Den of thoughts

A case for readability

2011-06-13T11:53:00.001+05:30

With no Gmail, Facebook in office and work pretty much over, I spent a large portion of time reading online news and articles. Readability or the ease of reading is an issue we hardly consider while reading physical books or news papers. But web pages contain several other things than the main article - adds, links to other articles etc. So readability becomes an important issue while reading web text. I am a big fan of the plugin Readability. Unfortunately it doesn't work in my office network. So I had to find other means to make articles more presentable to myself. One of the biggest feeder of articles for me is Indian Express. I am producing a few snapshots of Indian Express articles here for showcasing various layouts.

Multi page format.
Negatives: Distractions on right side and the pain of clicking "next page link"
Positives: Lesser text to read at once

Single Page Layout
Negatives: Scrolling
Positives: No extra clicks required. Easy to skim backwards in the article.

But the layout which I prefer is the print preview. It is provided by many standard content rich sites. Unfortunately it's use is still not widespread. I hope someday it becomes a norm.

Print Layout
Negatives: Extra width. Possibility of loss of concentration after mid length
Positives: No adds. Flickering, Flash adds often distract from reading. Entire article presented in one single view

One of the interesting features of Readability is the conversion of links embedded in the article into footnotes. Many times writers use the contents of the external article as stepping stones or examples to substantiate their point. So providing reference links is a natural action for writers.But while reading a long article embedded links most often disrupt the flow of reading. So from a reader's perspective these hyperlinks may not be a good idea. It's a bit of writer-reader conundrum. That's where readability comes handy.

UDRS

2011-03-15T10:22:00.003+05:30

2011 edition of world cup has seen a lot of action till date. England beating the contenders while getting beaten by two of the weakest teams in the group and almost losing with the third, a tied match, a blitzkrieg innings by Ross Taylor to sink the Pakistani ship and of course two great innings by the batting maestro. But one of the major factors which have affected this world cup has been the UDRS referral system. One of the proponents of the UDRS system Duncan Fletcher has few thoughts on how stupidly the system has been used sometimes and how ICC keeps tinkering with it all the time. One needs to understand that the referral system is essentially meant not for the 50-50 chances but to avoid blunders and shockers which can change the course of the game. The high ratio of on-field umpires' withheld decisions to reversed decisions is a testimony of the fact that on field umpires are doing a fine job.

From the spectator's point of view, UDRS has taken away the imminent unadulterated joy from the dismissals. You feel like a kid who goes to collect his grade sheet, comes to know that he has topped the exam and is suddenly told that his papers would be rechecked and after a while same result is declared again. Though this subtle emotional aspect due to involving technology in the game, will neither make any difference to the ICC policies, BCCI's opposition to the referral system nor will it matter to the broadcasters. It will just remind the viewers of the era when the dreaded finger would have the last laugh.

Update (13th June 2011): It will be interesting to see how Duncan Fletcher deals with India's constant opposition to UDRS when he is the coach of Indian team and when BCCI continues to rule the global cricket scenario.

Goggles

2010-11-30T00:31:00.005+05:30

Goggles are nice. They provide a tinted view of the world. Change the colour of the glass and the world changes. No-colour brings excessive clarity. Eyes can't take it. They find solace in the stained sight.

Eyes on the opposite side of goggles, not covered with any goggle, try to push their vision beyond the glass boundary of goggles. But the real eyes are not visible. When they stare hard enough, all they get to see is their own reflection. Looking at themselves, they think, is this a pleasant sight? Eyes can't decide. All they decide is to wear a goggle.

Now either eyes, when stare at each other, can only see goggles - the other goggle and a reflection of own goggle.

Objects Shift, Humans Move, Languages Transform

2010-11-12T00:57:00.000+05:30

I love languages. The romance is very much a part of daily life - observing the dialects, varied pronunciations, use of pin-point synonyms, clarity and brevity. Over the years one of the most enjoyable activities I've found is to figure out the impact of Indian languages on English and the other way round. A Hindi poet Kumar Vishwas joked, pointing at the weird ways in which English is mixed with Hindi in Uttar Pradesh, 'to avenge the British, they have been doing to English what British did to Indians'!

Coming to the title of the post, in strictest sense shift should be used in the context of objects whereas move should be used for humans. So 'We moved to Mumbai' is more appropriate than 'We shifted to Mumbai'. So the point of this post is that, I've found in most of the cases in Hindi or in Marathi, the word shift to be more 'Indianized' than the word move. So I've frequently heard Hum log shift ho gaye or Amhi Shift Jhalo whereas I've never heard move being used in Hinglish or Minglish. The reason for the more Indianization of shift and less of move still remains unknown to me. So the impact of this imbalance becomes imminent when somebody speaks English in a translated-from-mother-tongue manner, which happens in most of the cases. In the other direction, I've frequently heard my sister saying Ye combination theme ke sath jata hai. This is a direct translation of 'This combination goes with the theme', although it doesn't make much sense in the native language. I love to find the roots in such cross-lingual mix ups.

I watched an Interview of Shobha De in which she claimed to be the first journalist to introduce Hinglish to the Indian English Press. Anti purists who support such mingling of languages defend it by the fact that historically, anything averse to change underwent extinction and languages were and will be no exception. I'm not much of a supporter of the intermixed languages and try to avoid it as far as possible. But, I was simply in love of the philosophy by another showbiz person Bharat Dabholkar regarding Hinglish. He said, 'Pepole resort to Hinglish because they aren't proficient in English speaking yet they want to be seen as 'cool' while not speaking in Hindi alone'. Ideally linguistic fusion should be treated as the mixture of two correct languages and should not be used to shield the lack of proficiency in either language.

Concreting Abstract

2010-09-29T23:30:00.009+05:30

The last semester at BITS Pilani is typically more relaxed, not so rigorous as compared to the previous ones, or let's say students make it so. On the positive side of which, it makes it easy to attend almost every cultural event happening on campus. One of which's a puppetry show. Though this wasn't like those which are traditionally portrayed. The katputlis were more innovative and it amply used effects of fluorescent lights and various sounds.

Out of the four segments in the show, there was one in which a bird accidentally falls on a tabla and discovers the sound of it. The bird goes on to try few things on the tabla. At the same time a spider is busy resonating sounds on web. Meanwhile a floating feather causes melodies on a violin. All of these integrate to create a wonderful symphony.

When this wonderful segment of the show was building up many people left the auditorium complaining about its abstractness (lacking in meaning to be blunt). That brought me to the point abstractness.

Modern art is often not taken seriously in non-art appreciating sections of the society. Mostly because of the inability of the art form to convey it's meaning in a definite way to the audience. I came across this article which partially satisfied my doubt: How to appreciate abstract art?

The notion of abstractness is very subjective. There is a Hindi Drama Club(HDC) in BITS which conducts stage and street plays in Hindi. Vineet who is a great fan of HDC plays lived in a predominantly HDC wing and often used to get inputs from them regarding various techniques adopted in plays, how to understand plays etc. For him many HDC plays were not so abstract which left me absolutely clueless.

Mathematics has its own mystic ways of baffling its students. A simple 1x1 square which is as real and tangible a mathematical concept as our existence, suddenly becomes an abstract concept when we consider the length of its diagonal. Mathematicians are so much fond of this very abstractness that maths quote books are full of this love affair. A quote by Paul Erdos taken from this page says

Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is.

Citizens Against Inappropriate and Excessive Use of Awesome

2010-07-23T09:02:00.004+05:30

In an attempt to revive this blog, I am posting my Facebook notes over here. I hope to be more regular on the blog in the coming days.

About CAIEUA:

We are a group of like minded people who are often irritated with the widespread usage of awesome; predominantly on web-forums, social networking sites, in status messages and chatting. This usage at times is improper and there can be other adjectives better suited for the purpose. People have started losing the ability to discriminate between adjectives. We at CAIEUA want everyone to realize the wide range of adjectives English language has got and use them appropriately.

About the quiz:

Nearly a week ago, we posted a quiz on this link. We thank everyone for taking the quiz. The quiz was conducted just to make the quiz takers realize the objective of CAIEUA. Posting the results of the quiz would hardly make any sense as many quiz takers seemed to have got cautioned at the time of answering the questions. CAIEUA wanted to capture the dilemma that many quiz takers would have faced while choosing between awesome and other appropriate adjective present in the options. Had the other adjectives not provided, many would have straight gone for awesome without even thinking for other suitable choices. If even one of the quiz takers starts thinking on our lines after taking the quiz or reading this note, it would be a great success for us. We thank you for the precious time you spent on this whole exercise.

P.S - Please don't comment as "Awesome post" or make any oblique references to certain Barney Stinson just to show that you liked it.

Idiot Box

2009-07-28T01:04:00.006+05:30

Recently I have been watching a lot of television. Most of it has been entertaining but there was a lot of food for thought as well.

Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy
South Indians can open up restaurants throughout Maharashtra, Sindhis, Marwaris, Gujrathis capturing markets leaving no space for Marathis to enter the market are just lame excuses. Nobody has stopped anyone from toiling hard. The willingness should come from within.

A Marathi Play
I saw an interview of a stage artist who explained the concept behind her stage play. The explosion of mobile phones, internet and social networking media, the impact on human lives is inevitable. With the increase in texting, chatting and social networking sites we talk virtually more than physically. But when somebody talks to you virtually, you have an added advantage of disguising your emotions, expressions or your own identity. In other words it may not be the "real you" who is talking, rather a different form of yours who can be more expressive or less expressive as per the need. So we have a split personality, (not entirely) thanks to the virtual communication.

Poverty and Determination
In a quiz there was this guy who worked in a paper 'raddi' shop, who used to wash all the dishes at a Wada Pav centre for the sake of getting four Wada Pav in night. The father of Balasaheb Thakerey who painted number plates of cars to survive in a city like Mumbai but never begged for the money. Hardships are always a part of human life but then dogged determination is the key to beat them.

Truth(?)
Sach Ka Saamna controversy has opened up a huge debate in the country. Legally speaking there is nothing wrong with the show, for there is nothing vulgar, obscene content being shown, no foul language etc. It may fit perfectly in the legal framework. But then do we need such shows is the hot question? When questions like "Have you ever had sex with your relatives?" are being answered affirmatively, the issue needs addressing. Confession, truth are definitely virtues of a better human being, but at appropriate timings. If a dressed up woman asks you, how is she looking, she is just expecting a nod, rubber stamping her make-up or dress-up. If you candidly confess that you look ugly and fat in this dress, or the lipstick looks like remains of some blood bath, it won't certainly help. Similarly if your confession comes at the price of harmony in your family or relational balance that too in front of billion eyes watching you, is that really needed? Putting it in the name of voluntary participation and that participants have a fair idea of the kind of questions that are going to be asked in the show, is perhaps diverting us from addressing the broader issue. The cultural difference between the audiences of "Moment of Truth" and "Sach Ka Saamna" can't be undermined. Same questions may have radically different receptions and consequences.

After all the box may be idiot, but has humans on either sides!

Welcome - Beyond Humour

2009-06-19T17:31:00.003+05:30

Welcome's gross earning-70 Crores. That's the 6th largest absolute earning for any Bollywood movie. we (Me, Soumyadeep, Ameya, Ankit) form a group of die-hard fans of Welcome! Viewing the complete movie (or a part of it) is a must when all of us gather. Apart from the hysteria, Welcome offers a lot of things. The directors may not have been able to realise the message which the movie is going to convey to the society. It has happened with many scientific discoveries that the discoverer could not estimate the potential of the work. But as time passed, people realised the impact of the discovery.

Many of the following things are strongly contextual. Better watch the movie before reading the post, if you have not.

Faith in God - "Bhagwan ka diya hua sab kuch hain". Despite enjoying the emperor-seque grandeur, Nana has not forgotten the importance of almighty. Time and again, he keeps on thanking almighty for whatever he has earned.

Listen to Heart - Nana and Anil Kapoor despite being super-successful in their profession, leave it and follow their hearts.

The desire for justice - "Insaaf hokar rahega!"

Natural vs Unnatural - Turn your neck to right and make a sound!

Women Empowerment - Who says only men have the birthright to rescue others? Women are equal to men in almost every field.

Public Safety is paramount - Bullets and Gun in separate pockets

Keen observational sense - A donkey sitting on a horse is not always fun. You have to go deep and decode the meaning behind it.

Spontaneity - "Miracle!"

Affection : The strong emotional ties between Ghungroo and Shetty Sahab and many other pairs say it all.

Last but not the least -"Jhooth ka pagda kitna bhi bhaari ho, jeet hamesha sachhai ki hoti hain"

A Tribute

2008-11-24T00:45:00.003+05:30

What makes one dazzle? Only integral double digit CGPA, Hefty paychecks before entering into the real world, a publication in journals which you probably can't open from your computer as you are not so rich/qualified to access it, or may be someone trying to fix a partner for life without having lived a quarter of it(Life expectancy has shoot up, Go jog if apprehensive) or something else.

Cycles - Every existing phenomenon has to be cyclic. If not the time period is larger than yours. My father used to say, pane galnar, punha navi hirwi pane yetil ( Autumn and Spring). I could never fathom the seriousness of it, rather I used to run away from it. I can feel how an acrophobic must be feeling when he's put on the edge of a sky-scrapper. The gap between existence and nullity is so narrow.

Life is priceless. Suicides being committed for failures in examinations, getting dumped by love interests and even more insane reasons. Does tackling problems weigh heavier than the existence of life? It does not, certainly. Humans are superior than animals because they can think, they can find ways, chalk out multiple possibilities.

Lives dazzle, deeds mesmerize, remembrance last forever. Everything is possible. It just asks the extra belief in inner self and the perseverance. Get dazzled, bedazzle, be remembered.

This is dedicated to the lady who spent entire life for her children and divine causes, my grandmother.

May she rest in peace.

Language

2008-08-21T17:55:00.003+05:30

The much talked about "Pan-Indian" nature of BITS-Pilani always makes me wonder about the several languages spoken in the campus. Telugu, Tamil, Malyalam, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi, English, Gujarati...the list is long yet countable ( Effect of Maths courses is evident! )!!

My schooling was done in a school that was owned by a Gujarati trust. It had many Gujarati staff members,right from the principal to clerks. My fascination for learning different languages began at that stage. The curiosity of knowing what is being talked between two persons was a fundamental reason, showing off that 'I know these many languages' another! All attempts of grasping the language ended up in knowing just Su chhe? Saru chhe! Danda leke maru chhe!! I even had a hit on Bengali (Thanks to Jhinak , Shubho and Rajat for teaching me and not to Soumyadeep!!) and now I can ask you Tumi Kemon acho?

India is blessed with myriad dialects. Add to it the multiple accents in each language, that makes it one of the largest collections of its kind. These very dialects speak more than just words. They reflect the culture of the terrain, for the coining of a word is often related to some event or some object or a phenomenon. They reflect the way humans are treated, for the politeness or rudeness encased with the words. They reflect the generations, for the slangs. They are vehicle to convey a plethora of emotions.

A language evolves with time. Those who don't, extinct. Thou has become u now, Because its cos today, My cellphone supports Hinglish as a language. This a pointer towards amalgamation of languages, globalization and the manner in which people think today, Geographical barriers proving ineffective in inhibiting the usage of a language. Purists will always disapprove the changes, but they will be there.

So the 'To Do' list for this year includes, to speak at least a complete, error proof, and a fluent sentence in Bengali! Any bong ready for the coaching?

Preponement

2008-04-18T09:54:00.003+05:30

I had read in Oxford Dictionary that the word(Prepone) was derived in India and its usage is considered as non-standard. Now when I google the word, I find its existence in many standard dictionaries like Webster.(Alas! Blogger does not approve the word!) India can change the way world looks at things!

I believed preponement can be a good policy till I entered the later half of sophomore. The courses are giving a glimpse of what can be achieved on their foundation. A simple chip can change the word(In fact it has!) This feeling was impossible even if I would have preponed the learning of things.

Many times I try to visualize future. When I find similarity between what I had imagined and what happens, it feels great. The uncanny similarity entices to envisage more and more. One can put best foot upfront if fairly accurate in anticipating things.

On the contrary side, there are some things which have their own time. One may practice predicting and making himself familiar with whatever is stored in future. But this lessens the joy of uncertainty. The beauty of hazy future lies in its unpredictability. If a distantly impossible phenomenon suddenly occurs it tests the strength of individual,the ability to cope up with any kind of circumstance.

I feel its a matter of two thinking tendencies. One who like to adventure,take risks and explore new avenues may go for the later one. Whilst individuals (like me) who like to have a low risk approach, play safe and are more careful about the outcomes than the methods used, may prefer the anticipation way of thinking.

PS-For reverting to blogging, a hell span of assignments and tests needs to get passed and a holiday too!

Good Topic,Anyone?

2008-03-23T21:48:00.004+05:30

Seems like ages have been past since the last post. I am still searching for a good topic! Search for a good topic is desperately on for 'Ankur' (An yearly Magazine of the Maharashtra People's Organization at BITS-Pilani) Life at BITS seems to have gone miles ahead. Yeah, congrats to Swapnil for his success in Google Coding competition!

I am back to Pilani from a long holiday of couple of weeks at home. This visit meant a lot for me in many ways. I got to observe the placement procedures in the local colleges of Maharashtra. I could mark the differences of the same carried out in BITS as against in the colleges there. Some key and not so obvious differences

Time of placement (Academic year in which placement is done)
Syllabus covered till that time
Type of post for which recruitment is done (Development vs Testing,Not always true)

I feel lucky to be at BITS! (Although its a bit too early to say that :P !!)

Despite staying away from home for last 4-5 years, the drive to go home is quite strong. What urges more to write this post is the probable parting from Amravati in the recent future. Although since last few years I am merely reduced as a guest,the beloved association with the city for more than 15 years is comparable to nothing.

And this picture can possibly describe heaven-Melted Chocolate Truffle.
I couldn't get the image of the original one ,so had to Google it out.Thanks to Supriya for the introduction! Delight for Eyes and a great treat for taste buds!

P.S- If you are a chocolate freak then Aditya has something interesting for you.

M S Dhoni

2008-02-05T18:05:00.001+05:30

Why would someone love M S Dhoni?

-He has emerged from a rural background,defying all the politics and fighting hard.

-He went on succeeding in career and became captain of ODI team in such an early stage.

-His strokeplay innings is a delight to watch(?)

-His brave statements,on-field approach which has a tinge of aggression with calmity at times.

Why would someone hate M S Dhoni?

-His brave statements!

-His non technical approach towards batting.

-His overemphasis on the success in T20 world cup.

-His alleged role in banishing Ganguly from the team.

-If the person in question is a Dravid fan.

I admire him for the first one and a half reason and hate for first three reasons. I feel the change in the leadership in the Indian cricket was done in hasty and it involved a lot of unfair politics.To add into the anti-Dhoni air was media which made the T20 success look equivalent to winning 4 world cups. The success in T20 was no where a barometer for success in One dayers or Test cricket. As long as Dhoni performs well his bold statements would not disturb anyone. But once he or his team for that matter starts losing the grip,it will (rather it has) become a problem for many.

Its important that Dhoni gets his act together both on and off the field. Because he is a role model for a lot of youngsters who hail from a semi-urban or rural background and want to make it big in cricket. Because they can relate themselves with him,owing to the similarity in backgrounds. He can be an symbol of a fighter who defies all the regional politics,Anti-rural prejudice. He can be an epitome for hardwork,burning desire for winning. In him see a billion Indians themselves ruling the world. Are you listening Mr.Dhoni?

From Global to local

2008-01-21T10:01:00.000+05:30

As always I am a bit late to avail the Transliteration facility provided by blogger.A great one.The mantra these days seems to be go local for big brands. The power of an average Indian consumer is undeniable.Be it Orkut or Wikipedia or Vodafone for that matter.Its no surprise that Cellular operators are spreading their networks in rural areas as well.
For me this facility is a great news for another reason.Now I would be able to write in मराठी,Something that I haven't done in last 4-5 Years.Sorry,non-marathi folks!

Path and End

2007-12-08T08:34:00.000+05:30

"We love you and not your marks" My parents said when Iwas unable to write an exam due to illness. So important is the quote in today's competitive world. Its necessary to realize the life beyond studies or work.I always joke that scientists never have a wife or a girlfriend so that they can divert all their time to research purpose. In reality there are stories of great scientists who confined there existence within the boundaries of labs or universities for years together. The great discoveries were made at the expense of their personal life.

When you stay focused you obviously don't have a second life.But when you are 'forced to focus' things get a bit awry. This very dilemma makes life dull,unidimensional. The ever rising competition demands more and more from the individual. Of a majority of discussions with my friends CGPA,placements and a series of never ending worries are always a part. I am not denying the importance of these worries but what I want to emphasize is that sometimes you need to change your vision. If you are moving on the path that you chose for yourself,wait for a moment,watch what all is there around,understand that there is much more than mere walking,get refreshed and then again start walking.There will definitely be some difference between the two walks.

Unusual Ideas

2007-12-04T07:56:00.000+05:30

During End semesters your mind is forced to think in a specific direction. But as human tendency goes, more you press yourself into the state of orderedness, more vulnerable you are to get into a state of disorder. I am experiencing it presently. Here are some unconventional but interesting ideas.

a) Type on a notepad while listening to your favorite English song its lyrics (Or any English speech or something similar)This has two great benefits-

1) Your typing speed will increase a lot

2) Your English listening capacity will develop.

b) Style of writing your phone number and email address:

340 m/sec: ********* (Your phone number)

60 WPM : abc@xyz.com
(WPM-Words per minute)

I would love to hear any other interesting way!

Sunday

2007-09-24T15:44:00.000+05:30

I was there at the Soumyadeep's room sitting in front of his laptop.He uses "Google desktop" which has many interesting features like calendar,CPU usage,memory status etc.But the most catchy thing was the "To Do" list.(For a 9.5+ guy you would surely expect things like doing maths assignments,reading Mechanics of solids,completing lab journals etc!)

I started recalling the last time when I planned to do something and successfully achieved the target.I've read a nice statement,

People don't plan to fail,but they fail to plan

Its been almost 4 years since I am planning for the effective utillization of my sundays.(And this is the 4th successive year of failure!)

The program starts from saturday night-I sleep early so that my Sun'day' should not get spoilt.
Sunday morning-I wake up early,feel fresh,"Thank God! I am not late,hopefully I would be able to make the most of my time"
Somehow I manage to doing some crappy things till the lunch(anything other than what I had planned)
Lunch-The most beautiful diet of the week.You obviously cant have less at that day.Meals till the full mark!
Post lunch-Its not a bad idea to have a "power nap"
(Power nap concept-Rest for the conservation of energy for the productive tasks post-nap)
zzzz-till 4-5 PM...
5 PM-Time for some evening snack!
Eventually its time for the dinner(Both in Kota and Pilani the dinner timings are quite earlier than the usual 9/10 PM)
Finally when I burp,I realize that all the plans,all the hopes are gone with the burp!(Also with the sleep and the food too!!)
At last when its night..All the 'hardwork' done in the daytime is now showing its signs and I am too sleepy to carry on with the studies.

I don't ask for any lifelong planning nor I ask for any structured paths for my future,but anybody,"please chalk out a good and an executable plan for my Sundays & the way to execute it successfully!"

Escapism

2007-08-05T15:07:00.000+05:30

In childhood I had some really weird ideas about the calamities like Earthquake or flash floods etc.I even used to think about an imaginary sky high tower that would be sufficient to accomodate my family and me in case of any high-end contingency. Now when I have grown up,such kiddish thinking makes me laugh but at the same time it makes me ponder about one of the most crucial facets of human nature-Escapism.

Going to the roots of Escapism,I figured out a few things that may promote the tendency to get away. There can be a few kinds of Escapism.

Escapism with respect to stakes.

Escapist Tendency-Unwillingness for taking risks-Fear of getting unsuccessful-The lack of self-belief.
Lack of self belief can be due to many factors,the discusssion of which is not relevant here.

Escape from responsibilities

Quite frequently the tendency may also be driven by lazyness.

Escapism in human life or relations.

Take a remote control of TV and start surfing the news channels in particular. Most of them would depict the gloomy scenario of the society.
Its not surprising if you would wish to switch to something that's not unpleasent.

Another example is about frankness.If you are an Escapist you would let something happen which may not be appropriate.The reluctance to oppose may be due to
a) Desire of clash-free atmosphere.
b) Self-centered nature.
c) Lack of courage.

Its difficult to entirely put down the Escapist tendency.Some times its advisable to be an escapist rather than be a aggressor to save your time and efforts. High risk-high returns may be a well known principle but what matters is the question "What is at stake?". Golden mean between these two should be achieved according to the situation demand.

In my personal example I took nearly 18 years to confess that "I act as an escapist in many situations". I hope hereafter things can change. Because I could have easily "Escaped" this thinking process! But I didn't!

Connectivity

2007-06-28T23:47:00.000+05:30

The title might be misleading here. One may think of connectivity with respect to mobile or Internet.But I have a completely different context. I was listening to Sandip Khare's poems.(Sandip Khare is a famous Marathi Poet.His Programme "Aaushyawar Bolu kahi" is quite a hit in Maharashtra) Sandip Khare has got a large Fan community amongst which youth form most of the part. The language is easy to understand. Real life situations are beautifully described in an emotional manner.

In my opinion the reason for the large youth followers is the title of the article "Connectivity".Although the language,the style or the beauty of the poetry have their own credit but what matters a lot is that the youth can connect themselves to those poems.It is quite possible for many of the fans to put themselves in many of the poems. They can relate themselves to the situations.I have numerous examples in this regard.

The phenomenal success of "Rang De Basanti" can be another example. The avant garde concept Bhagat Singh in Jeans was really a hit. The reason still remains the same. The earlier image of Bhagat singh was difficult to relate with for the youth. But the feel "anyone amongst us can contribute to the nation by some way" was the major achievement of the film. What mattered the most was "connectivity".

Some more Examples:

The initial success of "K" Sops-House wives could connect themselves with the characters of the serials.
Highly successful Amitabh Bachhan in the 70's or 80's. Average Indian audience was able to relate themselves with the"Young angry man"
The Mac-Donald's in India have some kind of Tikka as their largest selling entity. Call it the Indianization of Mac-Donald's or the business trick or whatever you may wish,my interest remains the connectivity of average Indian customer with the Menu Card. Its easy to connect with names such as Tikka-Samosa etc etc than some unknown foreign names.

The morale of the story :If you have an idea which people can connect themselves with,chances are high that it will click.

Role model path Vs Pioneer Path

2007-05-30T23:33:00.000+05:30

I want to draw parallels between two paths for success.Although these are not the only ways to fetch success.

First one is the way where you have some role model who inspires you for the act which you have been doing.Another one is the path where you are the first one (or the only one at that time) to opt for it. Its the success achieved by the role model in the past grabs the attention of the followers of the same path. Engineering your own way requires a lot of original thinking,vision and the patience to take the task to the finish mark.The amount of original thinking may differ in both the paths,pioneer path needs more. "Gurukanth Desai" from film "Guru"is an ideal example of the pioneer path star. Without any assistance from the surrounding atmosphere Desai became the greatest industrialist of the country.He didn't have any godfather to guide him en route.

The experiences,the challenges,the skill to handle suddenly arisen and unexpected problems make the path difficult if you are the lone and the first traveller of the path. Each stumbling block along the path has a certain element of surprise and varying potential of risk in it. It needs enormous self belief to trace your own path and to defy the existing pathways. It takes a copernicus to wreck the contemporary believes and stand on own point. The courage behind the firm stand is the product of self belief which comes from correct work basics and right approach.

Even if you have a role model whose ways you can mimic,there can be situations where the problems faced by you and your role model might be different. At many stages you have to be original and contemplation becomes a necessity.

The glory fetched after the successful completion will obviously differ. Its actually the indicator of the hardships faced.

Its not always possible to define your own way,it depends upon the nature of the person taking up the job. To pioneer your path needs a lot of courage where as following the footsteps has reduced risk in it.A person playing safe might choose the later one where as a courageous person would go for the earlier. In my opinion the glory factor might be the tempting reason to prefer the pioneer path over the role model path.

Random Thoughts

2007-05-23T00:36:00.000+05:30

Ever wondered whats so special to be human and to live human life? Its because humans have emotions,they can understand emotions-their own as well as others. Joy,sorrow,anger,love-each one has its impact on the human life. Each one rules the heart.

I listened to aniket's poems yesterday. They touched my heart. Beautifully written,each line,each word has meaning that conveys the maturity of thinking. The optimism in the writing was another striking feature. There wasnt any shade of sorrow,the grief of a broken heart,things that are normally found in most of the poems nowadays. If he permits i will surely post them on my blog.

Humans carry an indispensable thing with them which we call past tense! You can't do anything to your past but it can do a myriad things in your life. Past memories can be inspiring,they can be depressing,at times they can be embarassing,many times they can be useful,they can be like a beaconing light for the future path. It ultimately depends on us as how we see towards our past. I have wonderful memories of my school life. The careless days,never ending sporting enthusiasm, the fun with the friends...The slap on the face and the pat on the back had equally important impression for the good future! Those friends still form the closest group of friends and those memories still occupy the best part of memory..

Each phase of human life has its own importance.Each phase lays down the foundation for the next life.

There is a certain degree of randomness in the thoughts today. I would probably never make my blog look like a diary.Sometimes it may be coherent, sometimes incoherent.But ultimately its the flow of thoughts that matters.Thats why this is "Den of thoughts!"

Preparation Leave

2007-05-16T23:56:00.000+05:30

When I am at the beginning of my two and a half month Long holidays and busy preparing to make out the most of it, some of my good pals are busy preparing for their exams in a duration called as "Preparation leave".
An interesting phenomenon, Preparation leave is supposed to be the duration in which students should take the time to understand the things in their own way and prepare themselves for the battle! While at BITS we don’t get any sort of preparation leaves (Although we take out a free week & bunking all the way!) so in a way it’s a new concept for me.
I tried to have a pool of opinions on this issue. I got two distinct and contrary sets of opinions on the PL issue. The first set supported the cause of PLs and strongly justified it. Another (The more interesting one!) response actually amazed me a lot! My friend (Vaibhav) described PLs in a best manner--"The time during which you assemble the study material which you are going to use before the exam at night!” This response echoed the engineer feeling a lot! And it best described the student mentality in one shot! Kudos Vaibhav!
I can’t prevent myself to extend this topic to the real life situation! The question that immediately crops up to the mind is "Do we have a real life analogue of PL's??" Can we have any preparation break to console a friend having a broken heart or a shattered dream! We obviously cant have any PL when you do a blunder that can have quite a large damage potential and people start firing you questions! There can be many more situations in which you have to prepare yourself for the unexpected situation without any time lag. In all such scenarios spontaneity holds the key. No PLs out there!
For all those guys who are having a (Good or bad Depending on them!) time in their PLs, Whatever the result of this stupid discussion you will have to make the most of your PLs. All the best!!

Similarities

2007-03-11T00:04:00.000+05:30

My friend soumyadeep ( A wannabe writer ) always tries to find out something similar in between anything and human beings. So this one is dedicated to Ghosh babu!

My post lengths are not too large. This has something similar to my walking style - Slow, small and careful steps.

My blog has a sober appearance.Again, I hate things that are too gaudy..

Dude,its too difficult for me to point out more similarities. Would you bring out some more please??

Underdogs

2007-03-10T23:16:00.000+05:30

A cricket match of Australia and New Zealand always reminds me of this topic.Underdogs has always been a interesting topic for me. Its always interesting to watch underdogs doing something that is out of ordinary and something that they are not expected to do.There is always a psychological side attached to this issue. A human being will always try for his status bar to be raised and his prestige level to shoot to new highs. But when you are teased and underrated, a burning desire fires up your soul and drives you to push it to the limit. I have experienced this feeling a number of times and I must say its really a nice one.

What we have seen until is somewhat similar like traversing a graph from zero to its peak. But this is where the story has a serious point. When underdogs start defeating the favourites its the start of their ascendancy. Continuing in the same manner they start becoming favourites. But beware! At the same time some another underdog may come and topple their post. This cycle is endless.

This topic is very much related to the basic principle of life. Not everyday is your day. Life is more like a curve of sine. There will be ups and downs,there will be highs and lows. But at the end of the day those who have a strong belief on themselves and those who respond to their strong inner voice are the ones who fetch the glory.

Machine vs human

2007-03-03T08:45:00.000+05:30

The topic of computer games reminds me of a phenomenon in chemistry. Its called as "umpolung".I used to be a big critic of computer game earlier but not now!. I have developed a good interest in gaming now.

Besides my gaming interest i have something rather interesting to share with you. For the first time in my life i played real football on the field.( I used to play in the school but with tiny plastic ball and without offsides!!) Just after completing a kick off in FIFA 07 ( An EA sports computer football game) i went on the field to play the real stuff.. It was just like comparing the computer and human. Its so easy on the computer to just click a key and to manipulate the passes, the free kicks, the formation and a lot more things. When it comes to the real ground playing it becomes a complex, multidimensional problem! I can remember my biology teacher saying that people all over the world are putting their best to make a robot ( ultimately a computer aided machine) which can play football with humans. But even after pouring trillions of dollars they might not succeed. The topic is just not just about playing football. It is indeed a vast topic which needs a lot of attention. You can have a machine which can serve you round the clock satisfying all your needs but i bet you cant create a mother with machines which will ask you whether you had your lunch or not..

The message is pretty clear- Its up to the humans to decide as to what extent machines should become a part of their life.

Stupidity in Cinema

2007-02-17T16:10:00.000+05:30

I am talking about the Hindi movies before a decade or two(or even before it). There used to be some typical symptoms to recognize that "yes! Its a Hindi flick!" Some of them i quote here..

The heroine's typical shout when someone tries to catch her- Bachao!! (a small kid would nearly die listening to such a dreadful shout!). Bhagwan ke liye chod do...Maine kya bigada hai tumhara...
Police had fantastic role. They always came late and take out their hat in the honour of someone who's dead. One typical dialogue- Kanun ke haat bahut lambe hai...or kanun ko apne haath me mat lo!! Now who's going to hold whom?
There is one thing that i used to notice a lot. When a director wants to show the scene of night why the hell he has to shoot it in the day time with Grey shades?? Cant he film it at night?
The background music would be a punishment. Excessive use of violin during a sad situation would make the situation more grave. Some typical background tracks were floating in the market and were repeatedly used.
Another fact that you would notice is about the climax. The climax in nearly all the movies would be at a neutral place and it would be a action sequence most of the time(which the hero would win obviously!) I don't know what was the logic behind..

The list can be endless. I am no critic but this are the observations from a common man's point of view. I even don't want to rate them poor. There are some timeless movies which no modern movie can compete with. Many of the above things are avoided today by the aid of technology. Finally you are left with the option of enjoying the stupidity!

Change

2007-02-16T15:41:00.000+05:30

This is a rather weird thought. Its about the desire to bring about some change in someone's behaviour and the mindset to accept the change. We are not always ready to accept the change in someone's behaviour. I will rather elucidate this with some example.
A person wishes that his wife who never socializes or resricts herself to the four walls of the home should start participating in some kind of activity that will bring her out. He insists her to do something other than normal housekeeping. As a result she indulges herself in some sort of task.But here is where the whole story begins. The extent to which he asks her to come out of the home, he should get into the house by the same extent. This level of understanding is not so common.The essence is that when we are trying to bring about some change we should put ourselves in to the post-change situation first and make up our mind accordingly. This will help a lot to adapt into the situation easily.

Orkut Mania

2007-02-16T03:08:00.000+05:30

Its a wave thats catching almost everyone and everywhere.How can i remain on the back seat? One of my good old pals introduced me to the world of orkut. I found it quite interesting and the race of scraps and friends got started. It was quite amazing to be on touch with scores of people at the same time. I catched quite a good pace of scraps. Orkut plus google keep on introducing new things that keeps your interest alive. But i guess too many people on orkut has let many irregularities creep in. The unspoken decency is not maintained and some anti social factors are making the matters worse. Another interesting fact that i notice is about the Testimonial stuff. A testimonial should be independent of time and place. e.g." i met him here few days ago"... Now does this statement make any sense for a third person reading the testimonial? Also testimonial and "about me" are copies of each others many times. You have to rate the person as per his inner qualities and not by his external or superficial traits. Although i don't claim myself to be a great testimonial writer but these are the few things that make the testimonial attractive for a third person..

A R Rahman (All Rave Rahman)

2007-02-16T01:58:00.000+05:30

Aah! Thats a topic that i love the most! A R Rahman is more than just a music director. At the time when indian film music was in the desperate need of some revoultionary change, Rahman marked his presence and gosh!! He went on to win National awardfor his debut project 'Roja'. There are many aspects of my love for Rahman. The first and the most important is the way he changed the traditional setup of Indian Film music. It needs a lot of talent and daring to change the current trend and introduce something off-track. Secondly, he can take you to the ecstaties of romance or the fierce battlefield with equal ease. You just dont remain in this world when you are listening to him. He unlike some other composers has not left the base of traditional indian music which is so important in today's age of remixes. Rahman knows exactly who fits in for a particular composition and how to take out the best from someone, even if its Lata didi or Shreya Ghoshal. Another important aspect about his carrer is his presence at the international stage. In my opinion rahman is one of the few distinguished indians who have the ability to face the international competition ably. I idolize him for the same reason. If you have the talent and you are ready to give your best no level of competition can prove tough for you. So two lines which can describe rahman the best...

There are many who rave the God
But there are few whom the gods rave

Today's Variable-Alpha

2007-02-15T18:32:00.000+05:30

Its really surprising to see myself writing a blog. The person who does not let anyone get a slight hint of what is on the mind, opening up his heart in such an open space is really astonishing. But as they say there is always a first time for everything, this is no exception. Some of my friends opine that writing a blog is like writing a diary. Never in my life i maintained a diary. I am more a musical guy than a thoughtful writer. I like to play with chords and beats rather than words. So it will be quite interesting(for me atleast!) to see how this project works!