March 29, 2005

Yet another farewell party added to our college calendar! We had thrown a party for our seniors. And, it turned out to be quite a big bash (hey! It was a hit). After all, it was arranged by me (Indu? Ok, my friends were with me). Our seniors tried to rag us, as though it wasn’t sufficient in our fresher year in college. The best thing about the party was the food. It was too delicious to resist eating.

The party started at 7:00pm and went on up to 11:30pm at night. We had lots of fun. We presented the GATE rankers (of course, only those with very good percentile) with small mementos. We had actually planned many other events too-like ‘Mr. Senior’, ‘Ms. Senior’, ‘Best look of the night’ etc., but couldn’t slot them within the stipulated time. Well, no regrets even then. The party was a hit and we were cool (relaxed!) because last time it got cancelled due to some problems. We had loads of fun.


Did someone say that all is well that ends well?

March 27, 2005

Link

This is an interesting link that I came across. I think a few of you might also find it good.

http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~moraes/illusion.html

It's an amazing illusion with some logic. Those of you, who couldn't understand the logic behind it, can visit http://psych.upenn.edu/backuslab/vss/vss2004/backus2004.html.

All...

This is in reply to the comment made by one of my friends on my previous post. I chose to give reply on the main page itself. I think it deserves to be here.

The 'all' that I referred to in the previous post was not meant to be generalized. So, some of my blog readers may not understand the context being handled. They (the 'all' that I have been referring to) are not an important part of my life (not necessarily), but they chose to be that way. I don't think there is any need to take their names out because they themselves know it all. The least I talk of them, the happier I'll be; but never in my life can I forget them because if I forget them, I cannot remain resolute and indomitable.

There's a lot to be said, but I choose to stay silent. What has to happen will happen, anyway.

This is not contempt (perk! are you reading this?) for 'all', but a blessing in disguise for me. I like to be an optimist, seeing it from the lighter side. So, now I have no hatred for anyone as such. If this is what I'm expected to carry along stably, I will, because
Here, I am

March 25, 2005

What's there in a name?

Many of you may or may not agree with me in this context, but I believe it- The title of a blog gives some hint about its blogger. Whenever I visit a blog for the first time, I try to analyze its title. It may not give out a vivid description of the blogger, but it definitely will tell something about the person. In this scrutinizing process, I could understand some of the bloggers (I don’t find it necessary to mention their names in this context). Now, you might ask whether it works every time. It may not happen that way all the time. But, in most of the cases it will be true.

Many asked me the basis on which I named my blog (now, don’t exaggerate indu! All right, five or six). They wanted to know the hidden meaning of it. Those made me write a post regarding it. I never mentioned it though. This reminds me of ‘I Do’ as I said in my earlier post. It is the name of the cruise owned by Gail Wynand, a character from the book, ‘The Fountainhead’.

I’m not an open book, but I don’t mind sharing a few of my personal thoughts with you. My earlier post with the same title as that of my blog’s title can be read
here.

Now, do you agree with me?


Blog traffic!

Finally, the traffic in my blog is on a rise. Thanks to ‘Blogstreet India’ and other engines. I got registered with these search engines just three weeks back. Quite a commendable rise! My blog is being visited by my college mates too. I told only two of my friends when I started blogging. What extra publicity could I ask for? :D

Moreover, I never found any need to publicize my blog because I write for myself. If someone finds it interesting, he/she is most welcome. Now, that doesn’t mean that I don’t care my blog readers. I do. (This ‘I do’ reminds me of something which I will be talking of later). I expect my blog to be read. Otherwise, it would never have been made public. Let’s see how far it goes- my blog and its traffic too.

March 23, 2005

Artistry brushed aside!

I feel relieved and reassured whenever I see budding talent. Last week at the Hyderabad airport, my cousin came to meet me. He brought a very beautiful painting (a glass framed canvas painting) along with him. I was amazed when he told me that it was actually done by his son (my nephew). I know that he paints but never expected such artistry from him. I loved it. It touched my artistry which has been dumped for quite sometime now. Most of you may not know that I am a painter (oh, really?). I used to paint on canvas and used to sketch. Now, I myself wonder where all that has gone.

