

"...Once upon a time, there was this god called Rama who had to go to forest for more than 10 years with his wife and bro, Lax because of his step-mom. Then there was this scary gangster named Ravana who kidnapped his wife and messed up the situation. Eventually Rama fought with Ravana along with his bro and an army of monkeys, and returned home after 12 years with his wife. Since there was hardly any means of entertainment those days, people lit the lamps and all to welcome them, and thats how Diwali got started..."

Kali Puja usually takes place late night before Diwali night and is mostly done by Bengalies. Goddess Kali has always been very fascinating. She has very dark complexion, wears a garland of skulls, stands on the chest of Lord Shiva and is accompanied by two demi-gods. She is a killer god ! Even Ramkrishna Paramhansa was a dedicated worshipper of Kali and probably Swami Vivekananda too. Her blessings are supposed to imbibe strength and power. I have heard that earlier the robbers used to worship Kali before going to do robbery.

Diwali symbolizes victory of righteousness and light over darkness. Is it not a general message behind most of the festivals ? But, what bugs me little, does Diwali really serve any purpose ? It feels nice that friends send Diwali wishes asking how I spent Diwali. I used to like the holiday part. Now I don't do anything different. It wonder why people in India spend money, time and energy in celebrating Diwali. People spend thousands of Rupees in buying and having fun with fire-crackers and lights. I am sure not most of the same people would bother to donate even Rs 100 to any charity, orphanage or old home. The fireworks industry, for example in Shivakasi is responsible for child-labor at large scale. Now people burn diet fire-crackers which don't make sounds and are pollution friendly.

However, I used to like some other festivals though, for example Makar Sankranti which is related to new year and new harvest from the fields. Lots of delicious food and desserts would be made at home. Then there used to be Saraswati Puja (The Goddess of Knowledge and Learning) when we would not study books. There are others too such as Laxmi Puja, Rakhsha Bandhan....

I am not sure if these festivals and rituals will remain part of Indian culture for centuries to come, but all of these festivals certainly bring joy and hope in the minds and hearts of many Indians.

2006-10-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Be Politically Correct to Women

Came across a few of the following statements on the web sometime back. Can't resist reading the humor. How important it is to be politically correct in our conversation, particularly when interacting with women. I have added and modified some. Let me know if you know of something more interesting.

She is not fat, she achieves Maximum Density.
She is not too skinny, she is Sketelly Prominent.
She is not a bad cook, she has become Microwave Compatible.
She does not love jewellery, she is Metallurgically Overburdened.
She does not love shopping, she is Mall Fluent.
She is not quarrelsome, she is Verbally Confrontational.
She is not talkative, she is Verbally Fluent and Complete.
She does not wear too much makeup, she becomes Cosmetically Saturated.
She is not stupid, she becomes Detour off the Information Highway.
She is not ready for marriage, she wants to incarcerate you domestically.
She is not a stripper, she serves at Gentlemens' Club.
She is not superstitious, she has become Reality Impaired.
She does not have a flat chest, she is Challenged with Mammary Adipose Tissue.
She is not a liar, she is Factually Misinformed.

2006-10-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

Things I am anxiously waiting for

Novels: "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Deshai who won the Man Booker Prize in 2006. Other two books namely "My Name is Red" and "Istambul: Memories and The City" by Orhun Pamuk, a Turkish writer, the winner of 2006 Literature Noble Prize. I am somehow losing interests in reading fictions, its high time I read some certified real stuffs. Wanted to read Musharraf's biography, In the Line of Fire but reviews discouraged me.

Sixth Season of 24: Can't wait for Jack to be Back. It starts in Jan and waiting anxiously to see how Jack Bauer escapes from Chinese captivity.

YouTube: I am further waiting to see YouTube incorporated in google video. Didn't know YouTube had such good collection of Indian music albums, songs from movies, etc. Waiting for it to grow further with more intelligent search options of Google.

2006-10-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

Why do babies cry so much in plane ?

As I was traveling back from India, I was assigned an aisle basinate seat in British Airways. These seats are idle for moms carrying babies since there is a place infront of the seats where on can put the cart of the baby. But for me it was difficult. There was a lady who was carrying a few months old baby and was sitting next to me. The baby would cry intermittendly. I was feeling helpless seeing the mother who would try to pacify her by all means. I was happy to help her by getting the stuffs from overhead cabin, moving stuffs around etc. Holding the baby in her arms on her lap, she would reach out to her bag, take out milk powder and prepare baby milk while the baby was crying. I don't know how babies can express their pain, discomfort, probably by crying. May be the babies communicate by crying, as I could hear some other babies started crying at other corner of the plane . I don't understand how such young babies get strength to scream and cry at such shrill pitch. But as the mother fed the milk bottle in the baby's mouth, she gradually stopped crying. I was wondering the difficulties that mothers face to go through these situations -- she needed help, she was embarrassed and she was also in pain seeing her baby in discomfort. I was wondering what was going on in the mind of the baby. After feeding milk, the mother put her to sleep. Then she had her own meal. Then she put the baby in the cart. After sleeping for several hours, the baby was awake and then she was playful. I was observing the pinkish small toes and fingers of the baby. I was looking at the small watery eyes, her small lips which were soaked with milk and her tongue. It was so innocent to see how the baby would throw her limbs in the air. I was wondering how that baby would grow up to a full-grown woman some day.

2006-09-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Trip

Will be visiting India for around 3 weeks, so won't be writing until Oct first week. While it is exciting but it also worries that work will get stalled. Hope to catch up reading some papers, books while traveling.

2006-09-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Marriage

God made fire, Man made marriage. Recently several of my friends got engaged or married. Some got married after years of courtship while others after one or two conversations with bride in an arranged fashion. I still cannot see the point how readily one can commit to someone and get married. Here are excerpts from the conversations I had with some of those friends:

DB: Hey, why did you get married ? Are you happy ? What made you think that you wouldn't have gotten a better wife had you waited a little longer ?

Friend1: What kind of stupid question is that ! You should be happy with what you get. At least I am that kind of person. If you get older, you won't find a wife.

Friend2: There will be always be someone better and if you keep searching for one, it may take for ever.What are your priorities in life ? You should judge a girl what kind of person she is. Education, job etc can be acquired whereas nature and attitude of a person cannot be changed. So, try to see if a girl has the right kind of attitude in life. I think you should talk to your dad about this and don't take too much opinions from a girl on this since their views will be skewed on marriage issues.

I am not sure if they are practical or I am doubtful about marriage....

2006-08-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

Summer is Over

Can't believe that summer is over and haven't done much. Arrival of summer makes me both excited and gloomy.

During school days, I used to remain eager for summer when I could stay at home and read variety of novels and comics. Summer was also the time when I would buy books for the next class and go through those by myself. Summer vacation would also spare mom from getting up early in the morning to prepare us for school. I used to like summer for it was season of different fruits -- mango, jackfruit, leechis. It was an occasion for me to visit grandparents, uncles and aunts.

