Mirza Willy

2012-01-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

Being in the know, they sit in judgment on their high horses. Like a lot of monkeys on trees throwing offal down on other animals. To these monkeys, it is a lot of fun. The light fails to pierce the canopy and the animals stuck below can never seem to be rid of the monkeys.

The Privacy of Thoughts

2011-11-22T04:03:00.000-08:00

Imagine a world where thoughts could be read irrespective of whether the victim wanted them read or not. What a horrible shift in the balance of power. Reminds me of the Second Foundation of Isaac Asimov.

Imagine now that thoughts could not only be read but could also be influenced. Would the experimentation begin on animals and the comatose or would it happen on normal people? How would the 'subjects' be selected?

At the beginning, would there be any laws governing how this works or would it be at the arbitrary whim of the inventor? A 'god', a megalomaniac who decides what is right and what is wrong and what punishment to mete out. Imagine some such device in the hands of Mengele or one of his descendants...

Umberto Eco

2011-10-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

What a way to glorify something as mundane as the swinging of a pendulum. Umberto Eco must be a genius. I have read only a page and a half, but I am already hooked to this book. Taking some time to commit this in writing before hurrying back to the book.

The GRE Teacher

2011-08-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

:-)

Lady L.

2011-08-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

Fickle, capricious
visceral vicissitudes
what to make of you?

M&M

2011-08-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Method and madness
two sides of the same coin
lady luck decides?

Murdoch

2011-07-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

What a horible fellow he is...

Spawn of Mengele

2011-07-29T00:27:00.001-07:00

A horrible cocktail of an overdose of testosterone and a feeling of omnipotence. Puerile visions of vulgar vigilantism. Pretensions of invisibility like children that hide behind their mothers' skirts, sticking their tongues out. Only, far far more serious than that. How much more?

Norway

2011-07-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

What happened in Norway was horrible. Never expected it to happen of all places, in a Scandinavian country.

Mischievous Musings

2007-07-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

I muse my brethren,
how such cantilevering
could be god given.

Bane of Brilliance

2007-07-18T20:40:00.001-07:00

It tends to be blinding.

Andrew Marvell

2007-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near

So Far

2006-11-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

Course work has been mainly number crunching. Even marketing, since we are engineers and our professor specialises in quantitative marketing (Bayesian Econometrics, Pricing, etc.), involves analyses of numbers in large quantities.

Accounting just doesn't make any logical sense until one begins to accept that it is not meant to expalin observable phenomena but to organise as best as possible (read - as best suits the interests) the commercial transactions of firms. Even then some 'concepts' are simply counterintuitive.

One saving grace has been Excel. Before coming here, I never thought I would appreciate anything sold by MS, but Excel so far has been absolutely indispensable. So much so that I would even purchase MS Office for it.

Durham is a crime ridden ghettoed hick town. Entertainment is therefore largely restricted to on campus activities and neighbouring towns. Thankfully, Duke provides high quality entertainment and cultural experiences. Over the course of my stay, I have seen basket ball matches between the US and Australian womens' teams, a performance of Cats, performances by famous classical musicians from Iran and Turkey, various orchestras apart from other events. More Broadway shows including The Great Game and The Man from La Mancha set to hit the campus. One great thing about education in USA is the abundance of free food, free T-shirts and free booze. Roti, kapda aur sharab.

Last week, the Chinese ambassador gave a speech in what is normally our classroom. He essentially conveyed that China is in no hurry to fully deregulate its exchange rate, that USA should stop crying about it and take concrete steps to up its economy instead. He suggested USA might decrease its trade deficit (deficit is simply inadequate to describe the situation) by selling more products that China is looking to import (read - restricted arms and other sensitive high tech equipment). When questioned about IP issues, he frankly admitted this was a problem and that they trying to tackle it. He also told USA in no uncertain terms to keep off Taiwan. Contrasted to the spinelessness of Indian politicians and bereaucrats, the Chinese approach is refreshing and admirable. I wonder if Microsoft's review of its China policy might be a consequence of this speech, farfetched perhaps.

Last month, the Indian ambassador, Mr. Ronen Sen visited Duke. The visit was rather short and low key, no speeches, only a few words for us, mainly on the emerging co-operation in space technology.

Potomac, Squirrels and Drinking Fountains

2006-08-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

I used to associate all of USA with the foreign policy of its government and the present coterie in power. It is only on coming here that I realise there is so much more.

Walking between the Potomac and the C&O Canal early in the morning, one can see some of the most breathtaking scenery. The Potomac gushes down the Piedmont, foaming and raging at places, while the C&O flows at a more sedate pace, still as a pond at places, controlled by the various locks that were used for navigation of barges. It is difficult to believe that they are separated only by a few meters or that the canal, in that area, flows thro' the bed originally cut and occupied by the river itself during the last ice age. The vast virgin (hopefully) woods around these two channels are extremely beautiful, comparable even, to some of the lower reaches of the Himalayas.

Walking around the university campus is a very pleasurable experience. I have never seen squirrels so big or so alert and mischievous. A friend tells me that even pigeons here are very bold, that in New York, you would have to come close to stepping on one for it to merely hop away!

