Rahul Gupta

india election results 2009

2009-05-17T23:11:00.004+05:30

Credit - Times Of India

A random arbitrary piece of blah

2008-10-28T15:43:00.003+05:30

While in science and technology, we reuse the discoveries previously done, in society there seems to be a totally opposite phenomenon - Rediscovery and Rework

Somehow importance of social science has been totally ignored. Worse than that, its application. In the world I am aware of, unique social problems rarely occur in the world. What occurs is repetition of the same problem in different societies having the same root cause.

The reason I feel behind a society not able to curb such problem duplicates, despite the knowledge available in the world, is awareness at all levels in society. Of all the levels, I feel that awareness at individual level is the most important thing.

Thanks to blindness given to us by technology, the word awareness in many of our minds immediately translates to ulti media and fragile SMS. They are seen as the swissy chaaku for every problem.

People forget that societies used to exist before the invent of the first gadget, not only exist but also thrive which means they were surely having their own ways to cope with social problems. Just because a rocket is invented doesn't throw a knife out of use.

We seem to have forgotten tools such as short stories which have the capability to sustain longer in crowd memory than an S M S. They create a stronger meme and I think are a great way to stop social problems reoccur.

Because if an individual knows a social fact encoded in a story and believes in it whole-heartedly, he would at least resist himself from performing an act with bad implications for him and his society. Not only that, he would also share the same story with his close ones and the loop would recurse till the base step.

The India I have visited

2008-07-29T23:50:00.002+05:30

visited 8 states (22.8%)
Create your own visited map of India or determine the next president

Cashing on Environmental Consciousness

2008-04-29T14:08:00.000+05:30

Though I personally use Google (search, mail, chat, blog, docs, homepage, maps), I can't accept that they are a company whose net effect on environment is positive; rather it is largely negative

Blog entries like "Helping others go green" in my perception are nothing but a way to stress upon their intention to be environment friendly and run away from any opposition on various other fronts.

To run their enterprise, they need a lot of energy. Apart from a portion of it coming from some of its green initiatives, most of it comes from greenhouse gases producing processes. And that applies to Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask and all others.

I understand that people do need them and therefore they have become so big so one can't question that. But what I would like to point out is many other things that they currently do, esp. Google whose slogan is "do no evil", but can avoid and hence create an example for the world.

1. How many garbage is generated in one day at each of their offices?
2. How many polythene packaged fast food is gulped by its employees? Is a water filter installed in their office or everybody uses mineral water to drink packaged in plastic bottles?
3. How many people leave their machines ON while they leave for home?
4. How many other environmentally non-friendly products they use in their office?
5. Have their buildings been constructed to conserve energy? How much electricity is used per day on air-conditioning? How many electronic gadgets like screensaver running on a big screen to get the awe of visitors can be done away with?

My list can never end. I know that implementation of any of the above ideas needs effort but only if you are able to do one or more of them that you must claim a blog entry titled "helping people go green". All other gadgets are just another way to cash on people's conscience for environment and gain their support.

GATE CS 2008 Answer Keys

2008-02-13T23:39:00.014+05:30

GATE CS 2008 Answer Keys

A little correction!
Answer to

17 D
32 B
36 D
40 B
44 B
50 C

Disclaimer - I don't guarantee the above keys to be cent percent CORRECT.
The keys are just a result of compiling various keys from various gate coaching institutions and discussion on various forums (orkut and gateforum).

Socially Relevant Ads

2007-10-09T23:44:00.000+05:30

Just recently, I got awakened to a new kind of awakening in Indian Ad Industry - Socially Relevant Ads.

I am sure the ads I have mentioned below in this category would already have been noticed by you. At least, that has been the case with many of my friends. They found them very amusing, short and sweet. I first came to know about the concept of socially relevant ads through a news article about Tata Tea in Times of India which itself has fueled similar campaigns in the past ("Day in the Life of India", "Times City, Mumbai", "India Poised"). The latest one in the TOIs campaign series is "Lead India".

Other ads of similar nature are

Greenply - chalta rahe (both greenply and the case in Indian court)
Vip Innerwear - kitna adjust karte hai
Dish TV - Don't be सन्तुष्ट(satisfied) ! Thoda wish karo, Dish karo (SRK)
Kerala Tourism - The Hindu
Idea Mobile - an idea like replacing everything with numbers to fight caste differences can truly change the world :)
Some more in TOIs Lead India fleet

In my opinion, its a great innovation which makes both social and business sense. If this phenomenon catches a widespread use, advertisements would no longer be considered a waste of time, money and energy of consumers. since they are the ones whose pockets incur the costly advertisement campaigns.

* Most of the above links are video ads. Do visit them. You would surely like them. In all it would not take more than 20 minutes to watch all of them.
** Credit to some of the above ad videos goes to magindia.com that maintains an online ad gallery.

Status of Gmail Status

2007-05-31T16:47:00.000+05:30

I would like to share some Quotes that appeared as gmail status of people in my circle over the last 8 months.
Some of them might be "Driven by copy, Powered by paste" but all are not.

Unix is user friendly - it's just picky about it's friends.
- gmail status of rahul upakare

People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
- gmail status of ankit garg

Smooth roads never make good drivers.
Smooth sea never make good sailors.
Clear skies never make good pilots.
Problem free life never makes a strong person.
Be strong enough to accept the challenges of life.
Don't ask life , 'Why me?' . Instead say, 'Try me!' ... :)
- gmail status of chintu sir

We meet to make memories ...we part to cherish them..
- gmail status of rashi82 on gmail

Life means missing expected things and facing unexpected things. When you are right, no one remembers, but when you are wrong, no one forgets...This is life
- gmail status of Neeta, cdac

There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why.
- gmail status of amol

It's impossible to have faith until you have doubted.
- gmail status of kanika

People laugh because I am different. And I laugh because they are all the same.. That's called ATTITUDE.
- gmail status of AMOL

Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you but to help you realise your hidden potential. Let difficulties know that you are difficult!
- gmail Status of Abhishek (cnie, cdacmumbai)

My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that i am right.
- gmail Status of Eva

A single rose given during one's lifetime is better than a bouquet of orchids placed over the grave.
- gmail status of Neeta Mishra

It's better to burn out than to fade away.
- gmail status of Paras Kapoor

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. - Adapation (2002)
- gmail status of Shriram Ramani

Reasoning gives life to knowledge. - Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
- My gmail status :

use blackle to avoid blackout

2007-05-31T12:19:00.000+05:30

http://bond303.blogspot.com/2007/05/google-in-black.html

Territories in the new era

2007-05-30T22:29:00.001+05:30

In the revised world order, market share is the territory that matters most.

RICH and RIGHT - what it meant and what it means

2007-05-20T11:49:00.000+05:30

For the indomitable vocabriented exam ahead, I am working towards expanding my vocabulary through reading etymological stuff periodically.

While looking for the origins of the word indomitable I stumbled upon this article and came across the origins of the word rich.

Some excerpts from the same.

"[the] words "rich" and "right" derive from the same Indo-European root"

"[the] word rich comes from a Teutonic root found in Gothic reiks. Originally "rich" meant someone who was powerful and mighty, noble and great. Because material wealth accumulated to those individuals the word now means merely that which is of great material possession or abundant physical wealth. The Roman, Keltic and Indian people retained the word for a noble ruler in that ancient Indo-European society."

"The Rex was the exemplar of upright, proper and "straight" conduct. He was the moral leader of the community, the one entrusted with responsibility to ensure that all other members of the community also conducted themselves in a "straight" manner. He laid out the "rules" and "regulations" as well as the sacred areas. He was the one to keep everything "right." He made sure that all was done with respect to a higher moral allegiance. Thus he became a priest and the leader of the people. As time passed he began to take on more political responsibilities with less recognition of the moral and religious ones. Thus the title eventually came to mean the ruler or sovereign, the king."

Now I understand the myth of the right hand. Some mortals interpreted right as a direction/position while right should be interpreted as something which is "righteous".

Note that "right hand of god" means ruling hand of god.
Oh my mortal pals, please interpret the language of your religious books in the right[eous] sense.

the roots : reg, rex, raj, regere, ri, righ, rego, rectus, koenig, reiks, rix, rect
the words : regal, region, regular, regulate, right, righteous, king, rich, rectify

Buts or Guts

2007-05-13T14:23:00.000+05:30

Buts and Guts, yes Life is all about that and the movie "School of Scoundrels" too.

"I could have done it but you see .... "
OR
"I just want to do it. Who is s/he/they to stop me?"

Sometimes situations give you guts that your own desires don't. You might complain of your inability to do something because of pain in your legs but what if a fire breaks out in your own home. You will run for life as far as you can.

Might seem too out of the way example. I felt the same 7 years back while listening to the same example from a counsellor of a coaching institute. He lectured that the attitude of being unreasonable makes all the difference.
Sometimes
Reasoning kills us and our aspirations.
Compromise leads to sub-standard things.

Note:-
One should be watchful towards marketing frogs who use it all the time to convert people's psychology and make them try out their products and services.

Path and the goal

2006-12-06T16:06:00.000+05:30

Who seeks for heaven alone
To save his soul
May keep the path
But will not reach the goal
While they who walk in love
May wander far
Yet God will bring them
Where the blessed are.

Henry Van Dyke
The Other Wise Man

Found at a blog titled "A Lust For Life"

Land of Opportunity

2006-12-06T12:04:00.000+05:30

"India is the land of oppurtunity,
an oppurtunity to eliminate inequality,
an oppurtunity to provide equal access to facilities to every citizen."

- Arpit's Blog

Carl Jung says...

2006-09-27T16:17:00.000+05:30

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

A shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.

The brain is viewed as an appendage of the genital glands. (Comment upon Freudian psychology).

"The foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of true suffering"

Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.

Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.

- Carl Jung
Psycho-Analyst

Age of Imagination

2006-09-18T11:21:00.000+05:30

Had to meet a person who is ages ahead of me in terms of experience and age too.
Had a lot of apprehensions about how at all I will face him or manage myself before him.

Then contacted one of my friends who knows the person very well... well at least he has been in touch with him on a regular basis. My friend told me that the person is too alone (a side-effect of old age these days) and he feels great whenever anyone goes to meet him. That single fact evaporated all my hesitation. But then I cogitated for few minutes on the thingy that ppl call "OLD AGE". Out of the cogitation on "how to remain young" came the quote

"Death can limit Life but not its Imagination"

Looking ahead for the meeting. :)

Pirates of Content

2006-09-14T10:07:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I watched the movie "Lage Raho Munnabhai". Saw Munna doing Gandhigiri.
After the movie ended, I became conscious that I had bought the ticket in black. This moved me strongly to take an oath not to buy tickets in black in future. But then I started extending the oath. What about the pirated music I download from net? And those pirated movies that I see with my family?

For now I want to restrain myself watching movies with tickets in black for the next 3 months. But regarding piracy I hold very different views from the cyber policing people. I think our business model hasn't evolved with technology. We still sell things the way we used to thousand years back (except few exception like web services supporting themselves with pay per click, pay per call models). We still sell content like any other goods. That we need to change.

Update: For more on "Change and not blame", read James' ideas here and here as comments on the news of launch of a new online video service, Guba, that will automatically detect and flag copyrighted video.

Heat generates more heat

2006-09-12T16:30:00.000+05:30

Don't know how to assuage the pain arising through the burns I got in a useless debate.
I don't want to accept that I don't some XYZ concept.
It's only that my way of explaining things was different.
I thought about sending the other person a mail with detailed links on the concept but then I thought "I know the concept, I know that he too knows but he is not convinced that I also know. Its only the gap of misunderstanding that made us feel that the OTHER doesn't know. So why generate more heat."

But I am burning and the burns led me to spoil my blog with the above charcoal.

tamanna aur Tamanna

2006-09-06T15:44:00.000+05:30

After a long time, my brain's decaying poetic part has something to say
People suffering with literature allergy should better close their senses

nazar ki baat ko dil mein utar lete hain

juhki aankhon ka yeh dhoka hum ek pal mein jaan lete hai

tumhe laga ki pa gaye hum us afsaane ko

na karo aisa mazaak aur dard do deewane ko

tamanna aur tamanna mein farq hota hai

ek laati hai dil mein kashish, doosri ko dekh kar chehra surkh hota hai

bas aaj itna hi kahunga tumhe mere dost sun lo

umr jaa rahi hai chhod kar jawaani ko, ishq kar lo

shayari hai nahi bani ishq paane walo k liye
yeh to cheez hai bachi kuchi lut jaane walon k liye
ishq ki kurchan jab itna nasha karti hai
kya hoga anzaam iska ishq karne walon k liye

It's all in the approach

2006-08-30T11:37:00.000+05:30

"Power crisis"
POWER that drives everything from devices to governments to news channels.

---HEADS---
Committees and research groups predict future power usage and govt.'s and companies get themselves ready to meet the demands. And as always, demand wins over supply and the game starts all over again.
Problem: We target the wrong thing or rather the partial problem. Our aim is to achieve net demand-supply balance and in that government is not the only one to blame for.

---TAILS---
Have we ever taken demand more seriously than supply?

Approach 1
Why not ban those companies that produce less-efficient power devices?
Approach 2
Why not improve our power consumption habits? Why not we take the initiative to buy power-efficient devices and let the power-hungry ones get eliminated naturally from the market? Why not we take the initiative to inculcate discipline in power consumption?

Remember companies can bribe governments but not the entire population.
They don't sell products, they buy habits.

Fact:
"A huge chunk of the electricity used in the US is actually wasted by AC to DC power adaptors for electronics and also for standby mode in other types of electronics (TVs, VCRs, etc.)"

So next time, for everybody's sake, please don't leave your PCs, TVs ... in standby mode.
You can save a lot not only for yourself but your future generations.
You just need to press a switch to bring light to others' dark homes.

One more point to make in support of HARMONY which you might think is nowhere related to POWER consumption.
Two people are reading in separate rooms because they can't sit in the same room and read. Power goes off and since their inverter(a kind of power bacup) can only drive 1 tubelight, they have no other option but to sit in one room and read. [With examinations on their head, they go for it]. Imagine if they would have been sitting in the same room and reading like this before the power went off. If in the same manner everybody would have been using power, the power supply would have been there twice the time it is usually there.
My own room, my own TV, my own mobile, my own family --- such individualistic notions are leading to exponential growth in instability of every kind. No doubt these are the things that are also boosting consumer economies of today's world.

Nothing more to say but my old punchline - Faster development, Faster Extinction

Some one-liners

2006-08-22T09:54:00.000+05:30

Question mark is a beginning, Full-Stop is a sojourn

How we Indians celebrated 15 August?
Independence from Terrorism by dependence on Security

A new breed of ornaments have mushroomed these days - Digital Ornaments (Mobile, Ipod, USB drives)

Message to the developing and the developed...
Faster development, Faster Extinction

Companies can bribe governments but not the entire population.
They don't sell products, they buy habits.

Money - Language of Pragmatism/Practicality these days

Met a person on my train journey. Had debates on practicality and difference between the Indifferent attitude of a Mumbaikar and a New Orleander.

He told me
There's a difference between being selfish and being cruel.

I told him
Everybody has his/her own boundaries of practicality.

Smile vs. Laugh

2006-08-03T13:54:00.000+05:30

Just few days back while returning to my home, I was thinking about what is it that makes somebody laugh (instead smile) on something and vice versa.

Is smile symbolic of less happiness than laugh?
Does laugh originates only from humor?
Is smile more emotionally related to mind than laugh?

Can anybody throw light on my above curiosities?

Liquid Stages of Life

2006-07-31T13:25:00.000+05:30

Credit: JustElite

What made Rama Lord Rama?

2006-07-11T15:10:00.000+05:30

Last weekend after my pooja, while I was pondering upon Rama, my mind triggered this question

What made Rama Lord Rama?

The immediate answer I got was his sacrifice of power to keep his father's words and came the quote

Sacrifice is the highest form of bravery.

But then didn't other ascetics in ancient India choose the life Rama went for?
Moreover, Krishna didn't go for any banwaas. What is the equivalent sacrifice he made?
And all those qualities that are ascribed to [super] heroes flashed in my mind - Conviction - Determination - Commitment - Strength - Far-Sightedness - Knowledge - _ _ _ _
And also came those controversial stories that non-followers talk about like Rama's unfair treatment to Sita etc.

And then came the question

What makes super human or a super hero a GOD?

I pose this question to all my readers.

For the time being, I have my mother's teachings to keep me calm.

Imbibing their qualities is the true worship of those great souls
(deified or non-deified).

Note:- This article titled Is Superman = Jesus? forced me to break the rule of not blogging more than once a week.

Is India meant for non-right-brain activities only?

2006-07-06T12:26:00.000+05:30

Shocking but ...

Pink says that most technologically based industries are telling engineering schools the same thing. "They are saying, 'Don't give us technicians, people who only do routine work; we can send that to India. We need people who can think across disciplines.'"

Came across this while reading an article on Beyond Technology that outlines a lot of good points supporting usage of one's right brain.

Above paragraph seems to be a result of the image our mushrooming IT industries might have made or the myopic knowledge the writer/speaker has about India or may be the writer is trying to address the concern of his countrymen about outsourcing drains.

Articles on Contemporary India
Men and Ideas: Curse of Seniority by Gurcharan Das
Quota crisis opportunity to take off, says Moily: from hiking teachers’ pay to tripling college enrolment
Why no Indian Buffett or Gates?

Temple vs. Tourist Spot

2006-06-26T10:14:00.000+05:30

Last week I visited two very famous temples in Maharashtra - Sri Siddhivinayak Temple Mumbai and Panduranga Vithhal Temple, Pandharpur. #

There are many things that are burning inside me after visiting them. For now, I am just summarizing a typical temple scene.

Typical Temple Scene

Long serpentine Queues competing with the longest in the world surrounded by iron fences and walls accompanied with hawkers trying to sell garlands, beverages and eatables.
Bare-footed devotees trying every other alternate to get a quicker and longer sight of the deity's idol like

getting in Q hours before the temple opens
pushing, VIP pass
breaking queue
jumping the iron fences that I got to see in Pandharpur

Thanks to terrorism, security people live closer to GOD.
CCTVs used both for security and calming the queue by putting their deity LIVE, soon companies will have to approach the deities for a brand ambassador.
Priests asking you to part away with at least a 50 rupee note and offer it to the deity. The heftier the amount, the more seconds you remain in front of the idol. They also sometimes ask separately for dakshina. This is what happened with one of my groupmates recently.
The common belief among the followers as Rajiv Malik quotes:

"Many ardent Hindus live by the conviction that the mere sight of this temple's central icon of Lord ... assures spiritual transformation." [That is only one of the thousand things people want assurance for]

A shocking fact that I came across through this piece of news article on Kali Temple

"Long serpentine queues of bare-footed devotees waiting for hours to get a “darshan” of the Devi may be common elsewhere also, but the Kali Devi Mandir here stands out for the large amount of liquor and sheep which are offered to the goddess on the occasion of Ashtami." [Kali Temple seems to make asuras out of them]

Is this what true Hinduism all about? For that sake I question every other religion in this 21st century, a continuation of the darkness, the human beings have lived in since their inception.

I appeal to all Bapus, Moraris, sants, sri sris and all such religious corporates - Can't you bring light in such people's dark minds in lieu of the Laxmi endowed on you?

# Other famous religious places that I have paid homage to are:
Vaishno Devi, Jammu * Neelkanth * Jwala Ji * Haaji Ali Dargaah, Mumbai * Akshardham Temple, Gandhinagar * Doodheswar Nath Temple, Ghaziabad

Increase English Vocabulary

2006-06-10T17:22:00.000+05:30

Those who are looking for improving their English esp. word power for exams like GRE, SAT should visit NYTimes and read articles on language written by William Spahire.

In every article, he picks up a word, part of some news, and discusses etymological evolution, usage in various contexts. You will also learn at least 7-10 good , if not new, words. By good I mean words rarely used by an average English literate.

Update

I gave my GRE and scored 600/800 in Verbal.
I had mugged up 3500 words [Barron's wordlist], mostly alien to me in one or the other way in around 3 months time, on an average 2 hrs a day.
Though I could retain 2800 just before GRE.

I would like to share the strategies I tried to attack my weak vocabulary
Newspaper reading
These days newspapers like TOI consciously present them(esp. their editorial section) with a focus on students preparing for competitive exams involving strong English vocabulary.
Though its a well known fact that editorials usually involve unusual vocabulary, TOI takes special care by ensuring that its articles covers words from Barron.
All About Words: An Adult Approach to Vocabulary
I read first 4 chapters of this book and it was real enlightening.
It helped me build an appetite for words
Another thing that acted as a friend, philosopher and guide were the 2 dictionaries that I bought
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Oxford Illustrated Dictionary

They helped me understand subtle differences in words and fine shades of their meanings.
I literally sat for over 600 words and read from the dictionary. But give the time constraint, I could not continue this exercise for all words.

More later .... need to run for dinner

Digital Divide vs. People Divide

2006-06-06T12:26:00.000+05:30

If people can get any song they like, why should they listen to their friend's music, or (horrors) listen to the music selected by a group of barflies? By allowing people to have whatever they want, are we destroying that ability to get along?
- Sarah Gilbert blogs About those killers: does digital music kill community?

I think Sarah's blog about Fry's theory stating that with mass customization and digitization comes loss in community and the thrill of the hunt for that one good song in an otherwise terrible
jukebox is something people should be conscious about when they use gadgets like iPods, MP3 players etc.

These days, we are constantly searching new technologies and business models for narrowing the digital divide between urban and rural people to hunt down "lack of access" to information and communication technologies. But in this run, we should not get hit by the problem of people getting divided across iLines.

Technologies that allow people to hide in their own [mental] cocoons are a threat to the community spirit. Remember, Man is just not a being, Man is a social being.

Don't know, hum kis talaash mein hain?

2006-05-10T09:39:00.000+05:30

There is one program on DD called talaash(search) wherein they everytime introduce you to a new kind of employment opportunity.

Yesterday, they told about the business of making leather toys (mostly animal toys like tiger, elephant etc.). They told that there is a big market especially outside India. Madhya Pradesh is the leading business centre for this. They also mentioned that its a low capital business, provides good employment opportunities to lot of poor people and the export revenue is increasing at a good pace. Therefore, govt. has started providing them incentives. In addition to this, there is something called Gandhi Shilp Mela which runs throught the year in various parts of the country. This provides a stage to showcase there work.

Now my views.

Animals killed to make leather. -> Leather used to make animal toys.
Under the umbrella of Gandhiji (who was against killing of animals) mela, these objects are showcased.
Gandhiji's philosophy was to make leather from the animals who die natural death. But in this fashion oriented world, people need separate formal and informal shoes, leather accessories like jackets, purses, and what not. So to meet this demand, we can't wait animals to die !!!
Such kind of world should be drained of resources. Only then we would learn the value of things nature provides us.

Note:DD is DoorDarshan, our national channel if people have forgotten.

mere khaali haath

2006-03-16T16:25:00.000+05:30

On invitation from my kathak teacher, I and venkat went to palaspe gaon, beyond panvel, navi mumbai to hear Dhrupad from Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar but landed up having just a good dinner and returning dissatisfied as the performance (which was to be continued till late in the next morning) got finished hours before it was scheduled to due to some reasons unknown to me. I felt guilty of eating the food without attending the performance but couldn't help as I wasn't told before I finished my dinner (@ 1.00 am, 15th March)

Anyways, the happiness of getting such an invitation still remains with me as this was the 1st invitation I got, inspite of lot of ICM lovers existing around me who visit such performances on a regular basis. May be they don't consider me as an ardent ICM listener.

Anyways I am optimistic about the future as my teacher has promised me that I will get such invitations regularly from now and with more promising schedules.

More about Dagar bros., their tradition and family roots.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000414/art-trib.htm#1

Note: Gundecha Bros. have learned in the same dhrupad gurukul in palaspe gaon.
proud to visit it. :)

Battle with Self

2006-01-30T16:14:00.000+05:30

An African saying - "Man’s greatest battles are the ones he fights within himself."

That's what I am doing these days. Fighting a battle with my own black self that stops me from disciplining myself. Though this blog entry is not a treatment to this disease but just a formal realization of what all I am into and how can I come out.

In this huge city, I don't find a single peaceful place where I can purify and pacify my soul. I am getting cooked for the desperation to eat me in the end but not able to save myself.

First time I realize that Discipline is not something one needs to forcefully comply with but to develop a taste for like other things.
Note: Loss of apetite for food is considered a disease because it serves our body's energy needs.

One more thing that I heard from some radio show or magazine is that Organization in any system is must for it to work smoothly. Imagine what would happen if everyday our body parts change places as per their own will!! Similarly, We start failing when we change routines routinely.

Actually over time, I feel I have developed taste for Disorganization. I wanted not to stuck in a machine-like daily routine like other morons but that has made me go on the extreme side of the other end. I don't know whether this disease has struck me or not. Because it's not like I don't like to keep my room organized though it does messes up frequently. The disorganization in my life is more related to my daily activities due to abrupt mood swings.

OK. Let me list some jobs that I want to do routinely.
Keeping mobile for charging
Sleep @ 10.00 pm
Rise @ 6.oo am
Surya Namaskaar - 2 rounds
Siddhasana - 15 mins
Pooja in Padamasana - 10 mins
Get ready before 7.30 am
Limit mail checking to just 4 times a day (9.30 am, 2.00 pm, 5.10 pm, 7.45 pm[if possible])
Blog check days - One weekday, Saturday, Sunday (time spent/ day not more than 30 mins)
Listening music - 40 mins
No headphones in ears while sleeping
Daily Reading - 1 hour (related to general CS topics)
30 mins(related to topic of interest)
Dinner @ 8.30 pm max
Registering my expenses in the diary

Humans are the new Beast

2006-01-28T15:21:00.000+05:30

Are you just a non-Vegetarian or a non-human? Find out yourself-

If YOU LIVE IN COLD COUNTRIES and wear FUR
If YOU have ever purchased WOOLEN MATERIAL
If YOU have ever used a MONKEY or a living organism FOR EXPERIMENTS
If YOU have eaten EGGS and MEAT FROM BIRDS
If YOU have ever derived pleasure from VISITING A ZOO or a CIRCUS

If Yes then You don't deserve even a pig's life.

Would you want to watch as someone poked a spear into your mother or father?
Can you even imagine the agony of being roasted alive on a grill?
Do you even think you can tolerate a blade slicing through your skin just because someone wants fancy clothes made of human skin?

LET US ALL MAKE IT a VOW to stop non-vegetarianism, stop cruelty to animals, never visit a zoo or circus, never buy woolen, fur, silk or unnatural clothes, never buy an animal product... because everytime we do these things, remember one of our brothers from the animal world is dying a merciless and undeserving death...

Credit: This is an excerpt taken from an orkut community forum posted by somebody. I just lost the link and therefore couldn't link to him.

Dreams and She (sapne aur woh)

2006-01-28T14:44:00.000+05:30

People usually ask - "koi nayee khabar"

Mera zawaab...
kya karun zindagi khabar hi nahi banati
raat aati hai roz uski yaad, bas woh nahi aati

When I slept to forget her...
ayenge woh is tarah humein kya pata tha
soye the hum to unko bhool jaane k liye

Do away with the word mankind

2006-01-05T09:24:00.001+05:30

Most of us like eating fish, but nobody wants to cuddle them. The consequence is that, while otters, seals, elephants, rhinos and even foxes have powerful political constituencies to fight for them, mankind is doing disastrous things at sea without anybody seeming to care much.

I think we no longer deserve to be remarked as MANKIND. First do away with the word ~~MANKIND~~.

Ban on trawling is not a solution to preserve aquatic life. We need to decrease the demand to such a level that trawling becomes economically inviable. For that the small step one can take is stop eating fish. You can start by reducing the amount you eat. I understand the demand of people living near the sea-shore. For them, it is the only food available in abundance. But what about people living in other areas like plains etc.?

Nature provides for everybody's need and not for everybody's greed.

We can blame trawlers for being greedy but what about the useless need we have developed. Do we all require sea-food to remain healthy?

Do remember: if Nature gets infuriated, nothing stands before it!!

Guardian Unlimited Special reports Special report: global fishing crisis
We need to start caring about fish, or there won't be any left
A guide for the concerned fish eater
For the concerned fish-eater, what's safe, what's healthy and what's sustainable
'There is a greed revolution among the privileged classes'
Ideas that have harmed mankind by Bertrand Russell
Ideas that have helped mankind by Bertrand Russell
Gentle Genocide - A Cartoon Film by Mark Fiore
Are you a Non-Vegetarian or a Non-Human? - Rahul Gupta

Living Rock mountain

2006-01-03T20:44:00.000+05:30

Credit: Neatorama

Can You Find the Mother and Child?

Indian Classical Music on the Web

2005-12-29T17:07:00.000+05:30

Vocalists

An evening with Mukul Shivputra

Instruments

Bhajans

Lyrics

Carnatic Music

http://www.karnatik.com/
http://www.carnaticcorner.com/
Carnatic Music Krithi Audio Archive
Carnatic Music

Dance

Kathak links are here

BHAva (expression) + RAga (music) + T a la (rhythm) BHARAT

BHAva (expression) + RAga (music) + TAla (rhythm) + NATYAM (dance)BHARATANATYAM

A very popular dance form from South India, Bharatanatyam is said to be the oldest of all classical dance forms in India. Described as the dance of mind and soul, it is extremely traditional and known for its grace, purity, tenderness, statuesque and sculpturesque poses. It uplifts the dancer and the beholder to a higher level of spiritual consciousness. The dancer is considered as a worshipper of the Divine and is an embodiment of beauty, charm and gracefulness.

Kathak compilation

2005-12-19T10:29:00.000+05:30

Aditi Mangaldas - Kathak dancer.

Anila Sunder - Kathak dancer based in Mumbai, India..

Article: Birju Maharaj retires - Probably the greatest Kathak exponent of our time, Birju Maharaj retired from Kathak Kendra in New Delhi, India in Summer 1998..

Bharat Bhavan: Kathak - Brief introduction with a list of the musical instruments used..

Bireshwar Gautam's Homepage - A Kathak artist as well as Thumri exponent!.

Gangani Kathak Dance Co. and Najma Ayashah - Kathak teacher based in NYC.

Indian Classical Dance Presents Parul Shah - Kathakdance.com presents Parul Shah, a growing Kathak performer, as-well-as an educator of Kathak, providing performances for events and classes to aspiring dancers and learners..

Jaipur tradition of Kathak - Najma Ayashah, disciple of Kundan Lal Gangani of the Jaipur tradition of Kathak offers a comprehensive look of the music other forms of dances of India..

Kathak - Brief history of Kathak..

Kathak dance - Kathak-An Indian Classical Dance, Ruby Mishra one of the prominent Dancer of kathak..

Kathak Images - Some nice pictures incl. 3 of Birju Maharaj and other artists..

Lucknow Kathak - Excellent description and history of Kathak..

PAMPA, California USA - Performing Arts, Indian Classical music and dance.

Pandit Chitresh Das - Home of Chhandam, the Chitresh Das dance company and school of Kathak dance..

Parul Shah - Parul Shah, a growing Kathak performer, as-well-as an educator of Kathak, providing performances for events and classes to aspiring dancers and learners. Based in Columbia University, USA..

Pratap Pawar - About top Kathak exponent, Pratap Pawar..

Rachna Agrawal - Rachna Ramya Agrawal is a Kathak Dance Performer and Educator located in Connecticut. She is available for performances as well as school residencies..

Shila Mehta - One of the famous exponents of KATHAK in India.

Shovana Narayan - Kathak exponent with links to many different expressions of Kathak including Moonlight Impressionism, Anuttar, Mera Safar, Mohan & Rambha, Muktilekha Dishantar, Toota Yeh Vishwas, Kyon Yashodhara, The Dawn After, Raah de Radhe, Yudhisthar and Draupadi, Akbar's Bridge..

www.kathakdance.de - Information on Kathak dancer Ioanna Srinivasan based in Berlin, Germany and school of Kathak dance.

Zamzama: Alpana Sengupta and Mick Taylor - Information on Kathak dancer Alpana Sengupta and Sitar player Mick Taylor. Read about their concerts, projects, biodatas...

Credit: Travel Chic's Kathak Resource Compilation

2005-12-16T14:31:00.000+05:30

This is the first post of mine from w.bloggar tool.
For now, It looks that it will go great.
Let's see. :)

DropDown for monthly Archive

2005-12-14T18:40:00.000+05:30

After visiting weber and breezer blogs, I just wrote a javascript to get a drop-down for monthly archives. Just paste this code into your blogger template to get your own drop down

Get the code from here. It will look like this after implementation.

Credit: Learnt about date manipulation through javascript from this site to modify this script for my template.

Books, Movies and Cages

2005-12-08T22:56:00.000+05:30

Ma'am asked why are you so philosphical? What all books do you read?

Here is my answer -

My life is the best book of mine whose writer is not only me but everybody who has a direct or indirect influence on it and its readers? I read it everyday and add to it more as time progresses. Its public to all those who want to read it. They can add the lines they like to their own book from mine without any copyright issues. :)

Now the question comes where from I take my lines and add to my own book. I steal them from others' lives thriving freely in my surroundings or dead and caged in the books in form of biographies, poetry, plays and movies (screen cage) which are not only about just one life but a confluence of many lives the protagonist(s) comes in touch with.

Digressing a bit from this to bring movies (one of my obsessions) in the context...
-----------------

Movies? Caged lives kept on display, lives which cannot do anything when people peek into their privacy and cry/laugh/abuse them sitting in the hall. Neither the viewers help those characters prisoned in the screen. Many-a-times the one caged behind the screen also mock the viewers. For that matter we can say that in a way the viewers are also caged.

We can also redefine the movies about those lives who have got freed from the cage of this world. They try to make us feel that we are in a cage. Sometimes they share the experiences when they were in a cage. Sometimes they do things which we say are not possible in reality. But reality in a way is a prison where you can't do everything you wish because there are some rules of the cage you are in.

So, who is in the cage is a question pretty much debatable... Maybe both are in cages but its just like the rules of each cage are different. There are things you can do and there are things you can't. For that matter in our so called real world, we have many different cages...cages of society, culture, religion blah blah blah... In all this one thing is for sure common, the person who lives in these cages and the person who creates/destroys these cages is the same... MAN (to be more general - a living being)

Irony is that many-a-times people built cages for themselves.... Why?
Maybe to have a sense of security...
Maybe to work in isolation to achieve something...
Maybe this is a better thing to use their creativity on...

.......... endless reasons .......

a difficult question for me to handle in its entirety... i mean to say i cannot even catch a snapshot of the expanse of its answer.... In short, I don't see myself capable enough of doing justice to this question
---------------

Above text Originally written on April 10, 2005

This short film came in an email forward today. It is to some extent related to this blog.
Came across this thought today relevant to this blog.
These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.
-Gilbert Highet, writer (1906-1978)

aodz Journal v1.0: AI Robots

2005-12-02T17:24:00.000+05:30

aodz Journal v1.0: AI Robots

Technorati tags: Camel Race AI Robot Jockeys Doha Qatar Sheikhs

Hey Krishna

2005-11-30T12:51:00.000+05:30

Today I got this email forward from my friend, Aman Sehgal.

Thought of sharing it with you

Hey Krishna!!! Tu is kalyug mai aao to sahi!
Tune 18 saal ki umar me Mama Kans ko mara,
Bin Laden ko hath lagao to sahi?
Tune pura parvat ek ungli par uthaya
Mere gym me aa kar ek dumbell utho to sahi?
Tune bhari mehfil me draupadi ko saree pehnai,
Mallika ko ek jodi kapde pehnao to sahi?
Tune gokul ki 1600 gopia saath me patai,
Meri Company ki ek ladki patao to sahi?

Tune Arjun ko to Saari Geeta sunayee,
Mere Team Lead se baat karo to sahi?

Tune to Arjun ka Sarathi banke Pandavon ko jitaaya
India Cricket team ka Coach ban ke WorldCup jitaao to sahi?
Hey Krishna!!! Tu is kalyug mai aao to sahi?

Tagging in Google's adopted baby

2005-11-29T10:48:00.000+05:30

After some 1 hour of fight, i finally got some solution to my problem of tagging the blogs in blogger. I don't know why in the world, blogger hasn't provided such an important feature.
I think they should learn from LiveJournal or for that matter a couple of other feature-rich blogging sites.

Mr. Google, get up and do some exercise for your adopted BLOGGER baby.

After looking through the blogs of John, ted ernst and pacetua, I came up with a slightly better (browser independent)** solution which saves far much effort of Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V and a couple of irritating clicks.

Follow these steps to start Tagging in your blog

Get a del.icio.us account.
Go to (Settings->Formatting) in Blogger and set the "Link Field" to YES.
Edit your template by pasting the below javascript code shown in RED somewhere between your <Blogger > </Blogger > tags.

<p class="post-footer">Categories:<script language="javascript">
var agt='<$BlogItemUrl$>';
var tr=agt.split(' ');
var a='';
for(var i=0;i<tr.length;i++) {
if(i > 0) {
document.write(', ');
}
a ='<a href=' + unescape('"') + 'http://del.icio.us/rahulgupta83/' + tr[i] + unescape('"') + ' rel=' + unescape('"') + 'tag' + unescape('"') + '>' + tr[i] + '</a>';
document.write(a);
a='';
}
</script>
</p>

Now whenever you create a new blog, you will find an extra link textbox in which you can write your TAGS separated by spaces.^^
(Use '+' sign as the separator and modify your javascript accordingly if you want the links to be visible to technorati's search spider. See Comments section for complete information.
Credit: Greg)

Publish your post and you are done with your blogging part. But don't forget to post your tagged page to del.icio.us using the same tags.

I didn't write the Javascript, only modified it. Thanks goes to john, ted and pacetua.

** As mentioned by John, GreaseMonkey helps you do a similar thing in firefox but currently even that is not working with Firefox 1.5.
^^ Multi-word tags not possible in del.icio.us. For other sites, you can replace this line in the code var tr=agt.split(' '); with your separator inserted between the single quotes. For eg., if the separator is a plus sign, it would look like var tr=agt.split('+');

Sacrifice or Burden of hypocrisy

2005-11-24T13:23:00.000+05:30

People who debated with me in Barista about my Single Nation Theory should read this. Also my IITian friend who was in support of America's way of selecting their president and the parliament separately.
Excerpt from a book that I found on this blog
"You must tell Mr. Bush that this is not a good thing he does here. He thinks it is a good thing, but it is not at all good. Ask him which of his own children he would allow to die to destroy Saddam Hussein. He will not be willing to see his own child die for this. Then why must we see our children die for this madness? This is what you must write for the Americani to read … is it not so?"

You see We or for that matter an American [see photo] doesn't need Mr. Bush but still he got selected.

Secondly, about the Single nation Theory...See for now its an idea that has come up all in my head. I haven't searched net until now. It might be existing in some form or the other already before me rediscovering. But the thing is, I think the burden of the fruits of Competition and Wars has become an overkill to the world. Why not try Co-operation?

SACRIFICE: Something the men who lied us into this WAR know nothing about and our Indian Government too when they ordered the troops in KARGIL to fall like dominoes.

To my Indian Army,
You know what, following your government's orders blindly is not patriotism. You have sacrificed your great men because of our leader's hypocrytic LOC discipline.
I know the dissenting voice might have made you lose your occupation and marked you as coward but though tougher, its much better than dying in the name of hypocrytic patriotism's definition.
Don't teach your armymen just fight and sacrifice. Also teach them to have their own Conscience. Enemy doesn't always mean the external and the foreign powers.

Update:- For a more complete picture, Do visit the discussion on livejournal

Après un long temps

2005-11-24T11:32:00.000+05:30

Long time since I blogspotted.
Have a good material to share with.

Shri Atanu Dey, An active blogger. His blog titled Who actually paid for my education was what I also talked about earlier but not so much in detail. Also, he has written about the draining issue from a different perpective.
[His view] - The issue is not brain-drain because India is not short of brains. The issue is of resource drain.
[My view] - But in any case the educated wants to drain.
Education was meant to elevate your inner conscience, make you sensitive and aware about your surroundings and [...] All this to see you leave in the end....what a waste :o
Its not only about the resource...Y india should even waste its energy over all this fees criteria, loans, maintaining education standards when such education makes people leave?

Then this blog about Saliva streams by selvakumar, the scientific Indian. You see I like people who endeavour to give a complete picture.

This sweet poem by Jalaluddin Rumi that I had commented on, long time back, but just lost the link.

Then this website to find out who all peeks into your bloggy.

To Blog or not to Blog is the Question, Interesting Title depicting Tension of Opposites which i first read about in the great book ( i felt in love) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

Worthy to be blogged

2005-11-24T09:10:00.000+05:30

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

Dear Countrymen

2005-11-11T10:22:00.000+05:30

What Engineering means for most Indian aspirants?

"It is engineering that is most likely to take them away from Third World realities to the shores of America's good life. So the tussle to get into engineering colleges is often cruel. In top entrance exams, only one out of 100 candidates makes the cut."

Excerpt from an article by Manu Joseph
for Wired magazine

Seems like India has become a concentration camp from which everybody wants to run.

A week back I had a long chat with an IITian during my return journey from Delhi to Mumbai. He was all praise to USA. He didnt seem to find even one single good thing in India. No offence to him or USA. Its not just he who praise/leave for USA!!!

I see whole India no better than Kashmir. Money & Career as a militant in disguise is killing our people's psyche. We are fastly becoming indifferent to the environment around us.

I and my friend Tarun was discussing yesterday night about our career paths.
He questioned "Is career goal the sole goal of our existence?".

Harmony: The greatest weapon in Disasters

2005-10-10T12:25:00.000+05:30

We should not loose what we have. No doubt the 26/7 incident showed the harmony and concern of Mumbaikars (leaving few like the Crane-owners who refused to rent the cranes to lift the dead bodies of cattles) but instead of rejoicing over US inablity to handle Katrina situation, we should be concerned about the transfer of this value system to our new generation which is adopting the Western culture of individualism. - My views

Do read:
Rejoice, it took them longer to get assistance

Credit: Dateline Bombay - A Reporter's Tales by Govind Ethiraj

Conebulation

2005-10-05T11:40:00.000+05:30

Constellation is a pattern of stars on the sky, named for a person, animal, or object. The picture of Cone Nebula below sparked off a new term in my mind - CONEBULATION.

Image Taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
Credit:Hubblesite Newcenter Archive

Convocation Ceremony

2005-10-03T11:50:00.000+05:30

It all started with me landing at 6 o clock in the morning in gandhinagar. And then as the curtain of darkness got raised completely, it felt like another day of a semester when by chance/plan I used to get early to attend those surprise quizzes (prof's weapon against the innocent CIVILIAN students).

The convocation (planned at 9 o clock Western Std. Time) started at 10 o clock (By IST). Other than the few interchanged degrees, the fast forward convo version like other DAIICT's unique innovations (the indianised convo gown with no HAT) went all well. And for all this other than the gown made by our our binni ma'am from NID, I would like to thank the gr8 MEDIA and our non-academic administration. But despite all their efforts to spoil my day, Sam Pitroda's lecture made it.

Sometimes you need somebody to emphasise and articulate something that you already know. Sam Pitroda's short speech once again corroborated it.

And no doubt meeting with kudchadker sir (Dr. Arvind Kudchadker), Samaresh sir (Dr. S Chatterji) and maitra sir (Dr. Anutosh Maitra) elevated my spirits of working towards my goals. The focus of Sam, positivism of our director, the layman explanation of maitra sir on GA and the 'Always Welcome' attitude of Samaresh sir made me feel like I am the most blessed creature on this earth.

Warm handshakes and hugs also played their part in transforming my spirit. This is the first time when I experienced the unique feeling of belonging to something which I am no more a part of. B's sight again made me tense for a while but a good sleep killed it all.

I heard the soul of DAIICT singing - "tu jahan jahan chalega mera saaya saath hoga" :)

Manas Jain - An Artist by hobby

2005-09-20T14:01:00.000+05:30

Manas Jain's original sketches and shayari

Mahabharata and the -ism(s)

2005-09-15T14:24:00.000+05:30

Read this interesting link forwarded to me where
Dhraupadhi is a Naxalite
Dharmaraj a Socialist
When Krishna went to Kauravas, He requested like socialism,
threatened like communism and showed His readiness to kill
them through the vision of Viswaroopam like Naxalism.

And Lot More....

Some more links

2005-09-14T17:09:00.000+05:30

A Study on Studying Methodoligies
International Cartoon Center
Sort of Free Journalism portal
Mumbai Local Trains' Map
Sepet - More than a love story

Image taken from WIRED.COM

Revenge of the Right Brain
Logical and precise, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age - ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion.

By Daniel H. Pink

Intersting Definition of Academic Research

Marriage

2005-09-13T16:35:00.000+05:30

I was so happy that i couldn't resist writing a blog.
This is what happens when studies and fun marries.

I have been reading about Genetic Algorithms (GA) for the last 10 days or so but it didn't fuelled that much excitement until today when I was solving a Sudoku puzzle and got to know that my friend Venkat has made a program to solve it. Immediately, the idea of using GAs to solve SUDOKU striked my brain and hence i am here.
Excuse me! the program isn't written yet but searching for the GA and Sudoku i found a good link which cleared a lot of my misconceptions about GA.

At least, now thinking in GA has got a head-start in my grey cells. :)

Update:

Mike Gold has come with a GA based solution to generate Sudoku Puzzles. Earlier he coded a Mastermind Computer player using GA in C#.
PalmDoku by Alex Groysman

The above two bullets were from this useful link which contatins a lot more on Game Programming

Too much words

2005-09-13T15:40:00.000+05:30

Eskimos have 43 words to describe SNOW
Brazilians have 8 words for COFFEE beans
Americans have a rich SEX related vocabulary
Indians have rich vocabulary for RELATIONSHIPS

(For eg. mamaa, chachaa, kaaka, taoo to describe UNCLE)

PAIN for Germans

Sehnsucht - Longing
Heimweh = "home ache" = homesickness
Fernweh = "far ache" = the yearning for somewhere far away
Nahweh = "near ache" = the feeling of sadness that comes when you return home to find it is not as you remember it

RICE for South Indians

RIVER in Chinese

This all and more support a theory saying that the importance of a concept in a culture is determined by the number of words used to describe it (in its various forms). I first came to know about it from my friend Venkat (an NCSTian).