My last painting (be it a paper sketch) was done in my +2. It has been three years. What have you been doing all these years, Indu? I don’t know. May be, I wanted to concentrate more on my academics (big grin!). Even my poetic influx is seeking surplus breaks these days. I never knew that if one aspect or a part of your mind (thoughts) is in a muddle, then it affects the others too. To top it all, a story (short novel :D) that I had started writing a year back is still left to be completed. Untouched!

Huh! You seem to be lazy, Indu. That’s what your problem is. Now, whatever you might think.

March 22, 2005

The Suicide

No!! Don’t think further. I’ve no such plans.
It’s just a joke- had nothing better to write.
So, read along…

~
Three Construction workers are working on the 20th floor of a tallbuilding in Bombay. One is a Mallu, the second is a Bengali and the third is aSardarji. Every day all the three meet in the lunch hall and have theirlunch together. One fine day: the Mallu opened his lunch box and findsidlis in the box. He says "I am fed up of eating these idlis daily. If Ifind idlis in the box tommorow, i will jump from the 20th floor and die."

Next the Bengali opens his lunch box and finds Fish in it and says, "If Ifind fish in my lunch box tommorow, I am going to jump from the 20th floor ofthis building and die."

Next the Sardarji opens his lunch box and finds Parathas in it and says, "Mother promise, if I find parathas in my box tommorow I am also going to jump from the 20th floor

Next day the three friends meet in the lunch room for lunch. Mallu openshis lunch box and finds Idlis and promptly jumps from the 20th floor and dies.The Bengali opens his lunch box and finds fish in it and jumps from the20th floor and dies. Sardarji opens his box and finds parathas and he alsojumps from the 20th floor and dies.

In the funeral held for all the three friends by their colleagues, the Mallu's widow says, "I did not know he hated idlis so much.If not I would have packed something else for his lunch." The Bengali'swidow says, “I did not know he hated fish so much. If not I would have packed something else for his lunch." The sardarji's widow says, "I do not understand what went wrong. My husband always made his own lunch!
~
(source: unknown)

March 20, 2005

Operated a robot!

I operated a robot all by myself for the first time in life yesterday. It was a PUMA type robot, designed by our seniors. It was very stimulating. I like robots. Not because they make our lives easier, but because of the articulate designs and lucid thoughts that make them what they are. It proves all over again that human brain is so intensely sharp. But, in the end, it obviously depends on the way we tend to use it. Crystal clear! :)
Also see Man vs Robot.

March 19, 2005

Talaash

Koi lautade khoyi khushiyan meri
bikhri si zindagi ko sawaare koi
aankhen dhunde use
jiski talaash mein
umeed ki nayi kiran
aur tamanna jaage koi

March 17, 2005

Donor

Got this message from a friend. I'm giving the direct version of it below.

~
Many of you know that finding -ve(negative) blood group is very difficult. There is a site (mentioned below) where you can register and avail the facility whenever required. Those who are having -ve blood group can register here. You can register for others also. Please pass on this URL to as many people as possible since many of them do not have an idea about this site. Register here for tomorrow's need. Be a DONOR, save a life. URL :
http://www.negativegroups.org/ Useful for first time donors... Do's and Don'ts : http://www.rotarybloodbank.org/donors/dodont.htm FAQ's : http://www.rotarybloodbank.org/faqs/faqsindx.htm Please pass this to everybody and save a LIFE.
~

If you have a negative blood group, then please get yourself registered with any of the sites provided above. Even those with other blood groups can register themselves.

Give blood. Save life

Link

Found this link while browsing. I'm providing the link below. No angry feedback or comments please! It's just for fun.

click here.

March 16, 2005

U.P. journey briefed- II

After staying at Lucknow for two days, we went to Varanasi (Benares/Kasi) for Lord Viswanath’s darshan. The first and foremost task at hand was to deal with the highly incredulous fares of the auto-rickshaws. From there we went to an ashram to keep our luggage. The fact being that we just wanted a safe place to keep our luggage and had no intentions to rest in the room we took on rent. Moreover, we were advised by many to go to that ashram. I don’t know what made them do that. I still don’t understand the metric based upon which they advised us.