Summer now means differently. Summer means no more classes, and teaching, its time for only research. Summer means less and light clothes. It means no more buzz of teen aged pretty girls in the campus, although I have never been in my university campus during any summer. Summer means opportunity to go to different research labs or companies and work full time like an employee. It also means planning new things and get charged for new academic calendar.

2006-08-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

Snakes on a Plane

What does this title tell you about a movie ? Well, it tells you exactly what to expect from the movie. I haven't watched the movie, but I hear discussions about it everywhere these days. Supposedly this movie also hit the box office as #1 last weekend (??). So, what is the deal ? It seems a bunch of internet users got crazy over the title and hyped the movie. They even wanted it to be rated R. The title was supposed to something like Pacific Flight 121 but even Samuel Jackson preferred Snakes on a Plane. I guess, its a fun horror movie with Snakes terrorizing the passengers. There should be some high-mile-club steamy love making scenes. I would just love to hear Samuel Jackson yelling, "Waste those mother f***er Snakes". Kids of one of my colleagues were saying, "Is it for real ? What is the point of the movie ?" Should we consider such movie-makers to be creative, funny or dumbass ?

2006-08-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

How to get back saved time ?

Sometimes I wonder how the Presidents, the PMs, CEO prioritize their time and activities. These days, I am under severe time crunch, I cannot account for the time I spent. I am having hard time finishing work by deadlines; multiple programmes demand my simultaneous attention. Earlier I used be satirical on busy people thinking - how come busy people have time to say they are busy.

Last night I was again sleeping on the common office-cum-lab couch, then woke up before the early-birds came in. It is convenient we have showers in the basement. All this was mainly to save travel time between apt and office. Hope such experiments will help me figure out which is the most productive strategy. To manage time, I did wierd things in life -- reading notes while I was taking shower (when I was applying soap on my body); I carried papers when I went to watch Kill Bill in theatre and baseball game in Fenway Stadium. Such wierdness cannot be justified since I know I wasted time equally crazily by watching movies back-to-back. The intention was always full utilization of time. I always wonder, what prevents me from thinking that tomorrow is a project deadline and then plan accordingly, or tomorrow is the last day of my life.

The motivation of the above question arose after I got in touch with one of the best students I have been ever known. She has been consistent since childhood in following her daily schedule. She goes to bed at 11pm and gets up at 4am and then does yoga, jogging and studies. No doubt she has always been topper in school and now in a university. Early birds really catch worms !

Incidentally I also worked with one of the researchers in a well-known company who had unusual schedule: He would come to office at 6am, and leave by 4pm. According to him, beginning work at early morning enables one to get more work done. He used to think printers, coffee machine and other accessories remain free early morning.

I feel I am a freak of biological evolution. Night makes me creative. No matter when I go to bed, I can never get up early. According to me, every shop, every market should be open 24 hrs. I have somehow made this habit of going to grocery at 12-1am when workers would shelve different articles. I feel irritated when I don't find cell phone customer service, etc after 7pm. I dislike it that the buses don't run all night (that's why I like Mumbai, Paris and New York train/subway systems). I tried being morning person too. It seems I am still trying hard to find the right way of scheduling things. Where do I lose the time that I save ?

2006-08-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today's Fortune Cookie

Panda Express also serves a fortune cookie in lunch and today I received a cookie which had, "You will receive an importance advice from a child". So, only child I can consider was my sister with who I had a discussion today. She conjectured that people should not reveal everything in a relationship until they get married. One should supposedly get to know virtues of his or her spouse gradually and it can add excitement and charm to a married life. Hmm...didn't realize she had really grown up :)

2006-07-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

How Peer-to-Peer Applications can affect Society ?

After the success of Napster, p2p or online file sharing application has become the single most killer application (besides WWW) in the Internet. Not biased by the fact that the growth of the application provides ample research opportunities for the researchers, I have additional reasons to get excited about p2p. I am wondering how p2p applications will affect the world economy, how the growth of p2p applications will re-shape human beings or distribute resources in the society. So, this post is mainly about effects of p2p on society.

P2P applications such as Bittorrent, KaZaa, Gnutella, eDonkey are mainly used to download media files both audio (mp3 songs) and video (mostly movies). These media files are usually stripped off from the media records or are recorded and uploaded for other users to download for free. Therefore, media industry is a direct and major stakeholder in this process at the losing end. For example, legal entity in US, RIAA has been waging battle to illegalize such media content distribution. But as we know, everything desirable in this world is either banned, illegal, married or fattening; so I guess inspite of all rules and regulations, the usage of p2p will keep growing. What could be the consequences ?

Hollywood/Bollywood movies are available online no later than they are released in the theatres. As a result p2p users will not spend money in watching movies at the theatres. Considering that this fraction will be significant soon, the profit of the movie producers will keep decreasing and soon they will stop making quality movies or at least that will prevent them from making more movies. Consequently the money that actors/actresses make will get diminishingly less. I think celebrities are hyped and they earn undue money (compare it with the fact that I spend more than 14 hrs or more at work doing more important work for humanity and still get paid less than 1% of what they earn. In addition they get glamor, publicity, money, multiple sexual partners).

Due to the poor quality of the movies, people will start watching less movies and therefore, young generation will be less affected by social vices such as violation, rape, smoking, romance. Actors/actresses will no longer find this business lucrative and will insist their kids to opt for other professions such as engineering, medical etc. Gradually the income distribution in the society will be less skewed. To attract the viewers the producers will try hard to be creative and will produce good quality movies but they will not earn as much as they now.

Growth of p2p applications will however make some economic sectors prosperous. Would ipod have been successful had there been no abundance of mp3 files through p2p applications ? More people will get hired by software and media industry to pollute the p2p network with garbage movie files, to distribute legal copies of software/media files over the p2p network.

Some social problems will reduce but some will increase. Gamers will get more games/xbox for free and therefore more people will get addicted. There will be more cases of divorces, crime due to gaming addiction. There might be more cases of dropouts.

Someone said, talking is not free in the world and I realized that is true when I got my phone bill. Skype has become popular worldwide since it is a free VoIP phone if both the caller and callee use Skype. Skype is again a p2p application where hosts relay traffic for other users. If Skype continues to grow and assuming that soon most of the people will have computer with Internet connection, it will put Telecom industry under heavy competition. I feel the telecom service providers charge a lot; its monopoly for no good reason. As a result of Skype prevalence, many telecom industries will be out of business, many high-paying CEOs will get fired and there will be less skewed income distribution. I wish I could talk to my family everyday. Therefore, with Skype in place, we will be able to feel much closer to people, family, lovemates. As a result, those who are involved in distant romance will be able to sustain their relationship comfortably (specially when girls tend to find new lovemates in absence of physical presence of their counterparts).

