Obscured By Words

Occam's Razor

2012-01-09T01:25:00.004+05:30

In Philosophy, Occam's Razor, sometimes expressed in Latin as lex parsimoniae (the law of parsimony, economy or succinctness), is a principle that generally recommends that, from competing hypotheses, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions usually provides the correct one, and that the simplest explanation will be the most plausible until evidence is presented to prove it false. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor)

Silverleaf's trading framework, called occam, is inspired from this principle and stresses on simplicity of architecture emphasizes minimizing "assumptions" (by building as little as possible from scratch), utilizing frameworks and libraries wherever possible.

"nanos gigantium humeris insidentes" (Standing on the shoulders of giants) was famously uttered by Sir Isaac Newton signifying that we can achieve much and see far not by any virtue or sharpness on our part but because we are carried high and raised up by the giants that came before us. So too, we must acknowledge the Boost C++ Libraries as the giants that have made occam possible.

"silver sTrade" proof of concept coding and preliminary systems testing was completed from 19 December 2011 to 6 January 2012. Newly christened "occam", development was begun on 10th January 2012.

Short Term Focus FTW

2011-09-15T08:45:00.001+05:30

(Thoughts from a chat conversation last night)

The biggest thing on my mind, at most times, is "Where shall I have lunch?". If today's been done with, then the question oft changes to "Where shall I have lunch tomorrow?" with a sprinkling of "What's for tea?"

Around me, I see friends getting married and having kids and what not. That always scares me because the only thing I'm still worried about is my next snack.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm all for lunch and lunch breaks and the like. It's a good thing this very clear, razor sharp short term focus. I only bring it up because people at my workplace (the minion rank and file ones (which includes me), termed "flunks" by the powers-that-be) are wondering who will tempt them with delicious coffee trips and exotic lunches once I'm gone.

I like to believe that once I'm left, they will hang up a little sign on my desk which reads "Missing, presumably fed". You will, right guys?

(Credits to Douglas Adams for the last bit)

At Right Angles to Reality

2011-09-11T09:15:00.000+05:30

This is about stuff from over 4 years ago. In net-terms that's an era ago: almost infinity. To give you an idea: At that time, hardly anyone I knew read XKCD. I had to explain to most what I liked about a comic which is drawn using stick figures. Abstruse Goose had just started and Dresden Codak was still a flitting thought in Aaron Diaz's mind. I had not come across Reddit yet!

Back then, Sandhya and I created a few panels of a webcomic - a take on the people, stereotypes and popular jokes of IIT. I would write these and Sandhya would use the breaks from her EE-DD to draw them. Then I'd colour them and post online. I wrote a total of about 35 panels, but eventually we drew 7 before the project abruptly halted and was relegated to a "hiatus" stage.

Shashi made some valiant efforts to keep this alive by ripping off our work and putting in his own story-lines: 1 2 3 4 - thanks for the effort and please feel free to rip off any others too :)

Anyhows: Here are the original 7 panels. Here's wishing Goodbye to Nerby.

May 11, 2007: Once Upon a Time, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

May 12, 2007: Strip #2

May 30, 2007: Strip #3

May 30, 2007: Strip #4

May 30, 2007: Strip #5

June 1, 2007: Dead Man's Chest

June 8, 2007: Muthu Returns! Encore!

Goodbye Nerby.

Goodbye Marker-World

2011-09-08T13:57:00.001+05:30

Around this time about 3 years ago, Mohit "Giddu" Gidwani and I were prisoners in that Red-walled sought-after prison complex that we eventually grew to know and love, IIM-A. Desperately seeking some distraction from the pressures of academics, we conceptualized "Marker World".

Marker World was meant to be a geeky, hastily drawn together, 4-colour comic. We planned to etch our imagination on whiteboards using nothing but coloured markers and without Photoshop. We outlined various grandiose plot-lines and flatter-than-paper characters.

On October 21, 2008 we drew our first panel, titled "Hello Marker-World". To be accurate, Giddu drew it while I observed from the sidelines (from the comfortable distance of one bean bag, one could term this "backseat drawing").

Alas, we never did get down to drawing any others, and thus this lonely panel stood like a billboard on the highways of the internet, bravely weathering visitors and changing climes. Over time, the hosting service that kept the images went down and none of us noticed - not unlike those wind-demolished Tata Indicom ads on the Expressway.

Today I am shutting down the Marker World website. It was a grand idea that we never really got started upon. In memory of our times at IIM, here is that one panel which we made with much gutso and enthu.

I miss IIM, with all it's buzz and vigour. The depression and the hukkah. The frisbee and floodlights. And Economics.

Goodbye Marker-World.

Spewing Hate

2011-08-30T16:13:00.003+05:30

This is about Facebook.

Mainly: I hate it.

There - I said so out loud. May the catharsis begin.

My first reaction to every new Facebook feature is... "How do I opt out?". The ever-raging debate: "To add or not to add family". The most inane and boring things I have ever read proudly displayed as status messages. Photos of everyone from your dog to your grandmother. Gah.

Facebook could have made a really good Addressbook. But then they added some features and blew that chance.

So, my recommendation: Sell all your facebook stock, delete your profile and join the offline bandwagon. But then I'm a cynic. And everyone knows - never take life advice from a cynic.

Over The Last Hill We Fly

2011-08-30T16:09:00.002+05:30

Over the last hill we fly.

The shining desert city glitters below

Me, like a jewel a thousand

Pinpricks of Pale Yellow light form

Patterns discernible in the black night.

The sea beyond smells of drunken

Mirth which pays no heed to the

Oppressive norms of society.

How glorious, but this isn't my stop.

SG 306

2011-04-09T00:24:00.002+05:30

"Good evening sir. Welcome to fl-" I switch my brain off. Avoid hearing their artificial welcomes, two facetious smiles and a ripple of Chinese whispers.

I seat myself, buckle in. "Sir may I tell you about..." Yeah yeah bring it on bring it on. Tell me all about the lovely emergency exit. You don't really want to tell me and I definitely do not wish to listen. But unfortunately you have to tell me and I surely must pretend to listen.

Thank you very much.

I'm a row 18 traveller. I know which rows are the back emergency exits with additional legspace (row 18). Which airhostesses are going thru nervous breakdowns (look for the extra puffy eyes) and which damn pilots do not for their lives know how to make a decent announcement (the drunk ones).

I hate being a row 18 traveller.

Is that a Facebook "Like" button? :-O

2011-04-04T15:23:00.007+05:30

Hello All.

Yes the all-pervasive "Like" button has invaded this blog too. I know, I had vowed to stay away from the Facebook AppPlatform and all the evil that it stands for. Unfortunately, Network Effects have willed me to swallow my pride and add the damn button already.

This brings me to a question of netiquette, or rather facebooketiquete: Is it acceptable for one to "Like" one's own blog postings? Anyone?

Cheerio! :-)

PS: For those looking to add the "Like" button to their own blogs, this is the easiest source I could find: http://www.bloggerplugins.org/2010/04/facebook-like-button-for-blogger.html

Banksy: Wall and Piece

2011-04-01T22:56:00.012+05:30

He's a fly by night operator - draws his hood over his dyed hair, he walks into the dead of the night to arrive the scene of the crime. On foot, always on foot. He takes mere minutes to unbundle his cans of paints and specially prepared stencils.

That bizarre photo of a carefully shaded girl child holding a balloon which forms a crayoned "NO FUTURE" over by the bridge street corner was him. That defaced thousand dollar billboard with a wolf-like mouse molesting a famous celebrity was him. His trademark signature drips down, akin to a the Joker leaving a calling card behind a robbed bank.

Banksy is a British graffiti artist and political activist. Known for his contempt of government, Banksy displays his art on public surfaces and is known to even build prop pieces. Lately his every occurrence is labelled as high art and cordoned off, preserved and auctioned off for tons of money, none of which actually goes to him.

His work is vandalism. For ever anti-War depiction of children suffering, he could be put behind bars for 2 years. For every anti-authoritarian slogan written out in 7-foot high capital letters, he could be fined more than he has earned in his lifetime.

There's no light around him. He works in the dark. Banksy steps back and looks at his half complete shade of a starving little boy toting a machine gun, wondering what it'll actually look like in the daylight. He hears sirens in the distance and quietly trots off leaving his precious hour's effort still unrefined. Such is life.

Some of my favourite Baknsky works are shown in the above pictures. Check out banksy.co.uk for more stunning displays of his art.

Queen Bass

2011-03-30T22:19:00.004+05:30

Made while watching the India vs. Pakistan match, which joyfully it seems that we shall win. Quite an entertaining evening in the end.

Pokey Rainbow

2011-03-05T18:24:00.000+05:30

Don't Panic (Reprise)

2011-03-05T10:20:00.004+05:30

And then, the evil aliens tried to blow their spaceship to bits by firing two missiles at them. But thanks to the "improbability drive" that powered the ship, and an accident that involved trying to compute the finest cup of tea, the missiles were transformed into a bowl of flowers and a whale!

The bowl of flowers, it turns out, was a being that had time and again been killed off on various worlds and in various forms by one of the main characters. Thus it exclaimed, "Oh no! Not again!". The whale tried to be friendly to the ground that was rushing up to meet it.

... Just realized how absurd it sounds when I explain HG2G.

Instant Karma

2011-03-01T13:02:00.002+05:30

Story 1:
Douchebag wearing shades and leather jacket at train station decides that lines aren't for him. Cuts line right to the front, shouts at people in queue who tell him to get in line. Tries to buy ticket. Ticket guy says "First class or GTFO!". Douchebag slinks away to end of line which is now much longer. Instant Karma.

Story 2:
Rash driver dude drives rashly on the highway whilst talking on cellphone. Takes a sharp dangerous turn, thus very rudely cutting me off. Continues driving like nothing's happened and blows next signal. Look of satisfaction on my face as he's stopped by cop just 100m downroad from the signal! Instant Karma.

Story 3:

Person laughs at people for falling off windsurfing board. Said people swim and dunk person into water. Forced Instant Karma! (Yes, this one was me :-/)

Share your stories of Instant Karma too! :)

2011 Is Going To Be an Eventful Year

2011-02-13T12:08:00.004+05:30

Tunisia frees itself. Then Egypt frees itself. We watch on in awe. Now Algeria and other countries are rioting for their rights against dictatorships and autocracies.

Anonymous starts where WikiLeaks left and takes the fight to corporations and Big Government. This is going to be interesting. Oh and still waiting for those BofA documents...!

Back home, scam after scam rocks the political establishment. Are we finally saying "enough is enough" to corruption?

In America, the Republican majority seems intent on destroying whatever economic recovery has happened, intent on pushing America further into debt via military spending and the middle class into poverty.

... and we're just 44 days into the year. Eventful 2011 shall be.

Watercolours in the Sand

2011-02-13T01:31:00.006+05:30

The Wise Master of Paint looked up from her easel, admiring the wonderful sunrise as her very own work of art. "It is le finished!" she uttered as she washed the brushes and drained the paint.

She then tipped the many-coloured palette on its side and thick paint splattered onto the beach, mixing and drying, forming a blob. Grimy percolation. Watercolours in the Sand...

The Changing Horoscopes!

2011-01-16T03:16:00.002+05:30

By now you've surely heard of the news going around: Thanks to the eternal and steady drift of the starts, horoscopes once fixed 2000 years ago no longer hold. The start and end dates have shifted - so if you were Leo earlier, possibly you are Virgo now. Or something.

Logically, the question arises - do you look up your horoscope based on when you were born or which sign you fall under in the current setting? But setting that aside, let's turn to something else.

I recently got hold of a copy of "The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan. A paragraph from it reads:

A scientist places an ad in a Paris newspaper offering a free horoscope. He receives about 150 replies, each as requested, detailing a place and time of birth. Every respondent is then sent the identical horoscope, along with a questionnaire asking how accurate the horoscope had been. 94% of the respondents (and 90% if their families and friends) reply that they were at least recognizable in the horoscope. However, the horoscope was drawn up for a French serial killer. If an astrologer can get this far without even meeting his subjects, think how well someone sensitive to human nuances and not overly scrupulous might do.

... just sayin' you know... That's all.

Continuation Planning

2011-01-14T02:46:00.003+05:30

Mozambique is one of the few remaining serene places in the world today, unspoiled by visiting tourists and their ravaging brethren: tour bus operators. Why? Well... mainly because it's a country in Souther Africa with... let us politely say "social problems".

I met a client from Mozambique today. "It's not all that bad", said he, "only rarely do you get robbed. I think it's been only 4 times in the last 10 years for me."

Shock and horror were clearly displayed on my face. I think he caught on to it, for he tried to allay my fears: "Oh it's not a problem. If someone pulls a gun on you, we simply give him all our cash. Then we go back to office and claim it all back. No risk at all!".

And he continued on in his mellow calming voice. I wasn't paying attention though: business plans were churning through my mind. Costs ("Price of red paint?") and target segments ("my frailness would draw in clients") were running through my head.

Outsourcing ("perhaps I can hire people to get robbed for me?") and thoughts of insurance were hammered out as well. Seemed like a perfect business plan.

However, when the topic of "Continuation Planning" was raised... I sort of decided against the idea.

Still. Mozambique. Not all that bad huh?

Can You See The Sun?

2011-01-06T08:09:00.001+05:30

Can you see the Sun?
Misty dawns loom
White light, hard won
For flowers to bloom.

Can you see the Sun?
Midday casts white
Shadows and outlines
Of smoke and mirrors.

Can you see the Sun?
Evening rushes
In a hurry to
Herald a Night Sky.

Photoframe

2010-12-26T08:43:00.001+05:30

Her hair was the photoframe

That completed her face

And compiled it

Into sunshine

Strange Feather

2010-10-10T12:21:00.001+05:30

Dust to Dust

2010-09-22T08:10:00.002+05:30

"I'M SIGNIFICANT!" screamed the speck of dust.

And he was. He had been flicked off Julius Ceasar's tunic as he was stabbed by the Guardians of Democaracy.

He had been a part of the red tikka on Subhas Chandra Bose's forehead as he signed a document in blood.

He was the first to be hit by a radioactive particles at Nagasaki.

He had been catapulted a million miles into the atmosphere and finally landed on the arms of a lone protester who stopped rolling tanks in China.

He was a significant speck of dust.

But now he was being judged. His crime: Hitching a ride on a space shuttle and trying to escape - leave this gravity well.

You see, specs of dust weren't allowed to leave here. It was in their contract. It didn't stop millions of them from trying each year though.

So he was now being judged. The judge: A large, heavy rock. One of the Establishment. Oh they didn't mind not leaving. They had it good. Comfortable. Once people grow up, they have no idea what's cool anymore.

Our Significant Speck of Dust sighed. He knew the end result. Prison. Sentenced to a life of drowning in an ocean and living on the sea floor. A refugee dust particle forever with no chance of escape. He screamed his lungs out.

I think it's time we got this bit of dust to a psychologist.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

2010-09-16T22:51:00.004+05:30

Hashish was a Tinkerer.

That's what we called them. Tinkerers. Loathed by the good bible fearing folks of the town's crowded streets, they hid themselves in Mommy's basement and other dark unnoticed virtual corners.

They aren't Normal. For one, they stay awake after sunset, sometimes All Night. That's how most of them are caught anyway.

Though, they have it fairly easy in this country. East of here, Tinkerers are publicly quartered every weekend. "For Sport". At a time when the biggest religions are publicly traded in stock markets, it ain't wise to anger the Mobs of Belief.

If my father had his way, they'd all be locked up and exposed to small doses of Alpha-radiation. Not enough to kill, just enough to grotesquely mutate - he thought the irony was perfect: they'd finally resemble their damned creations in the end.

Flea Market

2010-08-11T19:52:00.006+05:30

"Come pick a religion! I've got plenty to choose from!" cried the hawker on the street corner, “The best deals in eternity! Original Sins and Voodoo dolls, all at half prices!”

Maya and Samir stepped up to examine his wares. “You can get some excellent deals in the black market,” said Maya, “you just need to know how to bargain.”

The lazy flea market settled down in this corner of the city every Wednesday, catering to the religious needs of one and all. The Rich Ones visited the North side of the market. They parked their Jaguars above the street, its gorgeous underbelly sharply visible to the envious crowd below.

Maya took a step back and glanced down the street. A year ago she wouldn’t have dreamt of visiting this – the East side of the market. The Poor Side. No air conditioned “official” vendors like the North, here hawkers and knock-off salesmen reigned supreme.

Samir followed her. He saw salesmen of all sorts - some in brightly coloured attire, others in black sober suits and a cornered minority, stoned and stark naked. They handled different segments of the market ofcourse. He was shocked by the variety and the noise. It was his
first visit here after all.

He caught the glint off the golden teeth of a holy preacher. His robe and missing fingers immediately gave away his faith. Sometime in the past, not content with merely disfiguring hidden parts of the human body, some bold faiths had resorted to birth-sacrifices of toes, eyelids and even fingers. These sacrifices were not only for differentiation, but also a cost-effective way of preventing conversion.

Maya circled back to the street corner. A dense but radiant design in the corner seemed interesting. Bright colours and paganism was in vogue again these days.

She pointed. “How much?”

“20% of your income for the next two years."

"Whaat? That's too high!"

Ah, a bargaining tactic thought Samir. Inexperienced in recreational religion as he was, he knew this was a steal! Plus if serviced properly, it would easily be a few years before they bored of it.

They settled at 5%. "Well back to the University", she thought, as she hid her most recent purchase within her. It was illegal on Campus ofcourse.

Red Panda

2010-08-04T11:32:00.003+05:30

Mowgli looks upon his cute Red Panda friend, Kichi. An opening scene from Jungle Book Shõnen.

I had watched Jungle Book many years ago. It was on the very edge of my memory when someone reminded me of this absolutely cute and adorable critter.

So, I give you, my first coloured vector drawing. Made in Adobe Illustrator CS3 as usual.

The Lost 'D': Unexpected Results

2010-07-29T00:48:00.000+05:30

My regular readers (reader?) will know that I have recently turned a campaigner for Lost 'D's. (Read here first to understand the story thus far)

In my cafeteria, there is one such sign. It reads "Close". Just the other day, I informed the office boy (who deals with such matters) that indeed "Close" is completely incorrect and can lead to infections diseases. I explained at length what my Grade 4 grammar teacher had taught me.

And lo! By lunchtime, the sign had been corrected! It now said "Closed"! Joyously I whistled to myself and did not get bummed that (as always) in my hunger, I had turned up at the cafeteria an hour too early.

But that's not all: With great understanding comes great responsibility! This enthusiastic guy, he actually corrected such signs all over the office! Everywhere I looked, "Closed" signs looked back at me, and I was satisfied that I had helped the world become a better place.

I walked towards the stairwell and passed a door. I paused to read the sign:

"Please closed the door after entering."

Kindergarten grammar lessons flashed in my head. I just walked away from the abomination, took long calming breaths and tried to get a grip on my understanding of the world.

The Lost 'D'

2010-07-29T00:39:00.001+05:30

I like wandering the streets in the night. The cool darkness and empty streets induces a certain kind of joy. It's a pleasant break from all the seething crowds and unholy car horns. Unfortunately, there is a phenomenon I increasingly observe that turns my mild joy into a seething rage.

What I refer to is the common practice of shops placing placards on their doors, one side of which reads "Open" and the other reads "Close". Close? CLOSE? I look around, hunting for the lost 'D'. Perhaps it fell down. Perhaps it is just a bit darker than the other letters. But no, sign after sign stubbornly continues to read "Close".

I ask myself if a hundred shopkeepers could be wrong. Am I the mistaken one in all this? In my shaken faith, I turn to what my Grade 4 grammar teacher taught me:

"Is the shop open? No it is not."
"Is the shop closed? Yes it is." "

"Is the shop close? Dear Parent, your son is incapable of learning English. Please go burn in Hell."

And this small thorn in my side will continue to prick away at my conscience for hours and hours. "Do something", says Inner EssDee, "Roam around with black markers and 'D' stickers!"

I know, in this increasingly "vher ru" and "omg mai english sux lol im so proud" world of texts and SMS, it's become rather difficult to become a campaigner for lost 'D's. Yet, Inner EssDee refuses this as a rationale for doing nothing.

So, I am left with no resort, but to turn to what a wise 6-year old once prayed for on August 28, 1992: I pray for the strength to change what I can, the inability to accept what I can't and the incapacity to tell the difference.

Thus, I hereby resolve to roam the streets from here on with a general air of haughtiness as I inform offenders of their grievous transgressions.

Inner Me says that I will lead an interesting life.

Haber Process

2010-07-20T20:24:00.004+05:30

On a little incident that happened, oh I dunno about 14 billion years ago (6000 years according to some).

God was happy, strolling about the edge of the Universe, which was all dark and empty since nothing had been created yet.

So here He was, whistling, being nonchalant and generally having a good time when he had a solid brainwave: He would create Man. Oh, what a jolly idea!

So he lists all the dependencies required for the creation of Man and then gets started. He picks his most ominous, most deep and mesmerising voice and utters in loud tones, "LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

And there was... still nothing. "Damn!”, he muttered. "How does one go about this?", he wondered.

And to the rescue came the brooding Lucifer. He sighed and blinked his left eye and created billions and trillions of atoms of Hydrogen.

"Are you effing crazy?", exclaimed God, "You're filling my Universe with absolute junk man!"

And Lucifer replied, which brings us to the punch line of this particular blog post:

Hydrogen is a light, colourless, odourless gas, which given enough time turns into people.

Lucifer is genius.

A Call to Arms!

2010-05-23T19:01:00.003+05:30

On the evening news, there is a thin red line drawn neatly across South India, above Kerela and moving onto the Bay of Bengal covering the Andamans. The area south of this line is coloured with a slight grey tone while the rest of the map remains clear.

This line shows the progression of the Indian Monsoon as it slowly inches forward every day. Luckily, every inch on the map is hundred of miles IRL, so it should be here soon.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the monsoons are almost here. A respite from the heat, yada yada. I don't care about that. What really matters is that the trekking season is here.

All I'm saying is that those who would like to come along on a trek anytime this monsoon (in particular the first trek, which will happen on the weekend after the first monsoon rains (most probably mid-June)), let me know (now or later) that you wish to come along. I'll remember to call you.

I've had enough of trying to get people to come along on fun things and then they're like "oh but this...". So screw it. I am going. If you want to come then you're most welcome. Otherwise, GTFO.

That is all, gentle people. That is all. Let the awesomeness begin.

How Baccha Got His Name, According to Drunk KP (Part 1 of Many)

2010-05-16T19:01:00.005+05:30

When he was in college, late one night he wandered the mean streets of Thane. He felt the chill cold air and it told him that danger was afoot. Being the hero that he was, he went looking for it.

A few streets down there was a lady, a princess of the night. She wore white, the kind that it is easy to see emotions written on. She was scurrying home from a hard day at work. The evil street Lord, almost invisible in the dark night, flashed his knife and closed upon her as she backed away afraid into a dark alley.

In her fear she turned to her mother language and screamed in Hindi: bachao bachao.

Our hero heard her call and answer'd with a karate-filled rage that would frighten even battle-hardened Spartans. And thus the princess was saved.

Ever since that day, our good friend always answered to the call of "bachao" and in time it was modified to Baccha, thus his name.

Surfboard Battle! (Day 3)

2010-05-15T11:01:00.006+05:30

A beautiful morning, calm after the storm. Today was a day of sailing and surfboard battles.

We repaired the damage of the previous evening and rigged the sails and boats in the morning.

Kaizad and I decided that to truly be able to use the wind, we must understand how sailboats work. Thus, we hopped into a fast, low sailboat with a very vividly coloured sail, the "Topper".

Riding in the Topper is a charm. It just moves so effortlessly. Seen above is me leaning out to balance the boat against the wind. And it's so vibrant! Look at the reds and oranges and yellows of the sail!

We picked up the surfboards and sailed around a bit, but the main event of the day was... Surfboard Wars!

First we managed to get more than 1 person standing on the same board (Oh and the many times we fell into the water trying!). The next step? Battle! The first one to lose balance and fall into the water loses!

Surfboard Wars was incredible. Add to that the many variations of the fight and I must have fallen into the water atleast a hundred times!

In one battle of me versus Murtuza, we both valiantly refused to lose balance. At times the board was almost flipped, but we somehow kept upright. Eventually we had to revoke the 'non contact' clause and push each other off the board!

The blue sail boat (I think it's called the "Enterprise") looks beautiful. Big sails and a wide steady hull. I must try sailing this one next time.

On Day 3, we did quite a bit of windsurfing as well. By now all three of us had picked up the basics, but had difficulties sailing at angles against the wind.

A small physics discussion with Kaizad about wind and apparent wind led to new fundaes and on Day 4, we managed to sail properly. But here's the cool thing: Most often, a windsurfing board moves faster than the wind! For example, in a 7 knot wind, the surfer often travels at 11 to 12 knots and recollecting our vector mathematics from high school, this changes the apparent direction of the wind! Keeping track of all this and changing the sail direction to catch the wind was Day 4, which you shall read tomorrow. :)

EPIC Day 2

2010-05-14T10:16:00.009+05:30

Day 2 of windsurfing. Today we learn to sail. Or atleast that's what the plan was. Nature, it seems, decided otherwise. We didn't learn sailing on Day 2, but it proved to be a more epic day than I've seen in ages.

It started very well. We got the sails going, learnt about how to steer (it involves turning the whole sail and shifting it's position!) and how to stand in a sailing position. It's amazing - turn the sail, force it into the wind and hold on - the wind carries you forward effortlessly!

The winds were really exciting on Day 2. Perfect sailing weather for quite a while. They got out the fancier sailboat and the 29er (a high performance skiff that tends to capsize rather easily!).

The 29er is bloody fast. Seen here overtaking the light blue sailboat whilst going upwind. The little Opti sailboats and the kayaks were all around, having a good time.

And then it hit.

A massive thunderstorm picked up while we were all out at sea.

I was out beyond the bend as the winds were picking up, unable to control the sail or the board. Kaizad and Parry came up in kayaks to rescue me. Kaizad tried for a bit, but could not hold the sail up either. We headed back in our kayaks and Parry took the sail.

Rowing back in waves bigger than most seas in dingy little boats was madness. Every moment we didn't row, the wind and current carried us away from our heading. But we reached shore eventually and by now the wind was really picking up.

Now there was a kid in one of those tiny opti sailboats out in the waves as well. His boat had not only capsized (turned over on the side) but actually overturned (upside down). It was impossible for him to upright it. At the edge of our visibility, a rescue party was launched.

A 2-man kayak headed towards him, battling high waves and impossible winds. We were scurrying around carrying the boats out of water, tying up the sails and what-not. It was hard work with the rain pelting down upon us.

The kayak eventually reached the opti, but the visibility was less than 150m and we had no idea what was happening to them. We launched our own land-rescue effort - carried a bunch of rope and traversed the shoreline towards them.

Eventually we could see the overturned opti sailboat, but there was no sign of the kayak or the 3 people who should have been there. One sailor planned to sail out to the opti whilst carrying rope and then we from the land would pull it in.

But alas, this is when the hail hit us. Yes, real hail. Stones of ice. Ouch, that hurts. And we crouched trying to protect our heads from the hail. Clearly now our rescue would be impossible as we sought shelter near a wall.

All the while we could (just about) see the sailboat, but no people, wondering where they were. Eventually we braved the hail and ran back to camp.

And there we waited for the storm to pass.

...

Eventually (hours later actually), all the boats and people were rescued. The kid in the opti really played it well. He didn't freak out, just held on to the boat for his life. One windsurfing board had been lost, but everyone was alive and kicking. In retrospect, the storm was an amazing experience. It really showed us how vulnerable we are to the winds and the surf.

Our first first-hand experience at disaster rescue. Sigh. I want to go back to Khadakvasla now.

Wipeout! (Windsurfing Day 1)

2010-05-13T09:59:00.014+05:30

Abhiroop, Kaizad and I went windsurfing last week. It was a 4-day sailing camp at Kharagvasla Lake and we had an absolutely incredible time.

Our first look at the lake. Breathtakingly beautiful, calm with a little breeze. Colourful toppers and white sailboats and green shade. We just handed out high fives 'cuz this was going to be awesome!

We soon jumped into the lake with our surfboards. Within 10 seconds of trying to climb on the board, everyone had fallen off! WIPEOUT! Here are some epic Wipeouts:

Board-balancing is one tough step. It takes a lot of quick reflexes and fear of falling into water to succeed. But wiping out is fun too.

Here is me doing some surfboard acrobatics:

By the evening, we had gotten the hang of balancing on them boards. Drenched but still alive, it was time to learn to lift the sail out of the water:

That sail is huge, and even though it's quite light once it's in the air, lifting it is quite difficult with all that water on it. Lifting it whilst ensuring that you don't fall off is... well it takes a few tries.

We felt quite like trapeze artists, balancing on surfboards while juggling sails etcetra. Our arms also felt quite dead from all the kayaking and paddling. For you see, since we cannot sail yet, we tend to drift along the water. The only way to get back is to tow the damn thing back. Ever tried rowing? It's a lot of effort. Now think of that with a a giant sail dragging in the water!

Here's our coach-person, Parry, showing us how it's done. Effortless for him. Parry is a really nice guy and was always looking out for us. He also hangs his mobilephone around his neck while surfing. Pure badass.

Oh, and look: Cute little sailboats! (called "Optees")

And now we head to Pune to meet Krishna, party and watch a movie ("Hot Tub Time Machine"). Unfortunately we only managed to get dinner and fall asleep. Ah how tired we were. Ah how happy we were.

My Prediction

2010-05-11T19:25:00.002+05:30

In the future (~100 years or so), humans will derive a major chunk of their daily energy requirements from direct photosynthesis. We will have injected such genes into our DNA to make our skin create sugars instead on Vitamin D on exposure to sunlight. It just seems like the way to go.

Mom will still crib that I don't 'eat' enough though.

Gaara

2010-04-22T19:23:00.002+05:30

Made in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Sod Sena

2010-04-17T09:26:00.002+05:30

Edit: It seems this blog format isn't big enough and the right edge is cut off a little. Please click here to watch it in YouTube. Fullscreen it!

All Hail, The SOD Sena is here.

Made in 2007 for Sod's Valfi.
Script and Direction: Kunal Pareek
Camera: Vanitha D'Silva

Death

2010-04-13T12:43:00.004+05:30

I dreamt of Death; she was an exquisite lady. And she said, "Give me your hand."

Made in Adobe Illustrator CS3. Inspired from Sandman by Neil Gaiman.

The Crow Had Two Socks (Storybuilding Part 1)

2010-04-08T17:37:00.010+05:30

This is a story about Chaos 2006. Yes, really it is. Just a few days before Rylan fell into a ditch. Quite funny, so read on...

We were all chillin' n relaxin' at IIMA Chaos 2006. We'd already done Western Band, Rangoli, Wall Painting, JAM and a couple of others when we decided that we were clearly not participating in enough competitions. Looking down the list, we saw a certain fixture titled "Story Building, Team of 4".

We thought that it would be some kind of a creative writing competition and so we gathered up 4 troopers – Avinav, KP, Sumitken and me – we decided to enter this. We hunted for and found pens to write with and went up to CR3.

As we entered and sat, it dawned upon us that this was not indeed a creative writing competition. It was an impromptu speaking competition! Even as we struggled to shut our mouths at the realization, we were called up to speak extempore.

It went like this: They would read us a starting line; we would have to start speaking right away and complete the story, each person speaking for 30 seconds. At the end of 30 seconds, they would sound a clap and the next person would have to take over instantly.

Our starting line was: "A Crow Had Two Socks". And thus the story started with me speaking:

A Crow Had Two Socks, but he didn't know what to do with it. So, with his friend "Tripod", he went to the Himalayas to speak to the Wise Baba Moksha. Baba Mosksha uttered only a few syllables in Hindi: "Ka Mera, Ka Tera; (dramatically) Ka Mera, Ka Tera."

And suddenly Tripod had found his meaning in life: He had found Camera (pronounced Ka Mera)! Camera said her life was too unstable without Tripod and Tripod said he was nothing without Camera.

*clap* (Sumitken takes over)

The soon got married and decided to go on a long honeymoon. But alas! On the honeymoon, Camera was caught filming sex tapes!!! She commits suicide out of embarrassment and Tripod was left broken hearted. HE SOUGHT REVENGE ON THE WORLD for his misfortune.

To this end, he formed a boy band with his brothers: The three brothers Tripod, Dipod and iPod formed this boy band.

*clap* (Avinav's turn to speak)

They sang songs and became rich and famous and girls swooned over them, but that was never their plan because *all* boy bands are gay. He had failed at his revenge, so he quit the boy band...

He quit the boy band and consulted his father Apple. The wise old Apple scratched his Adam's apple and said, "de gur gur de nat de phat de gur de bhat."

*clap* (Now KP come forth)

Tripod did not understand. "de gur gur de nat de phat de gur de bhat."

Finally he understood. He went into the forest and found a deer and he caught it's tail and twisted it. Thus, there was a twist in the tale and Camera came back to life and they lived happily ever after!

THE END to applause!

Phew!.. Yeah that was the story we cooked up for Round 1. Someday I might pen down the later rounds as well, which were equally random.

Oh and did I mention that on the way back, Rylan was being awesome. Check him out if you haven't read it already.

Sayonara, see you in Round 2.

Brit Rock. Not Stonehenge.

2010-04-02T14:06:00.004+05:30

I went for a concert. I (well technically Grishma) was on the list. We went there and said, "Grishma Rao + 2. We're on the list." And we were given instant access, no entry fee or anything.

I've always wanted to be one of those listey people. It feels nice. And it saves a buttload of cash too. Here are some photos.

Note: I was drinking Coke. Not Old Monk + Coke.

You Did What?

2010-04-01T11:20:00.004+05:30

I was chatting with Rylan. It went something like this:

R: What's up?
S: I'm meeting gentle KP for dinner.
R: Gentle is he?
S: Yes, ever since he fell off that cliff, anything but the touch of finest silk causes him to groan in agony.
R: Gladly it seems someone has finally topped my ditch-falling. Is ol' Hurr-Durr in town?
S: No, he's in Pune.
R: You think he'd mind if we popped in at 3 AM for chai?
S: I'm sure he would, but I fail to see how that's a factor...

At 12:30 AM, we (Baccha, Rylan and I (Gentle KP had been invited too, but he is a boring twat now)) left Mumbai for Pune. Our mission: To knock on Krishna's hotel room and yell "Surprise!". It was sure to fry his brain.

Along with us was a wondrous choice of music – 2 CDs of Dire Straits, 1 of Santana and a CD of 40 shady pop songs from the 90's. The choice was unanimous and powered of such class acts as Hanson, All Saints and Five, we powered onwards, stopping only once at 2 AM for paanipuri at the roadside (FTW?! I know!).

One beautiful drive later, we arrived at the fair, albeit deserted, city of Pune. We knew not where to go and after driving around blindly for a while, spotted an individual on the roadside. As we skid to a stop near him, trying to ask him directions, he ordered us straight ahead. It occurred to us that he was highly interested in us leaving without delay. It also occurred to us that we had interrupted the man... uhm... midstream, so to speak. Ah, such are the things that happen on road trips.

So, straight we drove. We realized that in Pune, any two points can be reached by driving exactly straight. Atleast the directions given to us seemed to indicate so.

Once again, quite close to our destination, we knew not how to proceed. There was a hotel nearby called Brookside. Rylan and Baccha went up to the reception to ask for directions. Switching to Rylan's first person account: "It was deserted. There was this guy in the corner, fast asleep with his mouth open and drooling, his pants unbuttoned and his hands inside. Now how does one wake up such a man to ask for directions? Poking him and asking him for the next hotel somehow seemed wrong. We went back to the reception and clapped loudly whilst simultaneously turning away as if we had no idea of the source of said sound. The guya woke and took a minute to tuck himself back together before giving us instructions while sporting a massive look of disapproval. It is possible that we interrupted him in the midst of a very good dream."

3:30 AM. Finally we arrived at Krishna's hotel. Story: It's his birthday and we need to surprise him, so reception should not ring his room. Backup plan: If they insist on ringing, then we'd say to tell him that Sir Bulla-bhai had come to meet him :D

Reception did not indeed call his room and we stood outside ringing his bell in sets of 5 beats. There was no response from within and we heard the TV on, the inhabitant had fallen asleep whilst watching IPL apparently. Clearly we had reached our destination correctly.

About 100 rings later, finally Lord Ludi awoke and opened the door. "SURPRISE!". And oh man, the expression on his face was priceless. It was a mixture of disbelief, astonishment, round-eyed "WTF?" and speechlessness. We should have carried a camera.

So to answer the question in the title, we went on an impromptu midnight road trip and turned up at Krishna's hotel at 3:30 AM, thus successfully frying his brain and having a hell good time driving on the expressway. That is all. :)

Solar Flare in Ultraviolet

2010-03-25T18:52:00.005+05:30

If you close your eyes and look directly at the Sun, this is what you see. In Ultraviolet.

IPL Madness

2010-03-23T15:41:00.003+05:30

Live IPL matches are amazing fun. We were 4 rows from the pitch and I danced and shouted all night long. Here is me (carrying sign). MI lost in the end, but by then I had switched loyalties :D ... also RC had better cheerleaders.

His Majesty, Sir Kunal

2010-03-20T01:07:00.004+05:30

I am the great, one and only, totally magnificent marvelous all round good guy. Yes, I am Sir Kunal.

The other day, I was at an office outing and rather enjoying myself, which is quite a feat. An air of tediousness is often found hanging about office outings, mainly a result of minions completely confused in the informal, yet officey environment.

But I ofcourse, had no such problems. I said what I thought and held back no words coated with uncertain sugar. I could freely speak my mind, for I am brave and unconcerned with appearances and also I had recently quit (the very same office job).

To prove my point, I walked up to one of the many vassals and called him a reproductive organ. Why? Because I could. Because that is who I am. Sir Kunal.

But the inevitable mundane conversation grew tiresome. Off I went exploring the hills and soon came to a group of giggling women at the bottom of a small, albeit vertical, cliff.

Women exist to be impressed by my awesome skillz. Thus, in a bid to perform said impressing, I challenged them to climb the cliff. This was all a part of my secret plan to get them to dare ME to climb the cliff. While wearing floaters. And slightly inebriated.

My secret plan succeeded.

"Poof," I said, with a touch of "I could do that with one hand tied behind my back". I accepted their challenge knowing that once I succeeded, they shall swoon all over me.

I took a few seconds to utter an wicked laugh to myself and wring my hands in an evil manner. Muahahahahahaha. Then to the climb.

And so I climbed. Up and up I went and before I knew it, I was 40 feet in the air. I could feel the aura of swooning-ness emanating from them chicks below. I could feel the earth and rocks in my face as I slowly turned to face the world from my awesome vantage spot. This is EPIC, I thought.

Yes, finally! I shall be king of all I survey! Off with their heads!

Alas! But unfortunately I underestimated my rivals. No doubt utterly jealous of my success, one of my competitors had hurled rocks at me from above in an effort to undermine my efforts. And the worst part is that he did triumph.

And down I fell to the ground, scraping and screaming all the way. "Crunch" was the sound I remember. Ouch. By a miracle, I had avoided becoming the Late Great Sir Kunal, but only by a miracle. Foiled by some confounded minions. How embarrassing.

The world then proceeded to go black as I was cooking up a rescue story (in which I was the hero) to tell the world, lest they accuse me of being an inept climber.

...

Cool story bro.

Internet Deaddiction Camp

2010-02-15T11:24:00.005+05:30

Okay, I finally admit it. I'm addicted to the Internet. I'm sitting here in a not-completely-uninteresting class writing this blog, which totally and completely (redundancy required) proves my point.

Luckily, just this week, internet and video game addiction was downgraded by the psychiatric-powers-that-be (in the US) from a nicotine-type addiction to a more benign "case of lack of self-control" (like gambling).

Redditing , YouTubeing (Yes, there is an "ei" in there) and social networking (even though I don't use Facebook!) is really taking up too much of my time and in the war of the real world vs. the anonymous one, there's too much of a rush in learning about new, fascinating, amazing (though sometimes disturbing) stuff about the world.

Till about a month back, it was quite under control and I actually did work a *lot* through December and January. But now that workload's trailed off, I've transitioned from "sit in front of comp 18 hours working" to "ditto-but not working".

So, I've decided to quit, almost-cold turkey. I begin this new week with an aim to get online time under control again. Thus, all online activities, including watching videos of any kind, shall be permissible only betweek 2 AM and 6 AM.

Basically, my love for sleep and my internet addiction can fight it out and in the end, I'll have time for everything in the real world, thus making me the winnah! :D

Okay, best of luck to me. Bye now.

All Is Full of Trips

2010-02-06T11:47:00.006+05:30

I just spoke to His Majesty, the Lord Ludi Krishna Ramkumar to found out how KP is doing. Oh wait! Do you know what happened to KP? OMG you don't know? He fell off a cliff! Really!

I ain't joking he really did fall off a cliff! I mean... who does that?? So no he is all battered and bruised and lying in bed. Apparently he can hobble now, oh it won't be soon before he can actually walk. I'm sure he's secretly enjoying all the attention that has been bestowed upon him.

But anyhow I digress. I had called Krishna. Now Krishna has this astounding ability (bordering super-power) of never being where I think he his. Drawing on my vast repertoire of previous observations, my consideration set for his whereabouts included such locations as Pune, Bombay, Germany (you may think this does not happen often, but it is so) and Manipal.

He was at none of these locations. He was instead at Nagpur. Watching a cricket TEST match no less! I mean... who does that??

Anyhow, the point I was trying to make is essentially this: I hope that in the near future I have enough money and time to randomly hop off on trips whenever I fancy (which will probably turn out to be every weekend).

One of the great side effects of this is ofcourse that when people call me, I can say stuff like "Oh yeah, I'm in Leh. How's life?"

:)

Greenpeace

2009-12-05T00:22:00.002+05:30

I finally joined Greenpeace as a volunteer.

I think this was in the making ever since I came across my first Greenpeace activist in Hiranandani in '98 or '99. It was outside (what is now) Haiko. At that time I had no clue about climate change or whaling or whatever - I just saw a bunch of these guys had set up a little stall and were trying to get some attention.

But at getting attention they failed. Miserably. One lady infact mistook "Greenpeace" for "green peas" and inquired about it, only to turn away in a huff when she realized her mistake.

At that time, my schooldays, I didn't get pocket money or anything. I remember taking 100 bucks from mom to buy something big, and with that purpose I was in Hiranandani.

So here I was, looking at these youngish activists, probably college students somewhere. I kinda just felt bad that everyone was ignoring them and that's what prompted me to go and see what they were pushing.

They gave me a few pamphlets and told me long stories about Greenpeace, about Rainbow Warrior and their efforts to stop whaling. That's when I recalled a Discovery Channel show about them and all the stuff they did. (I used to be an avid watcher of the Discovery Channel. Back then it was really great!)

At that time, I thought what they did was really gutsy and a little stupid. But I agreed with the message. As I went off, I felt a little sad that no one here seemed to care about any of this stuff.

I ended up making a Rs. 50 contribution towards Greenpeace. Rs. 50 is like nothing, but back then I could buy a Frankie outside school for Rs. 10, and I got that Rs. 10 from my parents only once or twice a week!

So that was it - a little kid makes a tiny contribution. It was surely forgotten moments later.

Now to be honest, I don't support all the messages that greenpeace puts across. I also think that invading nuclear facilities is not right, infact it is downright stupid.

But there are 2 issues where I think Greenpeace makes perfect sense – climate change and defending the oceans by protecting marine reserves. They may be sensationalist, but they are doing something.

For too long, I didn't join because of the differences in thought. But now that I think about it, that was stupid. I have now joined because there is enough in common.

Lets be frank – unless we enact change now, the world is going over the brink. The Earth will survive well enough, but we will not. Closer to home, India is projected to be one of the hardest hit countries by this.

Now I know you're gonna say "climategate" and "scandal" and "only a theory" and all that bullshit. Get a life. Some researchers may have cut corners, but that does not mean all of science is wrong. To me, it shows that some organization somewhere (supposedly funded by Exxon according to some sources) paid good money and organized the resources to hack into research organizations, and proceeded to scan emails and release the ones that seemed controversial.

Indeed, if there was cutting of corners by researchers, I'm glad that someone revealed it. All it means is that we need to take the raw data and re-examine it.

Anyhow, I ramble on for too long. Bottomline, we all need to get involved.

tl;dr I joined Greenpeace. I don't agree completely with what they say, nevertheless I will volunteer for events in India. You should sign up too.

Science. It works, bitches.

2009-11-21T08:18:00.009+05:30

I saw this (pic, see it!) on the internets (on Reddit infact) yesterday. My first reaction was - it's not possible. It's just not. It had to be glued or something.

But curiosity happens. I spent an hour with a paper and pencil trying to work out the physics behind it. At 6 AM, i had finally constructed my own version of it (using only a stick and my pocket-knife). Here it is:

Doesn't it seem impossible? The rod sticks out with no apparent support to hold it up! The only torque is downwards! How is it staying there? But there is no glue or anything. It is simply mechanics.

(Original concept by PhilixBefore. Free body diagram by omicron8.)

Harishchandragad – The First Trek

2009-11-19T05:14:00.006+05:30

Harishchandragad. The very very first trek we did. Certainly it was one of the more difficult treks I've done (perhaps only Kulang was more rigorous), it was not particularly green either. And we were lost and sans-water "almost-dead" too. But if this trek had not been so amazing, so much fun, then I would never have gone on those hundreds of other ones.

Now I wonder if I would ever have got to know Krishna and KP so well, and Ankoor Das at all, had we not gone on this trek.

Junta. (L to R):

Jerome, PD, Me, Das, (who is that?), KP, Krishna (photographer)

Ummmmm... Yeah. We're lost.

Konkankada. What an Insane drop!

Ah Waters! We have waters again!

The valley as we crossed hills

KP's bullock cart. :)

It would have been so cool to write down those "Trek Diaries" we always said we would but never got around to doing. Maybe I should do it for real this time.

Happy 4th Birthday, Dear Blog

2009-11-19T04:46:00.004+05:30

I'm simply amazed that this blog has not died. I started it so long ago, back in my third year in IIT. Blogging was just becoming a fad back then and I had decided to give it a try. So did a lot of other people, almost everyone I know.

As the fad passed, the internets was littered with dead blogs, and many phoenixy ones as well. Luckily, this one survived. Over 4 years, I've written a little more than 200 posts - approximately 1 a week.

For me, this blog is a very special. It's one of those few hobbies or pastimes or whatever that I have kept alive for any length of time. Over these four years it really has become a sort of diary, a place where I can return to see what I thought and felt over the years.

There was a point when I almost abandoned it. Around December 2006 to April 2007 I wrote not a single post. I was bored. I didn't feel like posting. It's not like I had anything substantial to say anyway.

Luckily I discovered Maya, Vue and Apophysis in April 2007, and mediocre CG artwork drove the next many post-lets. That and shady cribbu posts. I am very cribbu. I remember they wrote that in my valfi as well.

Now, I post once in a while. A sort of whenever type of thing. I'm quite sure that this blog won't perish now. It's passed that point. I'm happy for that.

Wow, it's really been 4 years.

Happy Birthday, dear Blog. And a big Thank You to all those who still read it... I wonder how many still do...

Naneghat

2009-11-15T00:11:00.006+05:30

Krishna, KP and I had trekked to Naneghat sometime this August.

I need a Coffee Shack

2009-11-09T07:12:00.001+05:30

The IIMA campus is nothing like the IITB campus. There are no tree-lined roads, no cool breezy lakeside, no 20 minute walks to the classroom where you can imagine made-up worlds and elaborate ninja-battles. There aren't any crazy people who play monopoly in the middle of the night, none of the partying and none of the booze.

Sure, there is frisbee which is better than all the sports I played in IIT. But so much else is missing. Most of all, this place needs a coffee shack.

A place to just sit on lazy afternoons with minutes without conversation and a pun thrown in to indicate still-aliveness.

A place for everyone to come and haggle for free food and coffee – for measly treats, yet sizable gestures.

A place where I can sit at all day whilst bunking class. Sit and read comics, books and graphic novels.

It was the life of IIT. I recall Mood I junta being described (by Renta?) as the largest group of people at coffee shack where no one is talking to anyone else – they're all on their cellphones!

A place for companions, old and not-so-old, simply land up and someone is surely loitering around. That's what I need here – some good old wasting time, not in front of a computer but out there talking, laughing and drinking coffee.

Oh, how I wish for Coffee Shack.

Splash!

2009-11-01T11:12:00.001+05:30

Experiments with Gelusil and Mixed Fruit Juice

2009-10-12T20:43:00.003+05:30

[And ice tea and potatoes]

... and the trusty camera that shot them:

Muhahahahhahahahah.

OMGX AWESOMENESS!

2009-10-12T19:54:00.006+05:30

CHDK.

Made.

This.

Possible.

Taken using a Canon Powershot SD1000 (a point-and-shoot camera about the size of a credit card) and an exposure time of 1/10000 secs, and very wierd ISO and flash settings.

It took 2 hours to hack the firmware and then an hour to get it to take pics! Grishma was constantly moving her hand at high speeds to check whether the camera was working!

Finally, experimenting with flash sync and ISO settings, we managed to get a non-black and non-white picture. Then we moved on to taking these pics. It was totally awesome fun.

We need coloured lights. And coloured water. And thicker, more viscous fluids. Any ideas?

<menacing_voice>... This is only the beginning. Muahhahahahhhah.</menacing_voice>

PS: Please view hi-res by clicking on the pics! :)

How I Got My Name (According to the Venerable Saint KP)

2009-10-12T00:58:00.005+05:30

Apparently, my father was a most enthusiastic runner. He used to run to work, run back from work and also run whilst on lunch break. He even ran to his convocation.

His absolutely favourite phrase, as it is for any self-respecting runner, was "Ready, Steady, Go!". Unfortunately, he was, evidently, from a hidden South-Indian island where due to local language pressures, he only learnt to say "Reddy, Seddy, Gho!"

And later, deciding to name me after his passion, he named me Seddy.

In time, I was knighed, and hence became Sir Seddy. And ofcourse, what use is a knight without a coat of armour and a singh? Hence I came to be called "Sir Seddy Singh". Apparently the alliteration appealed so much to me that I legally changed my name.

Of this story, I was not aware and I am extremely glad that dear KP brought it to my notice. I am forever indebted to you for telling me.

Oh, For A Cake!

2009-10-05T22:54:00.014+05:30

This is a story. A true story indeed. It took place almost 1 year-and-a-half ago, in Goa. It's the story of a bike ride. The task - to fetch a cake.

You see, Chaitrali had just celebrated her birthday and Krishna had got her a most excellent cake and wine as well. Now, it was KP's turn and we decided to awesomeofy his day. This involved: (a) Wishing him. (We always forget 'coz his b'day lies in the middle of Summer. To be honest, it was a fair exchange since he never got birthday bumps either). (b) Getting him a cake! (c) Letting him cut his cake in the hotel pool-side bar while sitting inside the pool lounging like a king.

KP arrived in Goa in his own unique true trailblazing style, albeit a whole 2 days late. He hitchhiked "all the way" there. Now while hitchhiking, travel is only possible till about 5 PM, post which a place to put up for the night needs to be sought. For a person who can only get up at 11, this posed a problem. So, after getting only about 200 Km in 3 days (already 1 day late), he simply hopped on a train heading in the right direction and got there.

Upon arrival, he was promptly mistaken for a ragpicker (it was the stench). Jigisha also burned him pretty bad by shaving off the stubble on only half his face. See the pic. It was quite funny :-)

In the meantime, we were up to buying lots of beer. 4 crates of Kings beer at Rs. 12 a pint! This was supposed to be my "getting-into-IIM" gift. Only, the results had been delayed. I bought the beer anyway. Then, we proceeded to close-pack them. What you see here in only HALF of the bottles. The rest are in the other fridge. As you can see, lots of chemistry fundae have been applied to fit them in. This was Joydeep's work. He is clearly destined for great things.

Now, about the bike ride, here we all are pretending that we've forgotten KP's birthday. Already 9 hours into the day (counting from midnight ofcourse) and no one's wished him. I'm sure he must have been debating, "Should I tell them? Will that appear too needy? Ah screw it! I AM needy. I should tell them. But nooo... they'll make fun it it. Hmm. This is difficult."

On the next pic, before you judge us, we were pretending to be a boy band posing a cover photo. Look at the blank stares and the random directions we're looking in. We hate boy bands.

Joydeep and I picked up our dinky little bike and set off like true macho men (ie: Without sunblock). Yes, that is the yardstick of machoness of our generation. No more playing with knives, wrestling or juggling chainsaws.

So we headed all the way to the next town, which we were told, had a bakery! And since we were going, we were also asked to pick up a *few* other things - Carnations for Krishna, Goa-sausages for cooking junta, Prawns pickle, Bibinca and what not.

We reached and purchased stuff without incident. But now, we were faced with the daunting task of carrying a flimsy cake box and 25 Kgs of other associated luggage 13 Km back to hotel on a bloody bike!

And as we set off, we took a U-turn just outside the city, on the highway and this idiot of a bike rider comes and for some reason doesn't *see* us turning (though we had been turning for a good 30 seconds. It was a big turn). Comes and dashes straight into us and goes careening off into the side of the road. Somehow we hold on. The bike falls, but thanks to elite balancing skills, the cake is unharmed. Phew!

The food on this whole trip was just something incredible. Here above is probably the most epic meal we had. Scrumptious lobster, wine, hookahs, fish and a lot more, by the beach. Just. Simply. Fantastic.

Now, after having risked our lives and skins (accident and no-sunblock respectively), we finally reached the hotel, got KP to close his eyes for a while and had a cake in front of him, candles and all! They were playing mafia in the pool and KP got to drink a beer and cut his cake while sitting on the underwater chairs. Success! :-)

The above picture is of a candle-lit dinner that Rylan, Joy and I shared. We cooked ourselves. Fried eggs, Goa sausages, boiled potatoes and bread. Coffee and beer. Bibinca for dessert. Deelicious. As I said before, the food on this entire trip was a mini-trip in itself.

Ofcourse the vegetarians. They ate from subway. Hahahhahahahaha! (Just being a little mean. But yeah. They did loose out big-time on the food bit). We also ate bacon-and-ham sandwiches. I remember getting to a shack and ordering one. Others took a bite and were like "Waiter! One more what-he's-having!" :-)

Terra

2009-06-02T13:38:00.001+05:30

"Hell, it's about time!"

Ten O' Clock On A Monday

2009-06-02T10:53:00.002+05:30

The last 2 weeks have been stupendous, as far as mornings are concerned. I wake up leisurely at 10-ish and lounge around home, checking mail, reddit, etc. till about 11:30. Around mid-day I leave for work.

But, before work, I head to Terra Cafe where I have a scrumptious breakfast, one of:

1. English Breakfast - sausages, baked beans, toast, fried eggs, baked potatoes and tea

2. Belgian Waffle Breaksaft - waffles, infi maple syrup, a muffin, baked potatoes and tea

3. Banana crepe with chocolate sauce and ice-cream, with a side plate of sausages

Plus, the place has stacks of comic books. Read and eat. Nice philosophy. I've caught up on a lot of Calivin and Hobbes :)

After a breakfast like that, the rest of the day simply falls into place peacefully. Such is life.

Red Baron

2009-05-18T09:55:00.006+05:30

When I was 5, I dreamt of flying fancy space ships on long interstellar journeys (like from Titan to the planet Eroticon VI (Still to be discovered)). But as I grew older, my dreams drew more real. So by 7, I dreamt of flying fighter aircraft and being the next Red Baron.

However, reality struck this down as well and I just dreamt of being rich (and buying an island) after that. I'm sure most young boys would have gone through a similar cycle.

However, last weekend, I had a chance to actually fly an aircraft. Well a Microlight can barely be called an aeroplane - it weights less than a small car!, but nevertheless it flies. It flies quite well infact.
That's the little critter. It weighs less than 350 Kgs! It's called the Red Baron, the only connection being the red colour I presume. The name's printed on the front, barely visible from this angle.

That's a chopper - same hanger types. It's huge. And utterly cool as well! But back to the microlight now:

So, me: Sitting in the aircraft, almost read for take-off. This was very early in the morning, mind you. That engine above is an 82 BHP thingy - that's a *lot* of power for such a tiny aircraft.

Aaand we're airborne! Now just climbing to a decent altitude. It was airborne is like 20 metres! (I told you it was overpowered :) )

The insides of the microlight. Look at all those controls! OOoo shiny! So we're now just levelling off and turning away from the airfield. After this, Vineetha (the pilot and instructor), showed me how to use the controls and taught me how to turn using the control stick and the rudder as well as how to maintain course, etc :)

A picture of Bangalore from under the wing. (Bangalore is a good 20-odd Km away from the Aerodrome, but we flew all the way there - didn't take long). The good thing about the engine being overhead is the awesome almost-360-degree view.

So that's us still in the air - I've now relinquished control of the aircraft. The engine is quite noisy so we get to wear these cool mic+headphone thingies and communicate with each other over radio! :D ...

Now we've landed and wheeled the Red Baron back into the hanger. Nidhi actually organized the whole thing for me - thanks a lot :) .. she unfortunately was not allowed to fly since she is a commercial pilot and for some unfathomable reason, commercial pilots are not allowed to touch smaller aircraft. Vineetha, the pilot, was awesome. Towards the end, just before landing, she took these totally cool 90-degree turns where the wings were frikking perpendicular to the ground! That was soo cool!

This is almost as much fun as skydiving! I'm thinking I should get a licence and learn to fly one of these. They cost only as much as a car. Hm... Island or microlight - damn! What a tough decision :P.

Marijuana Eyes

2009-04-27T20:12:00.003+05:30

Marijuana Eyes

Twin Earths and the Sun

2009-04-18T06:14:00.002+05:30

Twin Earths and the Sun

8 x 12 (inches), made using only spray paints.

Hazy Boredom

2009-04-15T12:19:00.004+05:30

I just said, "Bangalore is great." And it is. Unfortunately Wipro isin't so hot. In fact, it's quite shady.

So essentially I'm going stir crazy here. I have *no* work. I've met my guide for a cumulative of 15 minutes since I joined (he's always got "burning issues" to deal with apparently). I don't know what my project is about and I'm just sitting here in this room thinking of how bored I am.

To top it off, they've blocked almost anything of amusing value - reddit: blocked. gmail: blocked. xkcd: blocked. calvin&hobbes: blocked. Dilbert: blocked. I've been distracting myself from the excrutiating boredom by translating English phrases from Spanish to German. There's nothing wrong about that: try it. The results are interesting (interestingness depends on boredom levels).

My iPod Nano and books are keeping me company. On the plus-side, I'll have caught up on my year's reading by the time I'm done here. Already since I started "work", I've finished reading Pitch Invasion, The Undercover Economist and The End of Eternity. Now I'm out of books too. Must buy/borrow some more.

I shall catch up with Sod again soon - maybe tomorrow. A whole bucket of stiff drinks should cheer me up a bit.

The first 3 days

2009-04-12T10:08:00.002+05:30

Bangalore is great.

Over my first 3 days, I've checked out many parts of the city, figured out how buses work here and also managed to get auto drivers to go by the meter (a rather difficult task here indeed).

Yesterday I visited the Bannerghatta National Park and Butterfly Park. Both were quite nice - plenty of lions and tigers and bears and other animals. The Butterfly Park was really well done too.

I was torn between buying an iPod Touch and waiting for the new version. I keep flip-flopping between "I'm buying it today!" and "Two months later, iPod gen 3." Right now I've postponed the decision till Tuesday.

I'm staying at IIM Bangalore and the campus is simply gorgeous. It's completely green and the weather is extremely pleasant. It helps that many people are staying here as well. We played card games (29, etc.) a couple of nights ago and also played cricket all night (I really didn't know till yesterday that I was an explosive batsman!)

We had an IIMB-intro party last night as well. Lots of rum and coke flowing all round. Is good.

The pubs in Bangalore are quite cheap. And the malls have humongous food courts, which makes me quite happy :)

I found some quaint bookshops on Brigade road. I guess books will keep me company on the long commutes. Did I mention that I figured out the bus system? - and Bangalore has amazing Volvo buses. Just get on and hop off half an hour later, thus preventing auto drivers from ripping you off! And just wave your hand at a bus and he'll pull up right up to you and stop and open the door! So nice! :)

I'm actually having a lot of fun. Oh and my new phone number for the summer is 9986991694.

Haddi / Mohit / Giddu

2009-03-29T20:33:00.004+05:30

We herby introduce to you a creature, known to some as “Haddi” and to others as “Giddu”: A monster of epic-hairy proportions whose prime objective in life is to become King and Tyrant of the World. To this end, he cracks jokes that may leave you doubting your sanity. An inhabitant of a rather messy cave, known only as Room 19, he wards off evil spirits by hanging a freshly extracted bone outside his door.

His upper body and lower body seem to want to move in different directions. Thus, his appearance closely resembles the cute, cuddly Kung-Fu panda. Exactly so, he thinks that he radiates awesomeness but in reality only cleans dishes, mainly to cook Maggi in. He is extremely lazy and befits the title “Fat Slob”. Any random sample of his day will have him sitting in the exact same position in front of his computer.

He is apt to doing really silly things at times (See pic (above) for typical example). For one, he chatters incessantly in Japanese, merely repeating the 3 phrases that he knows over and over again. This, he picked up from watching strange episodes of Anime cartoons (and the occasional Hentai). He loves cats and dogs in general and all animals in particular. He gives them names and calls out to them when he passes by. It is hypothesized that the endless amounts of dog crap found daily in D10 is a byproduct of his animal-love.

Haddi is impossible to wake up at any time of day, and especially so in the mornings. He got to classes on time thanks completely to his next door neighbor, our beloved dorm baap, Gilli. But, even the ever-placid Gilli could not take Haddi’s incessant cribbing any more and indeed did run away to Europe to escape this, the “jokes” and all the waking-up. With Gilli out of the picture, Haddi took one step towards his plans of total and complete world domination:

$sudo Dorm_Baap

To add to his positions of irresponsibility, he pestered his first year group-mate Chaman (Name changed to protect identity), to become creatives head and then proceeded to singlehandedly delay all Confluence activity. He pretends to be a marketing Guru and is (quote, from his CV) “An active member of Niche”.

So there we have it: our very own lovable geek, Giddu. All said and done, when he gets down to work, he does radiate awesomeness. His PPO from Value Partners is testament to that. His sense of humor is top-notch and his spontaneity completely blew the competition away, giving him the title of Mr. Chaos. We wish you the best of luck in your days ahead and hope that all your voyeuristic dreams come true.

Physics = Awesome!

2009-03-29T19:59:00.002+05:30

Wickedly cool stuff! I'd be working towards a Ph.D in physics had we had some experiments like this in our undergraduate labs!

Too late I guess.

Battle, Bloodshed, Combat, Conflict, ...

2009-03-26T00:32:00.002+05:30

Okay people.

It's time for a full-on war to prevent a D grade in CF. Bring it on.

Uh.. can someone teach me CF while I'm at it? :-/

Snowboard Person

2009-03-24T20:30:00.003+05:30

Snowboard Person

Made with black and white spray paint and sheets of cardboard. The vertical line is an artifact from the joining process since the whole painting did not fit into the scanner.

Hang on to your Fantasy

2009-03-23T09:14:00.005+05:30

Made using only spray paint cans.

The painting on top is my first attempt at spray paint art. The second one is an improvement of the same imagined scene. The scene itself is inspired from a youtube video that Shashi had sent me a few weeks back.

These are made on A2 sized paper with 4 colours (black, red, yellow and white). I've made some more, but I still have to scan them. They look much better in real though: the colours are far more vibrant.

Etiquette WIN

2009-03-22T08:40:00.005+05:30

So here I was, waiting in line to buy food at a local fast-food place just off campus, waiting nonchalantly for the gal in front of me finished purchasing, thinking of all the yummy foody things I was gonna buy in just a minute. Suddenly, as she finished, some uncle fellow sidesteps the line and shoots his hand out to the cashier, effectively cutting the line.

I mean, how horrible. I was standing there, I was next in line. It's my god-damned turn. Who the hell is he to cut in front of me?

Now this is just plain bugging. Why do people (particularly in India) have no etiquette whatsoever? That queue exists for a *reason*. Ever tried boarding a bus? It's a free-for-all in most places. But IMO the most irritating experience is someone skipping a queue forcefully. It happens a lot more here in Ahmedabad than in Mumbai.

So, I was pissed with this guy.

But what am I to do? Nothing in my upbringing taught me how to deal with it when someone cuts the line in front of you. I mean, 3rd order quantum differential equations I can handle, but this? What do I do?

Not this time. As this douchebag started speaking to the cashier to place his order, aloud (to my friend): I said, "You know what I hate? I hate people who skip lines like they are above such measly things like waiting. I think they're nothing more than mere scumbag earthworms who deserve to be stomped into the ground."

My friend sounded a loud resounding "I agree" and this guy, obviously hearing all this, looks back and stares at me (us?). We stare back and with a slight confrontational-nod, I say, "What? You heard me." in a matter-of-fact way.

With that the guy, visibly embarrased, leaves his cash on the counter and walks out in a huff. I don't know what he was thinking, infact I care not what he thinks. This was an EPIN WIN! :D

We had a good laugh about it later. Serves him right. Scumbag.

PS: I made up bit about the 3rd order quantum differential equations: I don't even know if such things exist.

PPS: Well actually, I'm quite sure they exist, but I still made it up that I can handle them: In truth I haven't a clue. It was just for emphasis ;)

Curio Shoppé

2009-03-16T14:14:00.007+05:30

Mangaldas ni Haveli, Old Ahmedabad

There's the city and then there's the old city – a story true for almost every Indian town. The new city has flat streets and paved roads with houses on the sides. It is manufactured.

The old city has meandering pathways and shaded streets, barely wide enough for a scooter. Buzzing with activity is often a marketplace. As our "guide", a professor from AMA said, "The roads resemble an outdoor room, a meeting place for all to gather."

The old city has buildings which would truly look out of place in any modern suburb. As we ate ice-creams from the first Vadilal store, purchased curios from market vendors and sampled the roadside food, fruit markets and aamras included, I couldn't help but draw a parallel to Mumbai's Colaba Causeway: The old city has character. A certain way about it that makes it qaint and perfect at the same time.

The picture above is of the inside of Mangaldas ni Haveli. Once the dwelling of a family, it is now a curio shop and a café. It's an HDR composite of 5 pictures taken with a Sony 7.0 megapixel compact camera.

Some of the component photographs are:

Trippy

2009-03-08T21:40:00.008+05:30

Pictures from the Bhandardara trip...

View from outside the cottage

My bro and I at the tiny island

Boats after sunset

It was pitch dark (or atleast quite dark) and the above picture, using a 3 second exposure, was taken by hand: only 2 of the 15 odd were steady enough to see the boats.

HDR Photo from inside a temple

HDR photos are normally taken with fancy digi-SLRs and tripods. I made this using only a Canon hand held camera and no tripod :-) This one is a composite of 5 images at various exposure levels.

What do you think of the HDR?

Some kinds of happiness

2009-02-28T21:55:00.002+05:30

Some kinds of happiness

Are measured out in miles,

Driving down a highway road

With nothing much in mind.

Some tenderhearted emotions

Are measured out in waves,

Traveling from ear to ear

And spreading joyous tales.

Some ways of religion

Are measured out in heads,

Maybe in church on Sunday

Or rolling with the dead.

Some hopes of rebellion

Are measured out in lines,

A quill and parchment paper

Together with a rhyme.

Today we can stop

Words from a thinking mind

And rejoice, not realizing

The crime in the game.

sighborg

2009-02-15T11:10:00.011+05:30

The latest meme-y thing doing the interweb rounds these days is Cyborg Names. Yeah, everywhere you see stuff like Electronic Robotic Infiltration Construct (ERIC). Ofcourse they'll be the first ones with their backs against the wall when the revolution comes. (First person to guess the reference correctly gets a chocolate!)

I thought it might be interesting to have a look at a few.

To satisfy my narcissistic urges, my name goes first:

Hm. Not bad. But not good enough. I want more harm-level.
Ah! much better. IMO, if you are borg, might as well be bad-ass noh?

Baccha, it turns out, is pretty dangerous as well:
KP is some sort of nocturnal owl:

Krishna. Well I though this is a better fit for Baccha, but Cyborg Names are *always* true. So Krishna is actually:
Gidwani diagnoses destruction. Apparently.

My bro has quite a short name. So he got stuck with:
That was quite lame. So I decided to upgrade him:
Better.

But ofcourse, short names aren't always bad. My favourite one puts it rather succinctly:
I'm rather looking forward to the time when robots (we're the robots) take over the world. My only concern is whether they'll be musically literate. Till then, do keep turning :)

Chang

2009-02-09T18:40:00.003+05:30

I know of only 1 Chinese name. Chang. There are more than a billion of them and I'm sure they're not all named the same. Yet, I know of only *one* Chinese name.

Therefore, this article is titled Chang.

Now Chang was your average Chinese punter... short, slit-eyes, smart, yellow and worked in an undergraduate research lab in some US college. Perfectly normal. Except for his yellowness.

You see, he wasn't just yellow, he was a very particular shade of yellow. So accurate was his yellowness that the following conversation was oft heard in the lab:

Student: Prof, the Sodium vapour lamp is out again!
Prof: Hm. No probs.. Get Chang to substitute.

And the student went on happily observing Newton's rings.

I would like to point out that this article is unnecessarily racist. What to do ya I've been reading and writing about Château Margaux (Premier Cru French Wine, may sell for $1200 a bottle) that I've imbibed some of that French snobbery.

I would like to say that I'm sorry to all those whose feelings I've hurt in the recent past: Chang, other Chinese and all my friends whose birthdays I've forgotten. Sorry peoples.... been under a lot of workload lately.

Anyhows. I should go and make my PPT titled "Why I Should Not Be Made Dorm Baap" or else I'll be stuck with extra responsibilities next year.

Adioses (plural of Adios)

At Sunset

2009-01-11T23:26:00.004+05:30

I'd love to touch the sky tonight
I'd love to touch the sky
So take me in your arms
And hold me up so high

Nothing particularly special here. Just an overall nice looking peaceful sunset. Somehow I always imagine sunsets over limitless oceans and sunrises over valleys and hills.

Made on August 2, 2007.

Hair Falls Over My Face in Nightvision

2009-01-11T11:40:00.002+05:30

Wasabi

2009-01-07T10:16:00.002+05:30

Wasabi is essentially Japanese chatnee.

Imagine a slap - a loud resounding slap. That's what Wasabi tastes like.

Imagine taking your hand and reaching into your brain and twirling it around till you see colours and smell a faintly nuclear chilli. That's what Wasabi tastes like.

Avi got tubes of this stuff from Japan and we went around pretending it was "Japanese edible toothpaste" as we liberally handed it out to friends. Their reactions were priceless.

You should try it too.

But remember: Keep away from the eyes. Do not inhale. Do not attempt to feed to pets. If you exceed the recommended dosage (approx 1/16 teaspoon) seek medical help immediately, lest your intestines disintegrate. ;-)

Happy New Year!

Me

2009-01-05T13:54:00.004+05:30

Hi everyone!!! Happy New Year!.. I'll tell you all about New Year's stories soon enough. But for now, I'll wish you all the fun for the new year and leave you with a pic of... just me :D

Worst Day Ever

2008-12-24T19:14:00.002+05:30

Freakkin neverending lectures till 6 in the evening. Sprained ankle and horrible headache. Out of dispirin.

Cut finger playing guitar. Not started studying macroeconomics.

I need a life. And also a new brain that doesn't crash so often.

And it's too bloody cold.

Bah.

Nemesis

2008-12-18T11:51:00.004+05:30

If I were a superhero, my most dreaded enemy would not be cat-who-craps-in-ur-room woman. It would also neither be moronic-youtube boy nor the plethora of daft punks that populate society trying to unleash irritatingly irritating internet memes on us everyday.

No - for these mere distractions are easy to deal with, the solutions being - lock your room, leave hurting comments so he leaves youtube forever amd cut their hands off with a blunt linoleum knife respectively.

Instead, my arch nemisis would be my formidable inability to get up after every nap. I have a zillion things to do and atleast 5 of them are interesting things. Yet I just lie there, staring at shadows on the wall.

I mean seriously. Why is it so god-damned difficult? I mean evolution. Evolution-damned difficult? Screw you "god".

Yes, back on topic - this is a sincere plea to all my readers (all 9 of you) - please, please tell me how I can get up while just loafing around completely awake but totally enthuless to actually get up - for it is robbing me of my life!

Can Ethics Be Taught?

2008-12-13T16:50:00.007+05:30

The conversations between professors have a bizarre and curious sound to our conceited ears. On our ongoing course on Ethics, we, we being two professors and the class, discussed some of the worlds problems - Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and even Iraq. Starting at Is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) beneficial for society?, we somehow reached the sublime ideas of the economics of kleptocracies and the examined the fundamental ideas behind why Nigeria, a shining example of a progressive third world country in the 1950s (It had a far greater economic development as compared to India at that time), has turned into a failed state doused in ethnic violence in the short span of half a lifetime - It has to do with the politics of rents, which I may explain later.

The very idea of a course on Ethics seems peculiar. As we concluded in the very first session of this course 4 sessions ago, Ethics cannot be taught. And yet we have a course on it, which gives an appearance that the whole bit is just an exercise in futility, a whim perhaps of our lofty faculty. Why do we have this course?

I should explain that the whole Nigeria part of the last session is remarkably interesting. I cannot vouch for its correctness - surely I cannot argue for or against such an abstract idea (economic rents leads to corruption, economic production does not). I can merely state that the correct or not, the idea had me hooked. After pondering about the idea, I do not think I can put it down in words. Perhaps we can discuss it over coffee someday.

The conclusion though, I can state confidently: Big Oil, or in general, giant corporations, are largely responsible for Nigeria's state. Trying to buy peace for themselves (and their employees) from local factions has led to the factions being armed, being better armed, and eventually leading to bloodshed of unparalleled magnitude and the corrupt kleptocracy that we see now.

And here is where it connected with CSR! What is CSR? Essentially corporations buying peace for themselves by helping the local populace! Which companies carry out the most CSR activities? Those who operate in urban areas? No! It it those very companies who operate in rural areas, where the law is less enforced, where there is some form of local goonda or landlord that [the companies] spend trainloads of money on this great idea called CSR - so that the locals will leave them to carry out their business. Doing this is just one step removed to directly paying the local mafias money to allow business and perhaps a second cousin to paying hafta to do business.

Would you be part of such a corporation? Often, what choice will you have? Will you be a whistle-blower if you see something wrong? The first idea that that we are told as we enter the hallowed portals of multibillion-dollar companies is this:

1. You are merely a cog in the wheel.
2. Be a team player. What they actually mean is suspend your own thougts and do what you are told.
3. The most important one: If you blow the whistle on something we are doing that is ethically or morally wrong, be prepared to watch your career suffer, both inside the firm and with other firms.

Now obviously they sugarcoat these ideas in sweet words and motivational speeches. But the idea remains the same, even if it is masked by a thick veil of "gratitude towards workplace and society".

And now the objective of this course seems clear: To warn us about the future, so that we are alert about this, for we are the next generation of corporate managers. Also, I guess they hope that some of us will take heed to the words and not remain silent spectators to ethically corrupt practises. It is just this hope, in my opinion, that brings some of our best professors to class to talk to us about philosophy in a non-credit course. Yes, lets be honest - this is no course on Ethics. It is a course on philosphy. And I think it is one of the most intellectually stimulating and important courses we have.

Rounding up the CSR bit - What is the alternative to CSR? Instead of spending the money directly, the company should pay it out as a dividend and let the individual indulge in socially constructive work. Firstly, it is not the place of a company to put money at tasks other than its mandate. Bill Gates is a philanthropost but he doesn't spend Microsoft's money on it - he uses his own. Ditto for Azim Premji.

Before today, I unquestioningly believed that CSR was great for society. Philosophy class is an eye-opener.

Chilled

2008-12-11T23:29:00.002+05:30

A chilly December Winter's night, sitting under the moon and stars. Comfy sofas and a tall chilled mint hookah. Butterflies, green, red, yellow, blue, on the wall - turning slowly as coals burn bright and crackle.

A lone guy with his guitar sings for us. Far from the streets, it's quiet. A little retreat. Hot creamy chicken soup and, for once, no work to go around.

Life is looking up. A perfect end to a hectic year. And if I can manage that trek at the turn of the year, I'll just sit and look at stars far from the city.

Peace seems just within grasp now.

Smooth Sailing

2008-12-03T21:44:00.002+05:30

Life is good. Coursework has reduced substantially and there's lots of free time this semester. All I do everyday is guitar - gym - badminton. Ain't it the life? :-D

We still have classes for 6 days a week unfortunately. But having evenings to do all the nothings I want to is great. I think I can pick up on those projects I've wanted to do but haven't had the time. Along with getting back to Maya, Photoshop, Vue and Bryce :-).

I'm thinking of some new photography stunts - HDR photography and Multi-pass photography. I shall get down to it in a few days.

But now, it's time to clean my room. Tada!

Exit Wound and Microscopes

2008-11-29T00:54:00.004+05:30

Imagery springs forth from a disturbed mind:

Made in Photoshop.

Someone keep the city safe.

Interview Horror Stories

2008-11-20T18:18:00.002+05:30

Some people are geniuses. Here is a story of one.

His name was Broca (Name changed to protect identity). Broca was sitting for summer placements. He enters his interview and Mr. Interviewer kindly asks him to sit before asking, "So tell me something about the current Indian economy."

Broca says, "Sure. Could I have a minute to think please?".

Now Broca was a genius. He had spent the last night researching on things like the Barrack Obama, India-China, the company's director's name and such stuffs. He was well prepared for this interview. The whole of the night. Extremely well prepared.

He was also sleepy.

So, in his minute of soltitude, he drifts off to sleep sitting in the interviewee's chair - the kind of "I must stay awake. But damn I'm soo sleepy" kind of drifty sleep that we all experience in a class where time seemingly stands still. A minute later the interviewer wakes him and asks if he wants water.

Yes, this is the story of Broca the Genius. It is a true story. He really fell asleep during an interview!

Stray Cat Strut

2008-10-09T20:32:00.005+05:30

Today I tripped and fell down stairs and managed not to break any bones. I did twist my left ankle rather badly though. But this post isin't about that.

No. This is instead about Cats.

I'll be the first to admit that in all my years, I haven't associated with them, or got to know them, or thrown them a bone or anything. But lately, cats seem to have been thrust into my life like things that are thrusted into lives without being wanted.

Just the other day, I came back from class, all tired and weary. I open my door and what do I see? A cute orangey cat is plonked right in the middle of my room, staring at me with it's bright green eyes - pretending as if the room is her Kingdom and my books are her subjects. "Off with his head!" she thinks maybe?

"Wierd!", I think. "Damn, confounded! He's back!", she thinks.

And runs straight out of the open door.

Now this is a great mystery to me. How in the world did it get in there? Did it enter in the morning before I left for class? Or is this simply a minifestation of Schrödinger's Uncertainty Principle? But anyhow, I moved on to more profound thoughts, like "What's for lunch?" and soon the Cat-incident was forgotten.

Not yet beaten, the cute cat has yet another brush-in with me.

~~It was a dark and stormy night. No it wasn't. Yes it was. No, let me tell the story. Damn inner concience.~~

I was sleeping. I must've been 6 AM in the morning when I heard a thud. Slowly I raise my head and I see a cat scrambling up my bookshelf! There happens to be a window above my room door and she had somehow managed to get up there an jump into my room!

But silly cat.. realizes I'm inside and must now scramble out. She jumps onto my desk, scrambles up my bookshelf, drops all my cards (yes some friends did send me cards on my birthday. Shame on you, all those who didn't.), and jumps out the window again to land on the other side with yet another thud.

Pretty damn cool.

And that brings me to the end of my rant, and to the point which I might as well have just stated instead of rambling on. And that point is this: I wish I could land on my feet like a cat instead of twisting it and having to hop around on one foot like a (slightly defective) rabbit.

Llama's Carpet

2008-09-25T21:13:00.003+05:30

You spiked my arm
But you missed the vein
Now its all gone
But the scars remain

~ Mark Knopfler

Mirror Mirror

2008-09-24T22:17:00.002+05:30

Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Who's the Darkest of Them All?

Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Shall I leave my Friends alone
Hidden in a Twilight Hall?

Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Shall we dare the Dragon?

Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Gone is the Wisdom of a Thousand Years
How shall We leave the Lost Road?

Insanity said Coldly:
Be aware the Storm gets closer.
And the Story Ends.

... I'm lost in a R. R.'s fantasy world of wars and wolfs. Time to spread your little wings and fly away. Fly away, far away!

Blood Sugar

2008-09-17T13:09:00.000+05:30

Tiny Rebel Moments

2008-09-16T16:31:00.005+05:30

Today I submitted my exam paper to Prof. Cauchy, the famous mathematician.

No, he doesn't really teach us - he's French. He is also dead.

The punchline being ofcourse that in the exam answer sheet, where it said "Name of Professor" instead of writing Prof. Koshy, a Mallu marketeer (and a God-level prof), I wrote in big, bold letters, "Prof. Cauchy".

Yesterday, our paper was to "Prof. M.S. Sriram". Feeling adventerous, I swished my pen twice, deftly converted the S's to dollars and wrote "Prof. M.$. $riram" instead. It fits perfectly - he teaches us Accounting! :-D

Back in college I was a rebel. I grew my hair and I jumped out of classrooms via the windows. I scandalized teachers and back in IIT I was a "rebel" too - I took pride in *zero* studies and I generally pretended to admire Ernesto Che Guevara and I also sneaked my car (with Cake music (Frequent car-ers will know what I mean)) out late at night when my parents were asleep.

But no more. In this new college of mine, jumping out of windows is a long way off - decorum demands that I don't even sneeze the wrong way. That's why there's such joy in the little things - a word here, a pun there.

Reports lined with Douglassey phrases and a paragraph in the middle written in Shakespearean English. Vandalism of Profs names in exams. Just little things. But they mark my existence more than all the 23-page assignments that I write.

Today

2008-09-12T22:52:00.002+05:30

Today is Friday. It started at a second past midnight.

At a second to midnight, I was on Page 4. At a second past midnight I was still on Page 4. Two hours past midnight and I had moved on to Page 5.

The report didn't seem never-ending. Worse: It seemed never-progressing. Statistical analysis, Function Words, Neural Networks and Madhavan's demented-man laugh floated in and out my conciousness. Excel 2007 focused and blurred as I rubbed my weary eyes.

Four hours past midnight and I fall asleep. Drop asleep would be more accurate. Precisely on the Delete key.

Six hours past midnight. I discover my folly. If it weren't for the miracle of Command-Z, I'd have been strung and quartered by my group already.

Eight and a half hours past midnight. I run to class. There is a surprise marketing quiz. Ouch that hurts.

Twelve hours past midnight. Twelve hours to midnight. I skip class and continue writing the report.

Ten hours to midnight. Page Nineteen. She calls and says that there's a surprise Financial Markets quiz. The light at the end of your tunnel is just a freight train coming your way.

Eight hours to midnight. The report has now grown to 23 pages. Let It Be, Let It Be, Let It Be Let It Be. If there must be an answer, Let It Be. ... And it's off with the Report's Head. SHIT. What SHIT? Well you've heard of JIT? Just In Time. This is all SomeHow In Time.

Seven hours to midnight. My group is proud of me. They treat me to my first meal of the day. Thanks guys.

Six hours to midnight. Mahindra War Room Presentation. Quite spiffy actually.

Three hours to midnight. I run out of dinner leaving a poor soul stranded. Sorry. I had to attend the Mathematical Finance Lecture.

One hour to midnight. The first mail check of the day. The first free minute of the week. The first blog post of the month.

Two minutes to midnight. I like that song.

One second to midnight. It's Saturday now. Time to prepare for today's classes.

Contri Dinner

2008-08-17T15:13:00.002+05:30

Have you ever heard of "going dutch"? It's when everyone pays for their own share of dinner as opposed to the traditional "man pays" approach. That ofcourse, is the traditional meaning of "going dutch". In our reference frames, it has more to do with Tetrahydrocannabinol.

Anyhow, you see I've always harboured plans of complete and total world domination. I know "complete and total" is a little redundant, but complete world domination just isin't enough for the likes of me. To this end, I have cultivated a friends-circle of like minded Evil villians for two reasons: One, to learn of new and improved techniques of evilness and two, so I know who all to backstab when I *finally* do take over the world.

Once, in a brilliant spurt of enthu, rarely observed in sloths, Godwani (friend from aforementioned evil circle) contemplated that we should have a blog where we can discuss our plans of world domination, and also coffee. Hence, Contri Dinner was born. With 4 posts in 4 years, this was clearly the highest priority in our lives. Rest assured, the blog lay dormant, like a mango-seed in a desert, waiting for the day that someone has pity on it and ~~puts it out of its misery~~ eats it (all puns intended).

But now that we're in Ahmedabad at the same time, with no option but to mug away to glory, we've decided (actually, I've decided and I'll beat 'gid with a stick till he agrees) to bring the blog back to life. Ofcourse, the blog has come to life before. 3 times to be precise. Lets hope that this time it doesn't lapse back into one of those unconcious thingies, for I would be too embarassed by this and I might have to climb into a little black corner of the web and refuse to ever come out.

Anyhow, have a read. The first post is http://contridinner.blogspot.com/2006/03/food-or-something-like-that.html and the latest one can be found at http://contridinner.blogspot.com/. Add it to your Google Readers, or whatever you use. And do post comments too. We'll be back with enough random bullshit in the coming days.

Any donations towards our effors of total and complete world domination are highly appreciated.

Kung Fubu Panda

2008-08-03T08:13:00.003+05:30

(by KP and Jose)

The rotund warrior settled into his chair with the silky smooth precision of a crab, his substantial behind settling into the soft padding material displacing it so that it snuck up the nether-region between the cheeks and there it stayed. Stayed atleast, till he shifted for more comfort.

Few dared approach him lest they be blinded by the rays os SHEER OSSOMNESS that emanated so freely from him.

The Rotund Warrior then took a bite from his sandwich , picked up the phone and used his fearsome voice
to sell stuff.

Dreamsatwork presents: Kung-Fubu Panda as he should have been :)

(Statutory Warning: Bad Photoshopping Ahead - proceed at your own risk:)

Blackjack

2008-07-31T21:12:00.003+05:30

Here I sit
Alone by a balcony
Spent by the Summer Day
Watching clouds in the Starry Night
E'er forming shapes

Here I sit
Alone in a filthy room
My weekly dreary Ceremony
Watching silent raindrops
Forming patterns on the Desert Floor

Here I sit
Lit only by a screen
A bat for flying company
Don't fly into the fan you'll die
Idiot.

Here I sit
On a yellow ledge
Before the new day dawns
Wondering why I write these
Twenty One words everynight.

Phobia

2008-07-17T23:02:00.002+05:30

Children are victims. Parents fill kids' consciousness with their own irrational fears and doubts. Some are religious nut-jobs while others scream at the mere sight of a spider. Hence, children are victims of their parent's credulity.

I am extraordinarily lucky: My father does not fear snakes and I don't pay any heed to those measly spiders as they skitter past, they being afraid lest I wield my rolled newspaper like a club. Neither do I suffer from a fear of a large number of mythical and supposedly dangerous scaled creatures.

However, even so, I was not spared. I was indoctrinated with the strict loathing and fear of just one thing: Shopping.

Indeed, my father is the epitome of the anti-shopper. Bring him into a shop, or near a shop, or indeed in the vicinity of shoppers, and he goes off like an overzealous burglar alarm! In his humble opinion, shoppers can go f*ck themselves. Scum-of-the-earth, villains and other colourful descriptions follow in quick succession.

With a role model as this, how could I resist? Thus, I came to dislike shopping as well.

Strangely though, even though it's taken a while, I realise I actually don't mind shopping. Don't get me wrong - I'm not in the "Shopping is a recreational activity" kind of zone, but I'm cool with a "If I need a shirt I don't mind going and looking around" kinda thing.

But ofcourse, like first-geneation atheist children, it takes a while for the scars to heal. So, dear friends, If I ever fall asleep standing whilst you "check out" clothes, please note that I should not be blamed: It was the few days my dad went shopping that are responsible here.

Now I'm Free... Free Falling!

2008-07-12T16:01:00.004+05:30

Yes I know that this blog hasn't been updated in a while. It has to do with the fact that I don't have free time anymore.

But enough with the excuses. I wanted to post this set of pics for a while now... Pics of SKYDIVING! :-D

Not surprisingly, my mom was adamantly refusing to let us (my bro and me) skydive. So when I saw a poster which read: "Skydiving: Because your mother told you not to!", I just had to click it :-D

And yeah. Skydiving is like the most awesome thing in the world. First they strap you on nice and tight to a harness and take you up to about 10,000 feet. And then they open the door! Wow the rush as you see the ground, all tiny now, with the wind in your face. It's awesome. And then you realize, "Frack, I'm about to jump out of an airplane at 10,000 feet!!!!" - The most awesome feeling *ever*!

When you jump out, it's cray! You're all tumbling and you see the sun, the plane, the horizon, the sun, the ground, the plane and you're turning and rotating and falling and it's a total overload!

Then comes the freefall! For almost 30 seconds! Falling at a terminal velocity of 220 Kmph!!! Scream your heart out! And then the parachute deploys and the final graceful fall gently to the ground like a feather.

Second Thoughts

2008-06-20T02:54:00.005+05:30

I think I should turn Emo. I already have the looks. Now all I need to do is cultivate suicidal tendencies, pretend to be sad and depressed and hate the world and also cut myself once a week.

That all ofocourse is the first step in turning Goth. The second step is, apparently, turning Goth. So I can dye my black hair even-blacker, wear a nice black cape and go around saying things like "This is so CVLT man" and "That's is so CVLT maan"

This Is NiagraaaaaAAAA!!!

2008-06-13T20:22:00.015+05:30

Okay enough with the 300 parody already. Onwards to the pictures! (I'll write something about the trip when I get time!)

Savannah

2008-06-05T11:17:00.003+05:30

Savannah (disambiguation)

Savannah, a Native American word describing "land which is without trees but with much grass either tall or short"
Savannah, Georgia, a city known for its historic district
GNU Savannah, an aggregation of software development projects affiliated with the GNU project
NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship
Savannah, a person, commonly described as "A-DUH!"
Savannah, a computer graphic painting

I'm off on a holiday now. And then I'm off to Ahmedabad. Looking eagerly forward to both! :D

PS: The above picture was rendered in Vue and post processed in Photoshop :-)

Staccato Begging Sessions Roll On Mercilessly! In Paris!

2008-06-05T09:18:00.005+05:30

Have a look at this!

The description says it all: "A really bad guitarist was boring the Parisian crowd by singing a Britney Spears song. A couple of Indian students hijacked his concert and came to the rescue..."

That's our "lookah" Saajid on the hijacked guitar, and a bunch of others. Now, we've done this at Hiranandani and at Mood I. But Paris is a whole new level!

Way to go guys! (I'm so proud :P)

[Video follows]

Black Hole Sun

2008-05-23T10:31:00.003+05:30

Black Hole Sun
Won't you come
Wash away the pain

Obscured By Words

Occam's Razor

Short Term Focus FTW

At Right Angles to Reality

Goodbye Marker-World

Spewing Hate

Over The Last Hill We Fly

SG 306

Is that a Facebook "Like" button? :-O

Banksy: Wall and Piece

Queen Bass

Pokey Rainbow

Don't Panic (Reprise)

Instant Karma

2011 Is Going To Be an Eventful Year

Watercolours in the Sand

The Changing Horoscopes!

Continuation Planning

Can You See The Sun?

Photoframe

Strange Feather

Dust to Dust

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Flea Market

Red Panda

The Lost 'D': Unexpected Results

The Lost 'D'

Haber Process

A Call to Arms!

How Baccha Got His Name, According to Drunk KP (Part 1 of Many)

Surfboard Battle! (Day 3)

EPIC Day 2

Wipeout! (Windsurfing Day 1)

My Prediction

Gaara

Sod Sena

Death

The Crow Had Two Socks (Storybuilding Part 1)

Brit Rock. Not Stonehenge.

You Did What?

Solar Flare in Ultraviolet

IPL Madness

His Majesty, Sir Kunal

Internet Deaddiction Camp

All Is Full of Trips

Greenpeace

Science. It works, bitches.

Harishchandragad – The First Trek

Happy 4th Birthday, Dear Blog

Naneghat

I need a Coffee Shack

Splash!

Experiments with Gelusil and Mixed Fruit Juice

OMGX AWESOMENESS!

How I Got My Name (According to the Venerable Saint KP)

Oh, For A Cake!

Terra

Ten O' Clock On A Monday

Red Baron

Marijuana Eyes

Twin Earths and the Sun

Hazy Boredom

The first 3 days

Haddi / Mohit / Giddu

Physics = Awesome!

Battle, Bloodshed, Combat, Conflict, ...

Snowboard Person

Hang on to your Fantasy

Etiquette WIN

Curio Shoppé

Trippy

Some kinds of happiness

*sigh*borg

Chang

At Sunset

Hair Falls Over My Face in Nightvision

Wasabi

Me

Worst Day Ever

Nemesis

sighborg