Anyhow, it was not that bad, the way I thought it to be. Only upon reaching the ashram I came to know of the demand it had in Kasi. Then we walked all the way to the ghat. There were many ghats. So it took us some time to choose the right one to take a holy dip in the river Ganges. I can’t say anything about the holiness of the river, but I can surely say many things about its purity (not in the spiritual sense). What I mean is that the river was very dirty. We crossed the river in a boat to reach the other end of it. At least we could have some privacy there. Later, we went for darshan.

One thing I didn’t like was the roads (or should I say lanes...they were so narrow, superficially!) They were the dirtiest ones I have ever seen in my life- especially, the ones leading to the temple. I really wonder what the U.P. government is doing about it, the fact being that Kasi is the most holy place for the Hindus. And, they beefed up the security as some minister was going to come. Mobile phones and cameras were a strict no-no. In spite of having undergone security checks done by nearly ten security personnel, we were not caught with the camera in our bag! Now should I call this ignorance or lack of proper duty sense or insincerity? All right, I agree that we were wrong on our part too. But, we had no other option except to keep it with us. We didn’t know that we were not supposed to carry cameras onto the temple premises. In fact, we had no intentions of taking any photographs inside the temple. Once we reached there, we were reluctant to leave our camera in a stranger’s hands because we were advised not to trust anyone there. Lots of advices!

We had to catch a train back to Lucknow at 9:30 p.m. But, unfortunately, it got delayed by 3 ½ hrs. (It was said so by the railways) So, we ended up waiting up to 1:10 a.m. Apart from that, everything went smoothly.

In the end, it was a trouble-free Kasi yatra. :)

March 15, 2005

U.P. journey briefed- I

I’m just back, after traveling 4000 Kms approximately. It’s a long journey. Not tiresome, though. There’s nothing special nor was it monotonous. Just that we could actually see what we had missed out a couple of years back. And, a good feel of the Northern winds. Moreover, now I’ve got a lot to write or blog- enriched experiences and relentless influx of thoughts making way for a new lease of life (?) Who cares, so long as I lead a happy and willing life? And, get what I aspire for.

Yes, I do agree that thoughts (see 'A Thought')
show what you are and what you could be. Thoughts come out of our conditioning. It will always be reflected in them. On the contrary, we can condition our thoughts too. But, that will require a great deal of self-will and/or persistence- a job not so easy.

Now, let me stop this for a while as I get back to the main part of this post- my journey. It was a five-day journey mostly covered on road and in the air. We didn’t take too many snaps. I don’t know why but I’ve lost interest in posing for photographs, eventually. If someone asks me my hate-list, then posing for photographs would surely be there in it- if not at the beginning, then somewhere in between. Now, don’t ask me my love-list because I myself doubt if there is any at all.

Rest (of it) later for I’ve to rest now! :D

March 11, 2005

Hello..

Had nothing better to do. I might take a short gap from blogging. There's a better reason than that.... break from exams too!!! I have some studious feeling pinching me from within, though. :D Well, I want to overcome as many worries and doubts as such in life. Way to go. Indeed. :)

March 10, 2005

Exam or exercise?

It was a really tough one today. Not because of the quality of the questions we had to attempt. But, the quantity! Imagine- no foremost preparation of any kind. Just banging our heads at the books in the library. Groping all kinds of answers. Skipping lunch in between. And, after all these pains and tensions we took, you must have been there to see what our faces looked like upon reading the question paper. Five questions of sixteen mark each to be written in just two hours. And, to top it all, we were asked to provide all sorts of rubbish figures (at least they make no relevant sense to me) neatly sketched!

Indeed, a strenuous exercise rather than an exam. I didn’t understand what they wanted to test- knowledge or writing speed?


Even then, not every time they can get a chance to feel mighty. This time we (my batch) won through. Managed to salvage the impression our prof. (By the way, the exam was on Networks) has on us.

Man vs Robot

This discussion came into light in our recent ‘Robotics and Flexible Automation’ class. I felt that whatever our professor said was true enough to give it a thought. He was giving a lecture on robot imaging sensors. After getting a reply from a student that a robot works intelligently with sensors in return to his question regarding the use of sensors in robots, he said this- “Unfortunately we are not in a position to understand the fundamentals of many intelligent functions that a man or even an animal has.” And, it is so true. Although the lecture went ahead of this and traced back its way in relevance to the topic being discussed, my mind just got stuck there. I was thinking about it.