Graduate students cannot afford to buy expensive books all the time or sometime the books are not available even in university library. Once I needed a book (I could not obtain it even from other libraries) and I asked a friend if I could get a soft copy of the book. After a few weeks, he downloaded it from a Turkish server. I was happy to read the relevant chapter and then deleted it. Thus, p2p is also acting as a vehicle to spread education and will thus make education/knowledge accessible to deprived ones.

More and more I think about p2p applications, it makes me more optimistic about future.

2006-07-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Books Sought

I am looking for good books on the following topics. The books should not just describe facts like history books by NCERT. It should interprete events with an eye of anthropologist or socialogist. Your suggestions are solicited:

a) A book on the history of Jews dating back to centuries before Christ was born. It should discuss how Jews were fled away from their homeland, how they became good in money making business, how Wall St was built by the Jewish, how Jews used to fund wars, etc.

b) A book encompassing 2000 yrs old history of Japan describing why Japanese seemingly have dual personality. I feel Japanese are deligent, responsible and polite but internally they are brutal and are always ready to invade others. I may be wrong. I also want to know the hierarchy in Japanese society describing the status of normal people and that of Samurais. I want read from the perspectives of both Japanese and others.

c) A book on Nazi and Hitler which should describe why Nazi used to hate the Jews. May be Mein Kempf ??

2006-07-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

Important Business

Today I had a complementary breakfast in the office with 3 other early birds including our HR lady. During the breakfast conversation, the HR lady asked this guy from the Netherlands, "What does your father do in your country ?". The question made the two other guys burst into instant laughter. Why ? Even I was curious.

Instead of getting embarrassed the guy took a little while to think how to answer. Probably he never had to answer this to a woman. He said, "My father provides raw materials [you know what it is] for artificial insemination of pigs". One could have easily evaded the question by answering something else. I liked his honesty. I have observed this guy during meetings. He is very precise and clear in what he speaks. I learned two additional things: First, every work is important in life; someone has to clean toilets, some one has to inseminate animals where farming and animal husbandry is important and so on. Second, articulation of speech is really a skill and can have a completely different effect on the listeners.

2006-07-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

INDIA and World

Many of the online news articles on India seem to be catered towards pleasing online readers, NRIs by projecting a nice view of India. While this is perfectly alright but I feel our optimism should be scaled down. Sometimes I pity how media in US and Singapore keep their citizens so ignorant of reality. The articles on India say, how India might become superpower by 2015, how Mumbai springs back to life next day after serial bomb blasts, how Laxmi Mittal is soaring as Czar of Steel, etc.

I have almost completed reading a book, The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen. Having read several essays in the book which encompass ancient, medieval and modern India and almost every aspect of India, I am left to take a pessimistic note that India has a long way to go. Numerous facts about India in every chapter of the book appalled me to far extent. I cannot emphasize less how every Indian and non-Indian should read the book. Moreover, Dr. Sen has a distinctive style of writing. Hopefully the following facts will motivate some of you to read it.

If you think everything you read in history book was correct, it is time to rethink (it reminds me of my first blog). History is written by victors. BJP-led NCERT admitted that there were factual errors in the history textbooks -- for example, Madagascar was claimed to be an island in Arabian Sea (whereas it should have been in Indian Ocean). Similarly, Lanchasire was claimed to be a fast-growing Industrial town. Many books didn't mention about Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi since he was an RSS member.

India and China had a lot of exchange in trade and knowledge as far back as 8th century. Given the closed community nature of China, I used to wonder if there was ever an Indian (except Buddha) who could influence Chinese largely. Infact, many Indian scientists, mathematicians and astronomers held high positions in China's scientific establishment. An Indian scientist named Gautama Siddhartha even became the president of the official board of Astronomy in China in 8th century.

There is an essay named Tagore and India which has been my favorite so far. Dr Sen brilliantly brings out differences in the visions of Tagore and Gandhiji. I felt Dr. Sen was advocating more of Tagore. Tagore believed in Industrialization and he was not so keen on advocacy of Gandhiji's charkha..."Charkha does not require anyone to think; one simply turns the wheel of the antiquated invention endlessly, using minimum of judgment and stamina". Unlike Gandhiji Tagore was not strict about celibacy and he was claimed to have multiple relationships. Tagore believed in scientific explanations in every aspect of life -- In Jan 1934 Bihar was struck by a devastating earthquake. Gandhiji who was actively fighting against the untouchability during that time said, "A man like me cannot but believe that earthquake is a divine chastisement sent by God for our sins". Tagore objected saying, "It is all the more unfortunate because this kind of unscientific view of [natural] phenomenon is too readily accepted by large section of our countrymen".

We envision that India is on the path to become Superpower, but even today India is worse than many sub-Saharan countries on many different measures. For example, in India there is severe bias against women as we may judge from female-male ratio of 0.93 whereas sub-Saharan countries have the ratio as high as 1.02. Moreover, the percentage of undernourished children in Africa is 20-40%, whereas in India is as high as 40-60%. India is also claimed to be the largest producer of wheat (or grains). Why is this discrepancy ?

I want to end this post with another interesting observation. We often conclude that gender inequality prevails mostly in the developing countries, say in South-East Asia. But India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all have or had women political leaders. Bangladesh even had women leaders both in the ruling and opposition parties. On the other hand the developed western countries such as US, Germany, France and Italy never had any women Prime Minister or President nor do these countries poised to have one in near future. Through several other examples, Dr. Sen convincingly clarifies different concepts and conventional wisdom.

What I have written is only the tip of an iceberg, there are several other facts about India which will make you think what real India is.

2006-07-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hierarchical Data

Finally we submitted a paper on Change Detection in Hierarchical Data. People usually talk about change in data or data streams without considering hierarchy -- for example, one is usually happy with knowing what is the percentage increase/decrease in sales volume in Walmart in California. We address the problem of detecting changes in data where attributes are hierarchical. For example, a manager in Walmart might have information about sales which is organized by hierarchy -- state/county/city/zip code in US. One can pose a question -- if the sales volume under all the zip codes in San Fransisco have doubled, what is the parsimonious way to represent the change ? We say, sales volume in SF has doubled. Our approach captures such changes with maximal generalizations and thus captures trends and counter-trends. We reduce the problem to a weight assignment problem over hierarchical tree structure under some constraints and propose efficient linear-time optimal algorithms.

2006-07-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Why Conference Call is so Good ?

Of late I have been attending mostly conference call meetings. I have started liking it more than physical meetings. In some cases, I find it more productive than physical meetings since I often send report and agenda before conference call meeting. Moreover, we can terminate a conference call if we don't have anything to discuss. Here are some reasons why I like conference calls.