For more:
1. Read the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis which is composed of two basic principles: linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity.
2. "Centrality of Snow in Inuit(Eskimo) culture is an exaggeration"

Interesting Blogs and Facts

2005-09-13T13:52:00.000+05:30

Marriage in GenX World

Bloggers BE[ a]WARE

The FOUNDATION and the BUILDING
Mohd. Ali Jinnah's Secularism

George ka Pakistan - A Story about an Englishman turned Pakistani

News

2005-09-09T16:28:00.000+05:30

Clever artificial hand developed
'Proof' our brains are evolving

Teacher's Day

2005-09-08T12:19:00.000+05:30

The kids don't know how much you know, but they certainly know how much you care about them. And if you care about them, you would have breathe life and inspiration into the subjects you teach. And if you care, your words and actions will resonate in the lives of those lucky children for many many years to come.

-WileyChin

The alchemists who have helped me follow my dreams:-

Gosai Ma'am, K.G. and Prep., Holy Child School Ghaziabad.
Nobody can handle kids better than she.
Sister Roseline, Vth Std., Holy Child School Ghaziabad.
My Moral Science teacher, the job she was extra-ordinary at.
Mrs. P.K. Sharma, VI Std. , Holy Child School Ghaziabad.
Patience at its peak.
Mrs. Kala Nagarkoti, Mathematics, VIII - X std., D.P.S. Ghaziabad.
Before I took tuitions from her, I used to mug up geometry related reasoning questions. She gave me the confidence to take on the science stream in my 10+2.
Mrs. Renu Kaushik, History & Civics teacher, D.P.S. Ghaziabad.
I remember one question asked by her in the Civics class "Do you know where and how you will get the divorce from your wife if required" and the whole class went lol.
Mr. Virendra Chandela[Chandu Sir :) ], Mathematics Tutor, XI-XII std. Other than mathematics (which he can teach even to a below-average but sincere student), his ideas in philosophy, religion, politics and what not were thought provoking (including the free homeopathic treatment to his ailing students). I also learnt some homeopathy basics too.
Dr. Bhushan, Physics Tutor, XI std., Though he wasn't able to get the physics into my brain that much but he induced the necessary interest in me without which learning the subject would have been an entirely a different ball game. Not to forget his idea about late-comers that I heard 1st time from him that "even if a person is coming 50 minutes late in an hour long class, he might learn something in the next 10 minutes"
Sheoran Sir, Physics Tutor, XII std., My journey to the ancient town of Physics starts with him. The 90% score in PHY in 10+2 Boards was a shock to my sub-standard brain faculties dealing with PHY.
Nandita Aunty, Chemistry Tutor, XII std., Under her, I got a daily dose of mysterious Organic Chemistry before my morning breakfast.
Mr. Vinay Panday[Bunny Sir :) ], Computer Science and C++, XI-XII, D.P.S. Ghaziabad. An ideal Computer Science teacher. He is the best memory of my school days. I can definitely write a book blog on "He, Me and my 10+2 days".
DA-IICT profs - Samaresh Sir, Sanjay Sir, Biswas Sir, Sinha Sir, Jotwani Sir, Maitra Sir, Abhinay Pandya Sir, Mathuria Sir (Details later)
Ashok Singh, My Mentor, Research Internship (part of UG curriculum), ORF, Delhi. One of the true Alchemists of my life.

Some Lighter Moments and Memories

Humanities Tridev (Vishwajit Pandya, Tridip, Shiv Vishvanathan)
movie course ITD's Bini Ma'am :)
Prof. Amin's microscopic pen running on the exam copies making them look like a part of some RED revolution

Details Later

Nationalism or Evilism

2005-09-02T13:50:00.000+05:30

"...If some day the folks in power ..... can REALLY see all people as equal human beings deserving of equal treatment in life, we can drop the pervision of patriotism and bring the world to a new era of true peace without the need for those at the top to live off the economic slavery of the rest of the world."
-Johann von Schnell

wrote in a review on atomic bomb test video

In my words, Nationalism is a patchwork done on our mother earth.
We have f***ed up our mother earth and produced 200+ motherlands.
Sorry for the use of the censored f word in the above line but this is the real truth.

Note: The readers may raise their voice pointing to the Indian section in my blog.
I do agree with them and want their suggestions as to how should I tag these things in some other way. Further, I also want to add that I also like rock music which is a Western thing. I have equal sympathy and interest in American army and all other armies in the world who are just chess pieces of our political leadership. Liking something which is region specific does not signify that you are a nationalist.
Yes I am also against many policies of America but that is true for my Indian government true. You need some nomenclature to point out things but the words should not create a general rhetoric. There are lot of other clarifications and explanations that this blog entry needs but I am not planning a book blog. So as and when the questions will come, I will answer to them.

What is NLP?

2005-08-31T17:45:00.000+05:30

So if you are from a computer science stream, then you may instantly de-abbreviate it to Natural Language Processing. But the context I am writing this blog entry is Neuro Linguistic Programming. But still you might think of it as some theoretical approach in programming.

It is a therapy which claims to help people change by teaching them to program their brains.
For more, Refer

http://www.holistic-online.com/hol_neurolinguistic.htm
http://skepdic.com/neurolin.html

and you can also search our beloved Google

We are FORTUNATE enough in any case

2005-08-26T18:16:00.000+05:30

Misfortune is a hidden fortune for those who believe in them

Proof:-
Steve Jobs speech at Stanford Univ - look at the life this man has lead; in comparison, we are living a luxurious life and doing nothing useful!

Credit of this blog entry goes to my Sasi sir.

A must read for our generation.

Is Society a Disease?

2005-08-21T21:56:00.000+05:30

Everybody seems to be blaming govt., population, corruption and blah blah blah.

People consider society as a disease and try to keep themselves and their children away from it. They don't know the severity of this or may be they don't want to because it hasn't caught them.

Common Man is as indifferent to society as any politician or a high profiler is. Then what right do we have to blame anybody.

We feel helpless only when some outsider is burning in a fire. If our own piece of heart is there then our helplessness starts melting into panic induced movement.

I request you to please not throw the blame if not share it. If you can't cure your society, at least cure yourself and your perspectives.

Nostalgic Ad lovers

2005-08-15T15:12:00.000+05:30

Ankur's compilation
Favorite Ads
An orkut thread on DD commercials

All about RUNNING

2005-08-05T18:00:00.000+05:30

Just because somebody is running ahead of you doesn't mean that you will lose the race.
Don't stop, keep running.

If the race has just been started, you can't make any assumptions about who will lose in the end.

If the race is near to its end, stopping is anyway going to waste all your effort.

In the middle of the race!!! "WHY YOU STARTED AT ALL AT THE FIRST INSTANCE IF YOU HADN'T PLANNED TO COMPLETE THE RACE?"

So again, No use of stopping, RUN better every time someone gets ahead of you.

My Hieroglyphic Name

2005-07-28T14:54:00.000+05:30

My name using Egyptian Hieroglyphs!

Script by

Dream

2005-07-25T19:53:00.000+05:30

Everyday I see a dream in which I dream of becoming a protagonist, protagonist of my dreams. My father sometimes comment on me and advise me not to only dream like mungerilal but do something in reality.

And as always the question comes, how can you remark dreams as not reality. He may be right in his own real world but I am also not wrong in my dream world.
I sometime imagine what would have happened if there would have been no dream. Sleep would have been dry, monotonous and unattractive. Imagine a sleep without a single dream all year round.

The song from the movie DADDY comes to my mind in this context :-

dhoondne se khusiyon ki rahein nahin milti
jaagne se mann ki muraadein nahin khilti
mile jo na tujhe des mein humare
de jayenge nindiya ke andhiyaare
ghar ke ujiyaare soja re
daddy tere jaage tu soja re

The paths to happiness can't be searched
Your ambitions doesn't get fulfilled even by being awake

Oh my son! Whatever you don't find in our world
The darkness of sleep will give you

Oh light of my home
Your daddy is awake, just sleep peacefully

Theme of a screenplay - Queue

2005-07-25T19:48:00.000+05:30

Before reading this, I want the reader to make a note that the below text is not in any manner concerned with my life.
My only relation with the below text is that i have written it.

The protagonist says:
I, the protagonist of this whole drama, was born on 31 Dec 1983.

My father remained in a queue to fill the form of the hospital to get my mother admitted.
My mother had to remain in a queue after her labor pains got started.
My elder came before me. So, in a way GOD kept me also in a queue after my brother.
My younger brother was yet to be born.

Being in the middle of the queue is the biggest dilemma to be in because neither your heart will allow you to leave the queue because you are ahead of those standing behind you nor it will be enough to convince your impatient brain that you will get a chance soon because there is a crowd equal in number ahead of you.

The people behind u push u and the people ahead of you blame you and abuse you for the fault you haven’t done.
peeche wala dhakka deta hai aur aage wala sunata hai
beech wala pis jaata hai

khadi queue ko dekh kar diya kabira roy
do paatan ke beech mein sabut bacha na moy

Queue that has become the truth of every living being in our country

Queue for water in the neighborhood community water pump
Queue at the medical shop, ration ki dukaan
Queue for admission to a school
Queue for every aspiring doctor/engineer

Queue at the railway reservation counter
Queue at the hotels and restaurants
Queue at the canteen of my college where I met Madhavi.
Now an exception here
I was the first to propose Madhavi and so was not in a queue or may be I can at least say that I was the first in queue and made others in the queue so hopeless that they left.

They say relations are made in heaven. But if they are made in heaven then why the couples meet so late...I think GOD has a separate queue for the relationship clearance too...

Even the girl I got my first crush on had 3 boyfriends waiting for her YES.

Queue for the interview to a company
My promotion was in a queue of 5 people of which 2 were more senior than me.

Queue didn’t left me even after my death
Even the graveyard I was buried in had a queue when my dead body reached there
People waited in a queue to make offerings to my corpse.

Don’t know whether I will have to wait at the heaven too in a queue. I will request HIM that better send me to hell than to make me wait in a QUEUE for heaven.

Madhurima's India

2005-04-30T04:08:00.000+05:30

Madhurima's Homepage

The Astonishing Love

2005-04-27T12:16:00.000+05:30

Dil to hai dil dil ka aitbaar kya kije
aa gaya jo kisi pe yaar kya kije

Heart is unique, Heart can't be trusted
If it loves somebody, you can't do anything about it

The deadly disease of love and the intensity of the addiction of this drug can only be treated by love.

Love is a great drug. A lover doesn't need any whisky, wine or marijuana to get inebriated.

Pehla nasha, pehla khumaar
naya pyaar hai naya intezaar

First love, first intoxication
new love, new expectations

Love is like another planet where earthly laws don't work
especially the law of gravity

aaj kal pao zameen par nahi padte mere
bolo tumne dekha hai mujhe chalte hue

My legs don't rest upon earth these days
Have you ever seen me walking?

Tum paas aaye dil mein samaye, tumne ne na jaane kya sapne dikhaye
ab to mera dil jaage na sota hai, kya karun haye kuch kuch hota hai

na jaane kaisa yeh ehsaas hai, bujhti nahi hai kya pyaas hai
kya nasha is pyaar ka mujh pe chaane laga
koi na jaane kyun chain khota hai
kya karun haye kuch kuch hota hai

what to do

2005-04-27T00:28:00.000+05:30

Either life is playing with me or i am playing with life
Is it justified to share the blame with life
Has my life anything to do with my conditions
I think as an indivdual I am more responsible for everything that happens around me

Sometimes, i feel the need 2 create a secret blog and post everything anonymously
but would it not be running away from the truth
the truth that th chap called Rahul Gupta has some serious problems which he avoids to discuss even with himself somtimes.

WE always say...why this happens to me only...why that happened to me only
and then let question remain open

Note: I don't think whatever i wrote after this was worth of anything other than a trash

Blue memory

2005-04-25T21:12:00.000+05:30

Blue memory

III so lovely europe III

2005-04-12T04:38:00.000+05:30

III so lovely europe III

Wanna b a revolutionary?

2005-04-12T04:29:00.000+05:30

Is our society sowing the right seeds for future?

Yesterday's Truth, Today's fascinating Dream

2005-04-12T03:24:00.000+05:30

Read Yourself

Jesus Says....

2005-04-12T01:39:00.000+05:30

Phos (Light) Devotional : Matthew 5:9

Dancin' Fool's Daily Spin

2005-04-01T12:07:00.000+05:30

Dancin' Fool's Daily Spin

Is there really anything like THE PRESENT MOMENT?

2005-03-29T20:56:00.000+05:30

today, in my French class there was a short discussion on "What is Important: Present or Future" and people somehow delved into the Past also.
In between the chaos as i was cogitating, the following thought came to my mind.
just a thought....

There is no present. I mean we can't say we live for the present moment because there is no such thing as present moment. The moment you start thinking about the present moment, (or what they say as "being present in the PRESENT") and by the time you finish thinking, the so called PRESENT moment vanishes and a new one arrives. Its a new PRESENT or you can say future arrives by that time that becomes the new present. What happens generally is that the problem/situation you were thinking about might not change across this difference between the old PRESENT moment and the new PRESENT moment. Therefore, you can apply the conclusion of your thinking process and harvest its fruits.

So next time don't say that you are concerned more about the present than the future.
Instead you can say you are concerned about the immediate future/ near future/ far future and blah blah blah

Life, a compulsory Marathon

2005-02-24T19:25:00.000+05:30

Life is a Marathon that you are bound to run in. Whether you like it or not.
After all, neither was your birth by your will nor you had any choice of worlds. Your track is time. Even the pace of your life is predecided. Neither you can complete the race faster and delve into future earlier than others, nor you can remain in current state for a longer duration. It's not the kind of ground track where you stand for a while in the middle of a race to rest.

Irrespective of what you do, your race starts at your's only cry and it ends with the silence of your last breathe. *

The only choice you have is either enjoy it :) or squall over it :(

*The people who didn't cried on their birth may replace the word "cry" with whatever sound they produced.

Rahul Gupta

india election results 2009

A random arbitrary piece of blah

The India I have visited

Cashing on Environmental Consciousness

GATE CS 2008 Answer Keys

Socially Relevant Ads

Status of Gmail Status

use blackle to avoid blackout

Territories in the new era

RICH and RIGHT - what it meant and what it means

Buts or Guts

Path and the goal

Land of Opportunity

Carl Jung says...

Age of Imagination

Pirates of Content

Heat generates more heat

tamanna aur Tamanna

It's all in the approach

Some one-liners

Smile vs. Laugh

Liquid Stages of Life

What made Rama Lord Rama?

Is India meant for non-right-brain activities only?

Temple vs. Tourist Spot

Increase English Vocabulary

Digital Divide vs. People Divide

Don't know, hum kis talaash mein hain?

mere khaali haath

Battle with Self

Humans are the new Beast

Dreams and She (sapne aur woh)

Do away with the word mankind

Living Rock mountain

Indian Classical Music on the Web

Kathak compilation

DropDown for monthly Archive

Books, Movies and Cages

aodz Journal v1.0: AI Robots

Hey Krishna

Tagging in Google's adopted baby

Sacrifice or Burden of hypocrisy

Après un long temps

Worthy to be blogged

Dear Countrymen

Harmony: The greatest weapon in Disasters

Conebulation

Convocation Ceremony

Manas Jain - An Artist by hobby

Mahabharata and the -ism(s)

Some more links

Marriage

Too much words

Interesting Blogs and Facts

News

Teacher's Day

Nationalism or Evilism

What is NLP?

We are FORTUNATE enough in any case

Is Society a Disease?

Nostalgic Ad lovers

All about RUNNING

My Hieroglyphic Name

Dream

Theme of a screenplay - Queue

Madhurima's India

The Astonishing Love

what to do

Blue memory

III so lovely europe III

Wanna b a revolutionary?

Yesterday's Truth, Today's fascinating Dream

Jesus Says....

Dancin' Fool's Daily Spin

Is there really anything like THE PRESENT MOMENT?

Life, a compulsory Marathon

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