Really, human is such a beautiful creation of God. It is believed that a human brain is approximately equal to some millions of computer memories drawn together. Still, we hardly make use of even a 10% of it! All right, I agree that even I don’t use mine to that extent. If only I could…

March 09, 2005

Missed verse

“Koti koti kanttha kalakala-ninaada-karaale
Dwisapta koti bhujayirdhritha kharakaravaale
ke bole maa tumi abale
bahubala-dhaarineem namaami taarineem
ripudala-vaarineem maataram”

-Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

I don’t understand why this part of ‘Vande maataram’ was omitted regardless such depth in it. Especially, the third and fourth lines praising our country as a powerful woman. In fact, this verse is far more beautiful than the existing two.

March 08, 2005

Spoken...

“karmano hyapi boddhavyam
boddhavyam`cha vikarmanah
akarmanascha boddhavyam
gahanaa karmano gatih”

-'The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know what action is and what inaction is.'
...

“yadruchha-laabha-santushto
dvandvaati`to vimatsarah
samah siddhaav ashidhou cha
krutvaapi na nibadhyate”

-'He who is satisfied with gain that comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.'

- Lord Krishna to Arjuna

March 05, 2005

A Thought

A Thought-
Can come to you as often as you breathe
Can make your mind work better than it does
Can broaden your mouth and bring you a smile
Can wet your eyes and make you cry
When brought out at the right time, can help you survive
Can show you what you could be
Can be with you so long as you don’t defy

-
A Thought
A Single Thought-
Can strengthen you or make you fragile.

March 04, 2005

Not happy with the way it is

I planned to make my blog look the way I wanted it to be. I wanted to post my Telugu poems. But, now I think I have to settle down satisfying myself with transliteration. This particular technique where you write something taken from a different language in English is referred to as ‘Rice Inverse Transliteration’. For example, writing maa in English which actually is a Hindi word.

I dug all possible search engines, but couldn’t lay my hands on any promising Telugu software. There’s no such site which can provide me with sufficient Telugu lipi. Found one. But, after all the pains of downloading it, it failed to work. :(

Just can’t imagine my blog with transliterated poems all over. I feel that the beauty of the language and the poems in turn will be lost if they are transliterated. Do I have another go now? Can someone help me sort this out? I want them to be posted in Telugu itself and am not at all willing to post them, otherwise. But, if I don’t get good software, then I’ll have to think of it (transliteration). :-/

Huh!

Anonymity

I never thought I will have to write on anonymity some day. But had to, after reading an anonymous comment in my blog recently. And, my reply was this.

~
"I don't encourage anonymity in my blog. If you are not a blogger user, then you have the 'other' option provided at the bottom of this window. If you still want to go with your anonymous identity then it is your wish."
~

Sometimes, I really wonder why people have to sound so anonymous when they have their unique identity. I don't think one might sound less foolish or much wiser staying anonymous. I'm sorry if I'm sounding rude and if this has hurt you. But, my intentions are just to make you feel free to comment in my blog. Now, that doesn't mean that any sort of (abhorrent) comments would be accepted. I think I need to repeat myself again that this blog is after all, mine!

Comments are welcome. :)

March 03, 2005

World of books


“The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man.
Nothing else that he builds ever lasts.
Monuments fall.
Nations perish.
Civilizations grow old and die out.
And after an era of darkness,
New races build others.
But in the world of books, volumes
That has seen this happen again and again
And yet live on.
Still as fresh as the day they were written.
Still telling men’s hearts
Of the hearts of men centuries dead.”

- Clarence Day

March 01, 2005

Link back

My previous post must have given you a direct hint regarding the book I’ve finally started reading after a lot of doubts – The God of Small Things. I’m quarter-way through the book. So, can’t say anything as of now. But, somewhere it gives me a hint of woman-hood, if I’m not mistaken. I can’t judge it, though. (Hey! I said that I haven’t finished yet. So let me take some time). On the contrary, I feel that it can’t make compulsive reading.

May be, I would be able to judge more precisely after I finish the exercise-reading! (Did someone say that reading is to mind what exercise is to body?)

Spoken...


" Human are creatures of habit. It is really amazing the kind of things they could get used to."

-Ammu, a character from the book, 'The God Of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy.