Stochastic Bits

It's amazing

2011-05-30T14:28:00.000+05:30

It is amazing how an infant can recognize your voice and understand the love in it. And then give a smile or talk to you in his own language. Or even try to turn or raise himself so as to get into your arms.

And it is so amazing that each time the feeling has been awesome for me - be it Saatvik, Riya or now Kartikey. Raising a kid right from day zero and seeing him grow is just a wonderful experience. Thanks Kartikey for reminding me once again.

A Google A Day

2011-05-26T10:18:00.000+05:30

A Google A Day (http://agoogleaday.com) is a site from Google which combines trivia game along with web searching. Each day throws a new quiz question and you can use web search to find out answer or submit yours if you know it already. A fun way to know more about history. I really liked it.

Try it now - if you are as slow as me to find it out so late :)

And today's answer is 'her head' - it is about Anne Boleyn.

Routine

2011-05-25T09:29:00.001+05:30

Going through routine everyday, wish to break free. Out of the routine for God's sake. Wish to be in a jungle where there are no rules and anything can happen anytime - no routine just instincts.

Jungle - really??
Not sure if I am missing it...

Why does every post need to have a title???

2011-04-13T07:06:00.001+05:30

They may forget what you said to them,
But they may never forget how you made them feel.

In Love Of Books

2011-01-02T18:38:00.000+05:30

हॉल में मैं दिल्ली किताब मेला के एक दौरे पर गया. बहुत बढ़िया लगा यह देख कर की किताब मेले में अभी भी इतने लोग आते हैं. लेकिन कहीं एक कोने में, एक छोटे से स्टाल पर e-reader के प्रचार को देख कर फिर वह द्वन्द जहन में शुरू हुआ की क्या किताबें ख़त्म हो जाएँगी? यह तो वक़्त ही बताएगा पर किताबों से मोहब्बत करने वाले गुलज़ार साहेब लिखेते हैं

`कभी सीने पे रख के लेट जाते थे
कभी गोदी में लेते थे
कभी घुटनों को अपने रेहल की सूरत बनाकर

नीम सजदे में पढ़ा करते थे, छुते थे जबीं से
वो सारा इल्म तो मिलता रहेगा इंशाल्लाह
मगर वे जो किताबों में मिला करते थे सूखे फूल और
महकते हुए रुक्के
किताबें मांगने, गिरने, उठाने के बहाने रिश्ते बनते थे
उनका क्या होगा
वो शायद नहीं होंगे`

There is no fire in the hell

2011-01-01T20:02:00.001+05:30

While reading a book, came across a good folklore about Lal Shahbaz Qalander. Lal Shahbaz Qalanader is arguably one of the greatest Sufi saint ever born. He was originally born as Sheikh Usman Marwandi, near Tabriz in north-west Iran (but some references also say that he was instead born in Marwand, Afganistan) and his lifespan is somewhere around the end of the Thirteenth century. He came to Sindh (now in Pakistan) much in the same way as Jalal ad-Din Rumi traveled from Afghanistan to Turkey, to escape the advancement of Mongol armies. He was totally an unconventional and non-orthodox saint much to the ire of religious fabric of that time. Some say he was truly a Qalander, or holy fool. His tomb is in Sehwan, in rural Sindh, Pakistan.

So, here goes the story...

One day Lal Shahbaz Qalander was wandering in the desert with his friend, Sheikh Baha ud-Din Zakariya. It was winder and evening time, so they began to build a fire to keep warm. They found some wood and then they realized that they had no fire. So Baha ud-Din suggested that Lal Shabaz (Red Falcon) turn himself into a falcon and get fire from hell. Off he flew, but an hour later he came back empty handed. "There is no fire in the hell", he reported. "Everyone who goes there brings their own fire, and their own pain, from this world".

So true and yet people here are busy thinking what can they do to escape the fire of the hell...

...