It gives me an impression that I am a very important person and am talking to the President of USA on secure hotline.
The other person cannot see my facial expression. Neither do I have to be well-shaved or neatly dressed.
I can find an excuse for being late; no one is going to notice what I was doing. I could say, phone had a problem.
It gives me access to many other things during a conference call. I can drink coffee, I can browse. In some cases, I even did experiments on the fly as my co-author asked me questions and I could report results of those experiments to answer the questions.
Its mostly Voice over IP rather than regular telephony; so it makes a case that network engineers are still of some use.
It gives me a feeling that the world is well-connected and I can reach any corner in milliseconds.
It sharpens by hearing skills, I tend to be more focussed since I know I have only ears in help.

2006-07-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Savage Omnivorous Asians

Americans think Asians are comprised of Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and not Indians. "Oh, Indians are Asians !!" was the response I got while filling up HR forms in the SDSC.

So, in the last few days I had further induction of Chinese, Korean and Japanese food culture. More and more I interact with them, more I feel they have such wierd food habits. I think now Africans have little more sanity left in what they eat. I will use the term Chinese loosely, if something strikes too odd, then it must be from the GuangDong province.

Thai food is what I like most from Asian cuisine after Indian food. Brazil lost semi-finals, we were sad. To have lunch, we went to Thai Palace. We were late by 5 mins and weren't allowed inside. Double disappointment on a fine sunny saturday in San Diego. There used to be a Thai Restaurant named NudPub (we used to call Nude Pub) near Boston Univ. The lady at the counter had a typical style, "yiieess, haou may I help you ? Pyneapple fried riiiyye, for hyere to goennn? 6 daullars pleaz".

So, disappointed from Thai Palace, we went to check out Vietnamese Cuisine, Korean BBQ, Sushi Palace. We could not form a consensus -- Korean BBQ is expensive (with full of beef and pork items); I cannot eat raw fish in Sushi, Vietnamese is tasteless. Finally we decided to go to 99 Chinese Supermarket on the recommendation of chinese friend. A rotten gust of wind hit my nasal cavity as soon we entered into the market as if some dead caracus of buffalo had been rotting in the corner for days. Soon I got used to it (as you get used to smelling your own shit in the restroom) and we ended up in a cheap restaurant at the corner. They had two modes of operation, self-service and waiter-service. We opted for the latter. Thinking that I would get nice soup with rice, I ordered Chicken with Peanuts. Korean friend ordered pork curry and chinese friend ordered duck/egg/pork combination. When the soup arrived, I lost all appetite. The first remark from the chinese friend was, Dhiman it looks they just cleaned the pan with water and brought you the water as soup. The water looked so dirty and there was a leaf from a vague plant floating in it. To be more precise, have you ever mopped your floor with a rag and after cleaning for while, have you seen the water with substrate. The soup was exactly like that.

The food was bearable. My friends devored like true graduate students, enjoying every grain and fibre. We discussed what Chinese and Koreans eat. They eat, intestines of animals, anus of animals (pig for example). There is a variety of chinese wine in which they shove in mices, lizards (pi-hu in chinese), snakes. I learned that they have two yummy dishes -- monkey brain and 3 screams (which i will describe later). A general rule of thumb is, if they want development of a particular part of your body, they eat corresponding body part in animals. So, chinese guys who are looking for penile enlargement must be eating organs (and testicles) of horse, ox, buffalo. Now, it is not hard to guess what part of cows and buffaloes the Chinese girls those who are want to avoid silicon breast implants must be eating.

The Korean friend confirmed that some people in Korea play football using the testicles of Oxes (cheaper than leather football). Remember Korea reached 1998 WorldCup semi-final :)

Its not over yet. We had to do grocery in the Chinese supermarket. I always wonder why Indians don't have such comprehensive grocery store in US (actually in NY, San Diego there are). The meat section was so gross. They had intestines of animals laid out. Then, they had claws of chicken, duck (may be cats, dogs also) in display. The claws of birds/animals are roasted and fried and are served as appetizers with drinks/beers. Both Chinese and Koreans eat that (may be Bengalies should try crow-claws-chacchori; how about crow-claws-fries and Pig-Anus-Burger). I bought Tilapia fish. The Chinese in America have learned customization quite a bit:

After buying fish I had to take of the following 4-5 options:

1) cleaning,
2) cleaning and removing the scales,
3) cleaningmust be eating, removing scales and chopping off head and tail
4) cleaning, removing scales, beheading, remove tails and chopping into N pieces
5) (4) + fry in oil (in their kitchen)

I chose (4). Oh I forgot to mention, I also eat Japanese snacks (peanuts, sea weeds) in the office the week before. A guy named Brat had brought from Japan. The Korean friend brought me 3 different korean cookies. I am just eating only Asian stuffs these days.

Now, I will descibe about those two delicacies that Chinese from GuangDong province eat.

Monkey brain is considered a delicacy. To eat it, they first tie the monkey so that it cannot move. Its head is clamped with barbwire (remember Jesus Christ had one when he was crucified). Then they break the skull-shell of the monkey while it is still alive. Then they dig out Monkey's brain and devor it with spoon (of course along with soya sauce). It is supposed to nourish human brain. Yeah right, thats why I haven't met one from that province yet.

Three Scream dish is another odd item. So, they have small white mices (the ones we used in Bio practicals) on a plate. The first scream is heard when one holds a mice with chopsticks. Second scream is heard when the mice is dipped in Soya Sauce and it is drowned for a while. Final mortal scream is heard when the mice is chewed in the mouth. All so fresh and yummy!

Now who is ready for french-kiss with an Asian after he/she has a good meal with Monkey brain and 3 Scream ?

2006-07-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

Three Idols of Mine

I have been taught and supervised by many teachers and researchers. They are so dedicated in their work. It is difficult to to talk about all, here I will take pride in describing three such educationists who have really influenced me and taught me a lot. I feel proud and excited to talk about them always.

Eitan Altman: He (top left in red-checked shirt) got PhD under Andew Shwartz at Technion, Israel. Now he is associated with INRIA and Univ of Avignon both in France. He is one of the top reseachers in the world. I won't describe his professional achievements as those are online rather i will describe my personal experience. I think he works for 25 hrs despite the fact that he is so intelligent and has family with two kids. He also composes music. He is an editor of many journals. Once during lunch he said, "I am always eager to submit and publish papers". Unlike many researchers, he is always accessible and replies to mails immediately and he is very understanding and straightforward. One can barge into his office anytime and ask any mathematical question. I still remember, during my first visit to him, I used to go to his office and used to pose questions. On every occasion he had answers ready even before I could finish asking the questions. He is not formal unlike many researchers who like to set up appointments for discussion. I remember I used to often catch him in the corridor and would ask him questions from random paper, he would still be able to answer precisely. To tell you about his focus and dedication, I was once at his apartment and we were moving a sofa from one apt to another and we had to carry it together. So, after walking down the stairs we were on the streets while holding the sofa with hands and we were panting. Eitan didn't want to waste time, he was posing some questions on the paper we were working on; he was also giving ideas how we could try new things. To give an idea of his efficiency, in 2005 he co-authored seven INFOCOM papers (one of the top networking conferences; also single author in 1 paper) whereas there are many dedicated Networking Research Groups in US schools and barely any research group as a whole could beat such productivity. I always miss his guidance.