So far, most people here have been friendly as well. They are mostly polite and happy to help out. My only grouse is that their accent is very American (Texan), rather grating on the ears.

Am I actually beginning to like this godforsaken country? Oh the horror!!! :)

On a different note, the drinking fountains here are absolutely fascinating. Water jets out of a spout and people bend down to drink from it. Quite a waste of water tho'; since they use so much paper here, I wonder why they don't provide paper cups.

Ghalib

2006-04-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Some have the gift that allows them to coax just the right words into sentences that express precisely their ideas and feelings, evoking powerful images and emotions, and presenting powerful thoughts very simply.

Na tha kuch to Khuda tha, kuch na hota to Khuda hota
Duboya mujhko hone ne, na hota main to kya hota?

Ishq par zor nahin, hai ye vo aatish Ghaalib
jo lagaaye na lage aur bhujaye na bane

- This verse also figures in Chaiya Chaiya in Dil Se

Unke dekhe se jo aati hai muh par raunak
Wo samajhti hai ki bimaar ka haal achchaa hai

From some of his other couplets, it seems that he must've been quite a rogue, as he himself says

Hoga koi aisa bhi ki Ghalib ko na jaane
Shair to vo achcha hai pe badnaam bahut hai

Tagore

2006-04-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

I was going thro' some of Rabindranath Tagore's poems on the internet and found the following. More poems can be found at http://www.allspirit.co.uk/tagore.html

My Polar Star

I have made You the polar star of my
existence; never again can I lose my way in the
voyage of life.

Wherever I go, You are always there to
shower your benefience all around me. Your face
is ever present before my mind's eyes.

If I lose sight of You even for a moment, I
almost lose my mind.

Whenever my heart is about to go astray, just
a glance of You makes it feel ashamed of itself.

The Kiss

Lips' language to lips' ears.
Two drinking each other's heart, it seems.
Two roving loves who have left home,
pilgrims to the confluence of lips.
Two waves rise by the law of love
to break and die on two sets of lips.
Two wild desires craving each other
meet at last at the body's limits.
Love's writing a song in dainty letters,
layers of kiss-calligraphy on lips.
Plucking flowers from two sets of lips
perhaps to thread them into a chain later.
This sweet union of lips
is the red marriage-bed of a pair of smiles.

Somehow always thought of Tagore as an aged and saintly person whose poems had only to do with preaching wisdom. I could not have been more wrong.

Manachanaa

2006-04-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

That's how a <5'2" <50 kg Taiwanese guy who has drunk two bottles of beer pronounces Mainland China!!!

Taming The Beast

2006-02-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

Control all print and rule all waves
Feed The Beast all that it craves

Contort, distort and obfuscate
Preach of hate and fear and fate

The Beast sees not what is not shown
All unseen do stay unknown

"The Beast" is an essay by Jacob Wassermann about the rise of anti-semitism in post I World War Germany. Beast referred to the masses and their propensity towards blind violence and loss of individual values in a group when goaded with ideas such as 'patriotism', 'racism' etc.

The poem above is meant to be an allegory of how the people of USA are goaded towards mindless and irrational patriotism and paranoia, often times, not realising that steps proposed to end menaces such as terrorism are only feeding them and in turn increasing the power of those in control (The 'Vicious Circle' of Ogden Nash as someone once told me :) ). Closed to all sources of information other than those in the carefully controlled and calibrated "print" and "waves", they do not get to see the 'other side' of important issues and very often do not even get to see important issues.

Expectations

2006-02-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

The weight of expectations
Lies heavily on my shoulders
Tires me out
And leaves me breathless

Egyptians in Uniform Contd.

2006-02-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

The fox's i de a was this
I'll rub the lamp 'n make my wish

He rubbed the lamp to make his wish
And out came genie with a swish
And he ate them all up

Oooh this bloody story
Is so very gory
'nough to make the brothers Grimm
Proud and happy to the brimm!

Moral of the story: There is no free lunch...
:D

Alexander and Menander

2005-08-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

'Xander, Menander
Were Greeks and 'ander
What else does bind them
I know not, shem shem!!!

The Brave and Fortune

2005-02-08T03:10:00.000-08:00

Fortune favours not the brave
But he who is as is a knave

To Be Or Not To Be

2005-02-08T03:08:00.000-08:00

2 B or not 2B ???
The bus left without me!!!
Sniff sniff boo hoo boo hoo
I can't go to the zoo...

Egyptians in Uniforms

2005-01-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

Egyptians wore no uniform
Because their script 'aint cuneiform

Egytians wrote in heiroglymphs
Because they had no pretty nymphs

Poor chaps starved of beautiful femmes
Sat and gnawed at uniform hems

Until one awfully smart fox
Had a thought from out of the box

Ta dah - The Iambic Quadrameter :) I hope....

My First Blog

2005-01-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

This people, is my first blog. I was introduced to blogging by one of my friends, a cherubic angel. I think this is going to be a very good idea....