2010-12-20T21:47:00.000+05:30

Looking for end of the tunnel but as soon as it looks like the other end is near, fog clears up its hazy confusion and shows more of the tunnel ahead...

Still waiting for that light from the outside...

I just wish...

2010-12-10T11:20:00.000+05:30

I just wish I could take all your pains and embrace all your fears. Because I do not want you to break down as it is like something tearing me apart - piece by piece, tear by tear. It has been tough going for someone who has been pillar of strength for others but don't you worry - things are going to get good very soon. For all that you do for me and others you love, God will be kind to you - sooner or later. Keep the hope and faith alive.

I just wish...

Sorry, No Walk, Man

2010-10-26T12:29:00.001+05:30

A premature report in the newspaper today stating Sony's plan to stop production of their revolutionary Walkman cassette player in Japan, made me nostalgic about a similar device I had in my pre-teen years. Long before the days of portable multimedia devices, when the only portable device was a traditional radio (called 'transistor' in day-to-day language), having a Walkman was a cool thing to have. Who so ever knows about Sony and their history would surely agree that invention of Walkman was the best thing to happen to them and the history of personal entertainment and music industry. Introduced in 1979, it has till now sold more than 200 million units.

I remember that in late 80s, I was hooked onto Binaca Geet Mala - a weekly radio countdown show of top movie songs on Radio Ceylon. It was on my portable radio, that I used to listen to Ameen Sayani each week. Each Monday night, I would climb upstairs to my brother's room and would ask him to set the radio frequency to radio Ceylon. And then my brother bought a Walkman - not exactly the Sony one but a Philips one. A white bodied small little player, it was a huge thing to me. It was such a big craze for me to have that player tucked in my trousers and the headphones on my ear all the time. I used to listen to lots of songs and would love to show off to my friends.

Those were the days...

A hymn by Narsihn Mehta

2010-09-28T14:52:00.001+05:30

Narsihn Mehta was a great Gujrati saint and a poet. Born somewhere in 15th century, he was a pioneer of Gujrati literature but little is known about his life and time. Most of his life has kind of become a folklore with several writers writing about it differently and then Bollywood making movie on it.

There are no manuscripts of his work but they were carried down orally across generations and were later put on paper first time (most probably due to non-availability of any earlier ones) somewhere in 17th century. "Vaishnav jan to" has nearly become a synonymous to his work due to its immense popularity.

वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये, जे पीड़ परायी जाने रे
पर दुखे उपकार करे तोये, मन अभिमान न आने रे

सकल लोक मान सुहाने वन्दे, निंदा ना करी केनी रे
वाच काछ मन निश्चल रखे, धन धन जननी तेनी रे

सम-दृष्टी ने तृष्णा त्यागी, परस्त्री जेने मात रे
जिह्वा थके, असत्य ना बोले, पर-धन नव झाले हाथ रे

मोह माया व्यापे नहीं जेने, दृढ वैराग्य जेना मन मा रे
राम नाम शु ताल रे लागी, सकल तीरथ तेना तन मा रे

वा ना लोभी ना कपट रहे रहित छे, काम क्रोध निवार्या रे
भने नारसैयो तेनो दर्शन करता, कुल एकोतर तरया रे

Rough English Translation

He is the true Vaishnav who knows and feels another's woes as his own.
While he serves those who are suffering, he does not entertain pride in his mind about it.

He respects everyone, and denounce nobody.
He keeps his speech, deeds, and thoughts pure; blessed is his mother.

Viewing all equally, he rids himself of covetousness, and reveres every woman as though she were his mother.
His tongue would fail him if he were to attempt to speak an untruth. He does not covet another person's wealth.

Material attachments do not occupy his mind, it being deeply rooted in renunciation.
Every moment he is intent on reciting the name of Rama. All the holy places are ever present in his body.

He has conquered greed, deceit, lust, and anger.
Says Narasi, the sight of such a Vaishnav saves a family through seventy-one generations.

Heal Thyself

2010-09-20T15:51:00.000+05:30

Falling into a bottomless pit, its so hard to wake up since there is no shock involved - you just fall uninterrupted or sometimes you slide so slowly that you do not even know. You need to create a bottom for yourself, which is very hard, and it should be hard enough to stop your fall. But once you create your own end, no one is going to be there to help you rise again. You have to find your own help to come out. You have to heal thyself from the falling side-effects because thou hast only thyself to blame.

One Liner

2010-09-16T12:04:00.001+05:30

While driving back to Delhi on a recent trip to Jaipur, read this one liner written behind a truck

बुरी नज़र वाले पाकिस्तान चला जा

Although we all must have read more funnier (or strange) ones behind trucks but this was one was unique for me. Haven't read something like this till now - why the hell are we getting our neighbors into this. They have their own set of problems, so let them be alone. :)

Sometimes, I do think that people should do research on some of the things which are unexplained till now. One of them is the 'Origin and History of One Liners written behind Trucks'. I also wonder whether such a thing happens only in India or is this a phenomenon in other countries as well.

Power To Dream

2010-09-09T18:33:00.000+05:30

Nearly everyone of us have dreams but only very few of us have the power to dream.

This power is not just limited to the dreaming realm only but it spills over to the reality - power to actually go for your dreams. That is the real 'power to dream'.

Sometimes, I wonder can this power be nurtured and developed? Just to think of it, was Mahatma Gandhi already possessing this power or did he developed it across the years? I think he did developed it. It also boils down to how strong is the dream.

So, if someone has a strong enough dream, it is most likely that the power to go for it would actually come in time.

Library Setup & Independence Day Celebrations @ Koshish

2010-09-09T07:54:00.000+05:30

After several months of thinking what to buy, what not to buy and then buying the books, we were finally able to setup the library at KTC for Koshish kids. A team of volunteers joined us in setting up the library. It was a day before Independence day, and we were able to view the Independence day celebrations at Koshish school also.

All the kids were very much excited to have the volunteers there for their Independence day celebrations. And most of them had prepared special dance or songs for us.

Some pics from the day (courtesy VJ @ http://ripple4photography.blogspot.com/)


Creating a library setup

Urging the kids to read

A part of the library setup

The school

All geared up for spoon race

Look No Further

2010-09-09T07:27:00.001+05:30

Look no further if I am thinking about negative thoughts. They are deep within me which keep coming back and back to haunt me. Each time they engulf me in their hazy darkness, I cannot see beyond them. They are like the soggy winter mornings so thick that golden sunlight cannot penetrate them. And then comes the act - Anger.

Anger is generated out of negative thoughts. It is the one which is ignited by the darkness of negativity. Surely the worst medium to use for coming out of negative thoughts but most often than not it is the easiest one. But choosing an easy route has its own rough side lanes - Hurt.

In the short run, one feels guilty that by anger you hurt someone. But the fact is that you are hurting yourself. You let yourself down - not in front of someone else but in front of yourself. It is like getting angry on a mirror.

Channelizing the anger is an art which is surely not my forte - but I have to give it one more try.

Do not

2010-08-06T00:05:00.000+05:30

Change your character when everyone else around you is changing theirs...

Denying

2010-07-12T10:04:00.002+05:30

The whole act of denying something is acceptance of the act in itself...

Nice Lyrics

2010-07-07T10:45:00.000+05:30

नाम ग़ुम जायेगा, चेहरा ये बदल जायेगा
मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है ग़र याद रहे

वक़्त के सितम कम हसीं नहीं, आज हैं यहाँ कल कहीं नहीं
वक़्त के परे अगर मिल गए कहीं, मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है...

जो गुजर गयी कल की बात थी, उम्र तो नहीं एक रात थी
रात का सिरा अगर फिर मिले कहीं, मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है...

दिन ढले जहां रात पास हो, जिंदगी की लौं ऊँची कर चलो
याद आये ग़र कभी जी उदास हो, मेरी आवाज़ ही पहचान है...

The Stroytelling Problem

2010-06-13T09:54:00.000+05:30

From Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for.

Too good and so true.
Not sure about you all, but I surely have this explanation problem.

Why don't we often just say "I don't know"?

Doing The Right Thing

2010-06-03T08:19:00.000+05:30

They say, we should always do the right thing - no matter in what state you are or in what circumstances you are. But it makes me wonder, is it really possible for someone who is not God, to always do the right thing day-in, day-out, 365 days a year, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. Isn't this too much ideal - surreal?

Moreover, is it really possible for a human being to always correctly judge what is right and what is wrong all the time? Don't we all know that when pushed into a corner, into a tight spot, embroiled in bad times, we all human being have a tendency to think and act wrong. But there would still be people who would stand against the wind there - doing the right thing. But can they actually say that they were doing the right thing all the time. Not sure - maybe yes, maybe no.

Even when not pushed into any such situation, one should also ponder upon the fact that the parameters to define right and wrong change across the generations, ages, times, state of the mind and financial status. So, what is right for me in my teens could be wrong when I go beyond them. Also, who is going to define what is wrong and what is right. Are we, as human beings, developed enough to clearly define it? Aren't our definitions biased towards our likings.

But yes, we should always aim for "doing the right thing" at least from our own perspective. Now, that requires our perspective to be clear enough to gauge what is right and what is wrong. And that is the toughest part.

Koshish Technology Center

2010-06-01T10:21:00.002+05:30

If the reader of this blog remembers, there was an earlier post on my first visit to Koshish in Sep' 09. Some updates in this post about the Koshish school and its kids.

One of the major thing has been conceptualization and establishment of a Koshish Technology Center, a computer oriented learning center as a joint effort of NIIT Affirmative Action and Home Of Hope, for Koshish kids. It just started with an idea and evolved as a computer based learning and development center.

Koshish Technology Center is established in Madanpur Khadar, near the Koshish school. It is a center open for all the kids of Koshish, where they can have hands on computers and learn english along other subjects in more technology oriented ways. The main goal behind setting this center is to get these kids exposed to technology to which they are otherwise not able to connect with and to help them excel in their studies and life.

The center is running for nearly 4 months now. It has a computer lab for kids and a audio-visual equipment equipped classroom for them as well. All the students visit the center twice a week to work on computers through the help of CBTs and to improve their studies.

For most of the kids, experience of working on a computer is overwhelming. They enjoy just working on it and do not want to be asked to do anything else :). It is really wonderful to see these kids being so excited about computers.

The idea is not just to expose them to computers and learn faster, the idea is to mentor them in a way that they feel more confident interacting with the outside world which is still “outside” to them. The journey has just begun. There will be learning in all directions – from KTC to Koshish and vice versa. The focus will be more diversified for kids now apart from their regular studies and examination results. The diversity will bring more interest in them towards the real world. The vision is very broad as of now – from computer education to overall development, and all stake holders are tied up together to materialize this vision and help excel our kids in their life.

This is still a work in progress as lots needs to be done for these kids to come par with children from other strata of the society but this is surely going to help their confidence and make them more engaged in their studies.

Lunch Table Ramblings

2010-05-19T14:38:00.000+05:30

Most of the times, we do not like some people just because we are in an inertia. The inertia is more about how we are and how the other person is. Basically, we do not want to change.

Now, having an inertia is not a bad thing. You could have inertia and over the time you could come out of it or you could just be inert.

Sometimes

2010-05-16T10:07:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, when you try too hard, it is necessary to go back into hibernation in order to come back alive...

India

2010-05-09T23:47:00.000+05:30

A country, where we still have draconian judgments from different forms of unconstitutional bodies like khaps. And where we still have people being killed for honor for marrying in same gotra or in lower/upper strata of society or in different religion or in different castes.

A country, where a girl or boy still does not have a right to marry whosoever she/he wants to, marry whenever she/he wants to or do not marry at all.

A country, where women upliftment is still confined to the parliament debates or 'to-be-broken' laws only. So, whenever we reserve a panchayat seat for women, we see their men using them as a shield to manage the show from behind. And those panchayats pass judgments for honor killings.

And someone said we are superpower in making...

Sahir Ludhianvi - One Of The Greatest Poet Ever

2010-05-06T11:58:00.000+05:30

No doubt.

The most difficult thing for a poet is to come out of the traditional poetry things like beauty, god and liquor, and to write about the social ailments. But Sahir was a champion of that cause. At a time when the country was still hallucinating itself on the independence and the changes it had inspired in a decade, he wrote something like this in 'Pyasa' (filmed on Guru Dutt while he is passing through a red light area):-

ये कुचे, नीलाम घर दिलकशी के
ये लुटते हुए कारवां जिंदगी के
कहाँ हैं, कहाँ हैं, मुहाफ़िज़ खुदी के
जिन्हें नाज़ है हिंद पर, वो कहाँ हैं

How easy it could have been for Sahir to write about brighter future and prosperity for everyone after the independence but such was his writing style to raise bitter but sensitive issues all the time.

Unstable Thoughts

2010-05-05T10:42:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, I think it is nice to have unstable thoughts since by having such thoughts you can challenge the thinking boundaries of your mind. And you will have an appetite to evolve.

As George Bernard Shaw said,
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on the unreasonable people."

Negativity

2010-05-04T20:21:00.000+05:30

It is so easy to creep in but so hard to get it out...

And once it sets in, one stops looking beyond it...

Friendship vs Networking

2010-05-03T22:35:00.000+05:30

In this new age world of Facebook(s), MySpace(s) and Twitter(s), sometimes, folks like me (who are very behind in all these tools) wonder what is the new age definition of friendship. Is this friendship or just plain networking? Networking is a term, which by its mere name, explains what it is all about.

For me there is a huge difference between networks and friends. Some of them are like
- I need not to be politically correct in front of a friend
- I will find it hard to stop myself from condemning a friend on a wrong doing
- I need not to mince my words or frame my sentences properly before a friend
- I can have a big fight with a friend and next moment forget it all to resume
- I will never feel ashamed to admit my mistakes in front of a friend
- I will never stop myself from sharing my joy or my sorrow/problem with a friend
- I will never feel like stopping myself from acting stupid in front of a friend
- I will be able to read the silence from a friend
- I will not try to read between the line when with a friend
- I will try very hard to contain my expectations from a friend and yet fail in containing them

I think I am old-fashioned or maybe ill-fashioned...

क्या बनोगे मुन्ना

2010-05-03T11:09:00.000+05:30

We all must have heard this song at some time or other where a child is being asked what will he become when he grows up. Her mother wants him to be doctor and his father want him to be an engineer and so on...

When I think back at my childhood, I fail to remember what I wanted to become. Well, I never thought myself to be a software quality guy or anything related to software by any means. It is so strange that I have reached to wherever which I did not at all thought about. From childhood, I never knew where I want to be or what do I want to become. I was just running in the race not knowing the milestone or the final destination.

That is why when I am here, I feel that this is not the real destination.

And with such a not-so-actual destination achieved, my soul is still searching for "the real" destination.

And I am kind of lost...
Well actually I am still lost...

Joy And Sorrow - From "The Prophet" By Khalil Gibran

2010-04-16T00:05:00.000+05:30

From one of the most read books of 20th century - The Prophet By Khalil Gibran.

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow. And
he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the
selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes
filled with your tears.

And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into
your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was
burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes
your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are Joyous, look deep into your heart and you
shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is
giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you
shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been
your delight.

Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say,
‘Nay, sorrow is the greater.’ But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at
your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and
your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at stand still and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold
and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

To read more about Khalil Gibran, go to here
To download and read 'The Prophet' as ebook, go The Prophet eBook Site

Riya

2010-04-15T18:46:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, I was thinking about how much my daughter has become the center of our lives. It is so hard to remember or recount the days before she was born. It looks like a time from previous life. Now it is so hard to imagine that there was a day when I used to enter a home without her running to hug me or give me a smile or asking whether I have got some candies for her. And the chatter-box she is, it is so hard to recall silence before her.

Due to her, I am able to experience so many emotions. I have never thought that there are so many emotions in me. I have always been a guy who did not use to express his emotions or feeling for someone easily. I know I am like that to some extent even now but due to her I have been able to learn to express my emotions more easily to people I care for in my life - whether my parents, my nephew, my nieces, my sister and several friends. It is so easy for her to show her emotions to me and express her love and this is what I try to learn from her. Her way of expressing is so simple and so effective. Most importantly, due to her, I have been able to understand my priorities in life.

She is now more than 3 years old. But that feeling of holding her in my arms first time still lingers with me. How does time fly?

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

2010-04-12T11:04:00.000+05:30

Have always liked this poem. This poem, written by Robert Frost, was first published in a 1923 Pulitzer prize winning volume of poems titled 'New Hampshire'.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Sometimes...

2010-04-09T12:03:00.000+05:30

You just want the time clock to go in reverse so that you can go to a moment/phase in past and undo the things which you did wrong at that time.

Since most of the times you cannot turn clock backwards, you just keep on regretting about things. Some people say regretting about past things/actions is not a good thing - one should move on and blah blah... But I feel regretting is a way of reminding to yourself that you did something wrong. To have that guilt feeling burning in you keeps you on toes to not commit the same mistake again.

This is also necessary since some mistakes last for a lifetime.

Only if I could have...

The pause...

2010-04-05T14:22:00.001+05:30

The pause is still there and not sure till when it is going to reside...

My First Visit To Koshish

2009-09-10T14:34:00.000+05:30

Making a visit to Koshish, near Sarita Vihar was like coming to a different world altogether in the heart of the city. Koshish is a school-cum-vocational center for slum kids, and is located in a slum near Sarita Vihar. The main aim of the school is to provide basic primary education and help the kids secure secondary education in the government schools. As soon as we left Sarita Vihar's D block road and entered into a rather bumpy road towards the slum, we could feel the change from 'our' world to 'their' world. Near an open sewage drain and a little down (or up) on a more bumpy ‘kuccha’ road, is this school. Koshish, quite compact and the most minimal structure a school could have, surrounded by sheds full of buffalos and slum houses made of tattered clothes and sundry materials. My first impression on seeing the school from the distance was the stark contrast it was presenting with the surroundings – properly constructed, painted in pink, with clear writing on front - it was like someone has put it there from somewhere else.

My first interaction with the reality outside of my car (apart from the bumpy roads) was the rather peculiar stench which hit my mind as soon as the car doors were open. It cannot get clearer than this - that stench was the clear difference between 'my' world and 'their' world. As soon as I entered the school, I could see the playground area on the right which had slides, swings, see-saws. I noticed that instead of see-saw, only the lower bar was present. I came to know later on that the see saws cannot be left in the open due to threat of theft. It is made available to kids on Saturdays to play. Upon entering the school, the kids recognized my friend and greeted her with 'Good Morning Mam' in a quite rhythmic tone. I was impressed by the smiles these kids had on their face. Really, they were enjoying it there. I was quite humbled with the way they greeted us and by their enthusiasm when they greeted us in their world.

The school is a four room school. Due to small number of rooms and nearly 180 kids studying, there is no concept of rooms allotted to grades. Younger kids study in the main hall (or room) while somewhat older kids in another room. A room is used as a store for keeping sundry items plus tailoring machines used for teaching older girls sewing. Another room is being used as a computer room. There is also a bathroom and a loo which I do not think are used very often because I saw kids going out for that. We met a teacher who was running the school at that time. She was quite aged and polite – something which I feel is necessary for such a school. The school office was at one corner of the main hall and it consisted of some photos on a wall indicating kids who have got admission in a English medium school or a health checkup camp. There was a chart on another wall indicating the number of students across the years and it has surely grown over the time.