Clem Karl: He (top right in B&W) got PhD from MIT and now a professor in BU, EE and teaches stochastic processes, signal processing etc. He has been the best teacher I have come across in life. He is knowledgeable, full of energy, enthusiasm and focussed. So, I registered for his class Probability and Stochastic Processes. On the first day of class, he outlined the course contents and told his expectations from the students. He said, "If you are registered for this class, don't take any other serious course this semester. I will post homeworks every week. This course is heavy weight, you have to read, write and do experiments and attend two 2 hrs lecture every week. But I can assure you that if you get A in this course, you can ask the school double of what you are paid. " Such was the conviction in his voice. Without getting deterred, I remained in the class. I used to stop doing everything else from Wednesday because I had to work for this course for Friday deadline. When 2 hrs used to get over of his lecture, I used to think "why couldn't it last for one more hour ?". In the course, he taught nicely - distribution, joint-distribution, stochastic processes, estimation techniques. Before every class, he would motivate why we were doing that topic - for example, anecdote about Kalman, why Kalman filter was designed etc. I should say, it was awesome course and I never learned something so well in any other course. I hope he could teach me every course I wanted to study.

Divesh Srivastava: He (bottom right) is a research scientist at AT&T, New Jersey and I have hardly seen anymore more patient, more precise,more knowlegeable than Divesh. Besides being extraordinary intelligent and knowledgeable, he is so down to earth. When he speaks during research meetings, he does not fumble -- that is whatever he says seems final. One can say, he must be well-prepared. Even on many occasions, he would answer any online question with so much precise authority that it would take a while for me to understand. I try hard to catch up with him and sometimes I feel embarrassed that he contributes so much to my research and gives so much guidance in my research. He has long beard, long hair (at least from pic) and he also talks like a saint with utter calmness. The most important thing is he believes in me even though he does not really need me. I hope to keep working with him forever.

2006-07-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

American English

I could never understand if Americans intentionally developed rules, styles, etiquettes and conventions which are reversed. When MKS system was already in practice in Europe and many other parts of the world, what was the necessity to adopt FPS system ? English was not a native language of America, they took liberty to twist and modify according to their wish. I was listening to a lecture by the head of Career Center, Dr. Stevens in UC, Riverside and he made it a point, "Since you are in US, watch TV, cartoons and sitcoms and listen to American music. We don't talk normal literical english that you have learned from books."
I readily get impressed by those people who don't use "pet" words, who do not repeat sentences, who have strong vocabulary, and who are artistic while speaking but those who are not natural are rather turn offs. I should say I like it when I listen to Howard Stern, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore. As a digression, it is my conjecture that researchers/scholars from top schools such as MIT, Harvard, CMU, UC Berkeley have very good oratorial skills.

I will describe some day-to-day normal conversation which I could never pick up because I never found those friendly to ears even though people use those often.I have heard them say, "I am so cold or I am so hot". Why can't they say, "I feel so cold or hot" ? Despite this, my favorite lines from Matrix I are, "Smith: You are empty. Neo: So are you". 

People have this knack of using pet words such as "pretty", "super", "basically", "cool". Sometime it gets irritating. Does it make sense to say, "She is pretty ugly ?". I think one has to exaggerate while speaking in America. If you compliment someone saying, "you look good", its not enough. You have to at least say, "you look awesome". It not enough to say that you are very busy, you have to say, you are super busy. I personally prefer to hear, "sounds good, looks good" instead of "cool" for everything.

African-American english adds another dimension. I am not sure if it is funny or it is "cool" to use their version of english. It is funny when I hear, "What's up dawg ? How ya' doin,bro ? Hey nigger, how is it hangin. " Is it correct to say, "he don't know nothing. He no good" ?

Some sentences are over-used such as "Friday lunch is not free" when someone wants to convey nothing is free in the world. If lousy speakers use such phrases/sentences, it irritates me as it does not sound natural in them. Sometimes I wonder, was it really necessary to make different pronounciation for words like -- vitamins, multi-tasking, semi-finals etc ?

Everything is not so "bizarre". There are some sentences which I  picked up in the recent past and I really like to use those -- "Pepsi with Easy on ice (I mean 2-3 ice-cubes)" or "Tall Cafe au Lait with Easy Whipped Cream". I like the American pronounciation of "schedule".

So, probably I have been conditioned too much with textbook English, or may be I am reluctant to adopt slangs. I am changing...

2006-06-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Why Blogging ?

"Nice to read to your blogs, how come you find ideas and more importantly time ?", Anil asked me sometime back. I remember I asked a similar question to my friend, Raveen last year, "Why do you go out for trekking? What fun can there be in climbing mountains ?". To which he had answered, "Trekking is like self-test and self-stress. I like to put myself under some challenge to see how much I can take ?". I might not have such simple answer but this post tries to answer why I do blogging or why I find blogging interesting ?

By nature I usually indulge in those activities which are meaningful to me or which make me think. While I was writing my first blog (six things to be unlearned) I was very frustrated because I could not make certain set of people to see logic and reasons. May be I am not that good in articulating things while speaking. So, I decided to write and share my thoughts with those people (hopefully they have read it). To be more concrete, I spent more than 15 dollars to send a letter to India explaining in details how illogical and impractical their opinions and decisions were (and those people didn't even accept the post). Anyways thats how it got started. There was a second reason which instigated me to write blog. I was writing an essay on "What I learned in USA?" (I haven't posted it yet) and subsequently blogging helped me realize that writing something constructive is really a mental exercise and it can as well be fun.

So, the practice of blogging turned out to be a good way to vent out frustration. After writing something, I do feel less stressed and less frustrated as I feel I could express something I had in mind. Again, time is barely an issue since I space out things over days and write in piecemeal.

A general theme so far has been on criticism and sarcasm and what you read is pretty much what and how I think. I am not that social and outgoing person but I just love to observe things - how people are saying things, what they are saying, what they are wearing, etc. So, if you have talked to me and I haven't complemented you on something, that does not mean I haven't noticed it in you.

Being involved in research work, we are continuously reminded that writing is a skill and we should learn to sell our work. For me it is a training ground where I can learn to organize thoughts, express relevant issues and get feedback from peers. Moreover, in this busy world we may not always find it easy to approach someone to share what we feel or what we have read. This asynchronous mode of blogs really helps doing that (doing the same through emails would be considered as spam). Oh yeah ! once my friend told me that if I want to find a date I can share my blogs to impress her.

Somehow ideas pour in faster than I can write. Since PhD students don't have official non-working time, sometimes it is difficult to find spare time from doing experiments and writing technical papers. But all those who have read and commented my blogs, please continue to do so and continue to give your valuable opinions. Some of the next releases will be on topics like -- Bengalies, Wierd Human Activities, how to find a 2-body problem and so on.

2006-06-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

Contradictions, I always like !

I always like to read contradictory statements or know counter-intuitive arguments. It gives me much fun to see how human beings could be irrational. Nobel Prize in 2002 was given to Economists who showed that human beings are irrational (does that mean, game-theory premises are not valid ?). Here is a collection of 10 such contradiction (as mark of irrationality) I remember to have read or observed:

1. Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong ? This raises the question, should we support capital punishment ? I feel life-imprisonment is tougher than capital punishment.

2. Killing for peace is like fucking for virginity. Why do we have UN peace keeping forces ? The same people that US had trained in Iraq to fight against Iran or Russia are called terrorists today. Isn't it too much emphasis to say, I would like to cut my hands to become ambidextrous ?

3. When it is winter, we wear woollen clothes and keep complaining how cold it is. When it is summer, we complain how hot and humid it is. People living in temperate climatic conditions go to hill stations. What do they really want ?

4. Everybody wants to go to heaven but why nobody wants to die. What kind of place is heaven then ?

5. People are often seen bragging about being modest. Also, have you observed people who are never too busy to say that they are busy ?

6. If I buy chicken sandwich, french fries and coke combo meal, it will cost me around $5.00. But if I buy those separately, it might cost me more than $7.00. Why should there be any difference ? I don't think this kind of pricing should be as retail pricing of commodities.

7. Why do people prefer spending money in going to movies, smoking cigaretters, drinking beer than buying one $1 lottery every month ? Are we too lazy or too pessimistic ?

8. Why do we feel shy in showing our private organs but eager to see others' ? Why are we enthusiastic in showing our face, hands, other limbs ? What is so private here, we all have and we know. Someone said, opinion is like asshole, everybody has one but nobody wants to see others'.

9. Why is it expensive to buy bikinis than to buy a shirt or trouser ? Making bikinis barely needs any skill or clothes.

10. Why do Americans spend money to make and watch scary movies as well as celebrate Halloween parties ?

Do let me know if you know of such facts.

2006-06-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

WASTE and WANT !

I cannot agree more with the observation made by Bill Waterson in the above comics, Calvin and Hobbes (click to enlarge). Yesterday I screwed up badly in queueing theory exam doing several silly mistakes and my mood was off for the remaining day . How badly I wanted to get A or A+. I could not write even 10 lines of code after that. Today, I was told by the instructor that I got high marks in the class and might get A+. The news didn't send even a spark of excitment through me as if it was no big deal. Being a typical scorpion, may be it is my inherent trait to look for new things always. I get bored with monotonous things quickly. This is not a mark of a good researcher as a good researcher should dig one hole as deep as possible apart from looking for new ideas. There is another concern, this trait of mine might put extra pressure on my spouse to appear and sound new and different every day. May be I should change !

2006-05-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I still remember how I spent my last weekend

Last weekend was both fun as well as saddening. My roommate and I were invited to a dinner by an Eritrean friend. So, we were excited to have an exotic Eritrean dinner since my roommate was leaving to join a job with Bloomberg, NY. Eritrea is small country located in Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan. In dinner we had delicious chicken-egg curry, spinach, and soft Eritrean traditional bread called "Injera", something similar to South-Indian Dosa and is made from tiny grain called "Taff" which is mainly produced in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Actually I trivialized the essence and one has to try the taste. We spiced up the food by watching the movie, Hotel Rwanda. Eventually I had to part with my roommate later that night.

The next day I watched Munich by Stephen Spielberg. I would have felt guilty for watching two movies back-to-back when lot of work was piling up. But I was thoughtful with no guilty conscience in me after watching the movies because of what I learned from them. It was because I could connect myself with the themes therein.

It is different matter that I am doing computer science research but I always had two goals in sub-conscious mind. First goal was to become an astronaut and second goal was to become an international spy. Both seemed dangerous, challenging and both of these professions affect common people in different ways (One has to read Eleventh Commandment by Jeffrey Archer to understand how does a fate of a bill in US congress might depend on the result of Russian or Chinese Election). I had the reminiscences of these dream goals on watching Hotel Rwanda and Munich.

Hotel Rwanda can be compared to Schindler's List (Schindler's List was a novel). A hotel manager named Paul Rusesabagina saved more than 1000 people (mostly belonging to Tutsis tribe) from the attacks of dominant Hutu tribes after a war outbreak in Rwanda in 1994. More than 800,000 people were killed within 100 days of war. Paul used to bribe police and military officials to save Tutsis people as Oskar Schindler did to save Jews from Nazi forces. I was wondering all along how can people be so barbaric even in the 21st century, Africans killing Africans. What were UN forces doing then ? How can the countries where people don't have food to eat can manage to buy weapons ? Why are Western countries dumping their weapon junkyards in those poor countries ? Relating it to my previous post, it was sad to know that even Africans have prejudices against themselves (How can Tutsis be different from Hutus ?).

I cannot emphasize more how well-made movie was Munich. Who else can portray more about Jews and Palestinians better than Spielberg, a Jewish himself. A bunch of Jewish were killed in Munich during Olympic games in 1972. So, Jewish counter-terrorism group hired 5 Jewish spies to eliminate 11 Palestinians leaders (a matter of more than $2million dollars) in retaliation. These 5 people would travel almost every city in Europe to hunt and kill these leaders. It was a nail-biting adventurous game and involved a lot of spying and killing. There were emotional aspects showing family bonds, moral values and friendship. So exciting !! Although I cherish my dreams but I realize one to be brave, shrewd, quick and be ready to die in order to serve as a spy. At the end of the day, I made several conclusions:

a) never yield to any temptation in a job and watch out for honey pots laid down by pretty girls; thats why Avner, the leader of the Jewish team, could survive
b) Gandhian principles hold; Killing of Jews and Palestinians will never lead to peace on either side; replacements of killed leaders could be even worse and dangerous
c) one should fight for a cause which affects common people as Paul did in Hotel Rwanda than fighting for establishing supremacy based on prejudices such as caste
d) In crucial tasks (such as in buying secret information, raising kids) never bargain to save few bucks but invest generously; paying more now pays off later.

2006-05-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

How would you like to be prejudiced ?

George Aiken said, "If we were up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon". Although I strongly protest against any kind of reservation but my purpose is beyond making anti-reservation protests such as one against hike in OBC quota percentage. Ironically education can never uproot prejudice from peoples' minds and will remain in some form or other in every society any time. I want to emphasize on two points - a) upliftment through scholarships and not quota; and b) mitigation of curse against prejudices. My attempt here is to identify some prevailing prejudices and propose some solutions to mitigate the curses of prejudices.

Classical 4-tier hierarchy: Indian Hindu society had been categorized into 4 classes -- Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra centuries ago. There are several sub-categories (among Bengalies such as Kayastha, Namasudra, Tantubai etc). Brahmin somehow were considered better species to be treated as middle-men to God. Even in 21st century people take pride in claiming themselves as Brahmin by caste. Kshatriyas are supposed to be descendants of Royal clans. Vaishya used to be businessmen by profession and Sudras were indulged in lowly jobs such as janitor, cobbler etc. This divisions in society were further intensified during British rule. Today the division is somewhat blurry due to modernization, education etc. Such unjustified hierarchy persuaded me to prefer Chinese system -- one language, one main religion, same physiology. Democracy and diversity is too chaotic.

There is no significant perceived dichotomy at this level of classification unless one is trying to marry a Brahmin because Brahmins will not usually agree to such proposals. Here is my consolation to those affected by this discrimination: Brahmins girls/guys are just human beings, one is better off not marrying a Brahmin bride/groom if the bone of contention is caste incompatibility. I am in favor of conversion to other religion such as Islam, Christianity or Buddhism. Religion is anyway based on beliefs and faith. We need visionary ministers like Akbar who had started a new religion (Din-Ilahi) by borrowing good points of all religions. Goverment must scrap out any reservation system followin which any caste-system discrimination won't hold much water.

Backward classes (SC/ST/OBC/MBC): It is a further sub-division of the above classification and encompasses the lower 3 castes from the above hierarchy. Dr. B.R. Amderkar who himself was a Dalit but highly distinguished scholar had envisioned that so-called lower castes should be uplifted through reservation (somehow our leaders were always prone to overlook future and make mistakes). He participated in reforming Indian Constitution and championed constitutional safeguards for untouchables. Why didn't he introduce scholarship system in primary schools ? I would rather give credit to Indian nuclear scientist Meghnad Saha who had tried that status for certain backward classes be uplifted to general class. There is a negative connotation attached to any categorization. The quota system does not help in boosting the self-esteem of the privileged classes rather it makes them subject to de-recognition and deliberate insult. To mitigate any differences, my suggestions are directed as follows:

a) I read furious comments, hiked OBC quota will dilute the standards of the institutions; no one will approach a doctor who got admission through reservations. No single individual has strength to fight against social injustice unless you are Nelson Mandela or son of rich parents like Ambedkar. In that case, people from backward classes should escape from such a system. An MBBS student who feels uncomfortable after graduation should go abroad -- US, China, Australia, Russia, UK, Canada etc and pursue higher degrees and prove themselves. They should however continue to try to uplift people belonging to their classes.

b) People in India are highly sensitive to caste compatibility to an illogical extent. People belonging to reserved classes find it extremely difficult to marry to people belonging to so called general castes. I think they should try to marry non-Indians, someone from different ethnic groups. There is a misconception that only Indian girls(guys) can make good wives(husbands). Get inspired by our ex-President K.R. Narayan. Anyways, Pakistani, Spanish, Blondes, French girls are quite beautiful and worthy.

c) Become a world citizen and find a place where there is no prejudice or de-recognition based on caste.

d) Escapism may not be pragmatic; then they should draw strength and confidence from the example of Karna in Mahabharata. Karna was raised by parents belonging to lower caste and he refused to be known as son of Kunti who belonged to upper caste. He was confident of his talent and perhaps was more talented than any of his Pandava brothers.

Whites and Blacks: People think that it is a curse to be born as black and Africa is an abandoned land. I cannot quantify which one is more heinous -- being born as a black (african) or as a (SC/ST/OBC/MBC) category person. However, I support both Michael Jackson and Oprah Winfrey. Every person has right to do to whatever makes him/her comfortable as long as it does not affect others. I think those non-black people who ascribe Jackson as racist are biggest hypocrites. Will they ever marry black individuals or let their kids do that ? Today we may give example of Denzel Washington, Oprah or Martin Luther King but not everyone can be so. Since Black people are physically well-built they should try to excel in sports or entertainment business and that can compensate for the fact that they are black to some extent. Plastic-surgery to change ones looks is acceptable to me. I hope with progress in bio-technology, soon the Black parents will be able to choose non-black features for their kids.

IITians, RECians, BITians: This is again a major concern in India. People take failure to make it through IIT JEE as an end of the world. Come on, we don't need a society where everyone is an IIT graduate and it is not a sacrosanct litmust test for any talent of anyone.

It is much better to be expert in something than being an average IIT BTech software techy. Read the book, Godel, Esher and Bach. I consider Godel (computer scientist), Esher(painter) and Bach (pianist) all as geniuses. Indian society/parents should stop compartmentalizing our society. We need an education system as in US where all streams of education are equally valued. We need more of people like the Chairman of Infosys, Narayanmurthy to make a difference without having an IIT BTech degree. Learn from Laxmi Mittal was a B.Com graduate from St. Xaviers, Kolkata. How many aeronautical engineers from IITs have made it to the NASA space missions ? How many IITians have gotten Turing Awards or Nobel Prizes in the last few decades ? Are IITs producing technological soldiers (say for Microsoft) or technological leaders who can set trends ?

As criticized by a Greek friend, "This system of yours in India is hurting creativity". Another Spanish friend said, "Its pity you don't have a good soccer team with more than 1 billion population in the country".

Gay, Lesbian and Bi-sexual: Parents freak out on discovering that their kids are not straight. If two individuals are spiritually connected, let them be marital partners. If men are scared of Gays, they should realize how painful it is for women to get raped !!

We don't need labels in our society. Referring back to first two grave prejudices, I cannot emphasize less that it is your responsibility to cast your vote to elect politicians who don't pass bills to increase quota. Support parties like Lok Paritran (at least through donations) than posting F-words against politicians and backward classes on mailing lists which is no better than "shouting in void". Arjun Singh is a rubber-stamp. Such decisions must be definitely taken in consultation with PM, Sonia Gandhi, numerous IAS officers and Secretaries. Then there are MPs belonging to backward classes. Politicians do realize that such quota is system not going to affect them while their political careers are at stake if they don't show favoritism. Computer and Electrical Engineering is easy but Social Engineering is not !

2006-05-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

Where is the Missing Link ?

Being a TA I get to interact with many non computer science major students, so one day I asked a female student, "Why are you studying Women Studies ? Is there Men Studies also ?". She just smiled. This question had always intrigued me -- Why do women give mixed signals ? I always get to hear that understanding of men about women is zero. Since I might have to spend a significant portion of my life with a woman in life, I thought better I try to understand them. In my quest to understand them better, I thought of reading several books (no not Mills and Boons) written by women writers to know how women perceive women. To name a few such books, I read Difficult Daughters and Married Woman by Manju Kapoor, Na Hanyate by Maitrayi Devi, My Feudal Lord by Tehmina Durani, Lajja, Amar Meyebela and Nirbachito Kalam by Taslima Nasreen, Ekushe Pa (Step into 21) by Bani Basu. Watching highly woman-centric movies like Charulata, Ghare Baire (by Satyajit Ray) were also like reading novels. I am yet to read (auto)biographies of Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thachar. Admittingly, my observation could be biased towards Indian women. I do admit that females and males are equal and are incomplete without each other. It is understood that biologically female brain is wired differently. Both are superior to other on different aspects. My hypothesis is that women give a lot of mixed signals (mixed in the sense that men are incapable of understanding those signals all the time and I also realize I am talking like a man).

A natural classification of women falls into three classes: a) those who are really feminine in obvious ways; b) men-hater and feminist; and c) tomboys. Women in class (a) are those whose purpose is to find a dream man and lead a happy family life. It is independent of the fact if they are ambitious or not. They like shopping, gossiping, dressing flashy attractive clothes. They are very sentimental and emotional. Women in class (b) could be feminine also. But they make it a point in every action or word, how much they hate men (I should say celebrated columnist Shobha De falls in this class). Class (c) is comprised of tomboys and women in this class are mainly of the age 18-30. They neither hate males nor females but what they hate are the activites of women belonging to class (a). They like to emulate men which makes them feel important and confident. I think they have inherent sense of insecurity that if they don't pretend to be men they are vulnerable. They also think women in class (a) are like clinging vines to their husbands. Just to clarify my statement, Hillary Clinton, Sonia Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi are not in this class. As Dame Edith Evans said, When a woman behaves like a man, Why can't she behave like a nice man ? Randy Milholland said, "The only way to be truly misogynistic is to be a woman".

Irrespective of the above classification, I pose the following claims as a query: why are women ambivalent ? The motivation behind my writing and question is that: A significant portion of mens' effort and energy is spent in understanding their nebulous mixed responses. If they are clear and firm, world will be much better place for everyone.

Expecting clear rules of engagement: Women are foreign language; Men always mispronounce it. Men are direct and women are indirect. Had it been consistent, men would have settled for it. But then women also expect responses of love and care in an explicit way. Women emphasize on articulation which is good but articulation should not be at the cost of obscurity. Women are gifted with skills for better communication. Tears are not meant for communicating everything (for some it is the last resort). On one hand women claim they are patient, tolerant and deep-thinker, on the other hand they are restless and impatient. Sense of insecurity always haunt them. According to women, men are sex predators and mens' idea of romance is sex. If it is so disdainful for women, why do many women would not stay with men who would not gratify them physically ? One interpretation of Kamala Das's sexuality charged compositions would be that she was not happy with her husband as far as physical relation was concerned. Madam Curie initially had no liking for Pierre Curie. It is only after writing numerous love letters and marriage proposals she agreed. That shows that women never deny firmly to anything. It is not clear if a woman likes a man or the qualities in a man. In Mahabharata, Draupadi never really wanted a husband rather she wanted a man with five distinguished qualities - honesty, strength, skill, patience and looks and as a result she got five husbands. In Ramayana, Rama could marry Sita in a Swayambar because he could lift a bow and put the string on it which was a test of his physical strength. I still remember winters in Boston. Temperature used to be -10 or lower. But blondes would be seen around wearing scanty dresses. Then women despise men for treating them as sexual objects. This often confuses men if they should be original in their bearings.

Poor Resource Management: Women want independence, recognition and respect. Often women do misuse what they get. One should read Ghare Bhaire (Home-Outside) by Tagore. He clearly portrayed how a wife of a Jamindar got attracted to a fraud Swadeshi named Sandeep. Her husband was the epitome of good person a wife can have as husband. Time as a resource is also poorly managed by women. They feel good and important if things are tidy, neat and organized. As a result they easily get lost in details. Top-down approach is always better than bottom-up approach. That means, first set the big-picture and then go into details. Is it really important if I am not in proper disposition all the time? Do we really need to perfectionist all the time ? What is the point of being a perfectionist if the overhead of being perfect is too much ? A man is a person who will pay two dollars for a one dollar item he wants. A woman will pay one dollar for a two dollar item that she doesn't want. Women often say, men have wrong priorities in life. I should say men have priorities for important things in life.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: Love and romance is really not a cup of tea for women. Great love stories (that of Romeo Juliet, Prithwiraaj Chauhan-Sanyukta or someone else) had not been great had the male counterparts not been proactive or passionate. It is not Mumtaz who built the Taj Mahal but Shah Jahan had made it. Without caring much about love, they care more about security, shelter and support both physically and emotionally. Well anyone can propose and claim she/he is in love, only men dare to materialize love. Sometimes men are foolish enough to prove themselves as knight. Women are not aggressive or assertive, thus a love story often ends up being a tragedy. Thinking that sacrifices and adjustments make one great, women continue to compromise on their dreams and goals. Can they really live happily for ever like this ? What happens when it dawns upon them that they never tried hard enough to materialize their dreams.

The purpose is not to enumerate all the mixed signals. May be there exists none. Men and women need to narrow down the margin of differences in thoughts and actions We need a better place where their is no divorce, no heartbreaks, no gender exploitation and discrimination. We need a communication protocol with clear set of rules.

2006-05-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Six Lessons To be Unlearned

I should not express apathy but sometimes I disapprove certain things that we learned in the school textbooks. I do agree that like history, textbooks were written by victors. Here is a list of six lessons that I think should be revised.

Honesty is the best policy: If you feel honesty will not get your job done, why being honest ? After being dishonest, if you feel bad and repentant, ask for forgiveness. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission and empirical observation says that it works most of the time. In that sense Chanakya Niti is more relevant, "People who are honest and trees which are tall are chopped down first". Will you call diplomatic people honest or dishonest ? It should be revised as Honesty is the second best policy.

Truth shall prevail: If truth prevails, why do we have judicial courts ? If judicial court is enough, why do people still feel that O.J. Simpson must have been convicted ? If the rest of the world is protesting against US forces in Iraq, why is US dominance evergrowing ? Rather, Power and Strength shall prevail.

Beauty is skin deep: Even an unqualified, illiterate, short, bald and dark guy wants a bride who is beautiful. If beauty is skin deep, why don't we have Miss IQ, Miss Patient, Miss Educated, Miss Talented pageants ? So, Physical beauty matters most.

Love is immortal: If love is immortal, why do most love marriages end up in divorces ? Love is conditional and love is a business seem to be more appropriate. So, don't pretend to fall in love unless a business proposal is convincing enough.

Knowledge is Power: Bill Gates signs cheques for hundreds of PhDs or more. Does that mean, Bill Gates is more knowledgeable than those researchers ? Is George Bush the most knowlegeable person on the planet today ? People claim pen is mightier than sword. How many of you know the names of the Noble Prize winners of 2005 or more recently the Pulitzer prize winners of 2006 ? Money and Authority is Power.

Charity Begins at Home: Why are Brahmins reluctant to marry non-Brahmins ? What phylogenetic traits are they trying to preserve ? Charity only begins at my neighborhood.