The school runs in two shifts - the morning shift is for younger kids while the afternoon shift is for older kids. There is a lunch break in between where the lunch is provided by the ISKCON people. As I was told, this lunch is also a motivation for some kids to come to the school but at least they come. All the kids were quite happy there and most of them were reading their books or writing Hindi alphabets or numbers on their notebooks. One thing which I noticed was that some kids as young as five (or even four) years knew writing Hindi alphabets and numbers, which the private school kids are not taught now a days at that age. Another thing which I noticed was that most of the kids were wearing uniforms and all of the uniforms were quite neat.

As we sat there and noticed the kids – some of them playing pranks on one another, some just lost in their own worlds, some reading books and preparing for their exams, some reading out the Hindi alphabets and then English loudly for us – I could feel that the kids really wanted to study there. This was quite a change for me – since most of the times, ‘we’ feel that kids from the slum are not interested in studies – they (and their parents) just want to earn money through them. I took a round of the school – greeted by buffaloes from the nearby shed – and found out that the whole structured was just a square building guarded with a minimal boundary. Everything was inside the building which makes sense since I was told there have been instances of some theft and stoning at night. Although the number of kids were very less when we visited the school - as we were told that some kids have gone for an examination – but I could feel a sense of crampness for the kids. And it was hard for me to imagine what happens when they have 100 (or 80) kids in one shift.

When we were leaving, I wanted to talk to a kid who was quite naughty as he was playing pranks on other kids but he turned out to be quite a shy guy when I started talking to him. So, we left the place and after some more of bumpy ride, we were again on a ‘pucca’ road - an indication of us crossing into another world – so near yet so far from those kids. I was certainly not taken back by the poverty there – since in India one is never too far from it – but I was surely taken back by the enthusiasm of the kids. They were happy there – with their books, bags and utensils for the lunch they were eagerly awaiting – reciting their chapters as instructed by the teacher.

Book Review: Thug By Mike Dash

2008-07-15T11:05:00.000+05:30

Thug, (ठग), a member of the murderous Indian cult
Thug, slang for a gangster, a petty thief, or a minor villain, deriving from the above cult

For nearly two centuries, this lethal murderous cult made the life of the highway travellers hell throughout the central India, Rajputana and South (to some extent as well). Thugs were normal native people - nothing different about them - they used to do farming at their homes and then due to certain problems (like famine, bad crops, loans, etc...) they get onto highway and murder people for as little as eight annas.

The Thuggee cult was suppressed by the British rulers of India in the 1830s, due largely to the efforts of the civil servant William Sleeman, who started an extensive campaign involving profiling and intelligence. A police organization known as the 'Thuggee and Dacoity Department' was established within the Government of India, with William Sleeman appointed Superintendent of the department in 1835. Thousands of men were either put in prison, executed, or expelled from British India.The campaign was heavily based on informants recruited from captured thugs who were offered protection on the condition that they told everything that they knew. By the 1870s, the Thug cult was extinct.

'Thug: The true story of India's murderous cult' by Mike Dash is the result of three years of research in the voluminous archives of the English East India Company, preserved in London, New Delhi and Bhopal. Mike Dash gives a competent historical account of Thug beliefs and practice, through to their extermination by Sleeman and his men. This book traces the history of Thugs, looks into their lives, their modus operandi, their victims, their leaders and their decline.

A wonderfully researched and written book, Thug by Mike Dash, is a honest attempt towards understanding this controversial subject.

A Visit To National Museum Of Natural History, New Delhi

2008-06-13T16:38:00.000+05:30

Sometime back, on a Sunday, we made a trip to National Museum Of Natural History. The museum is location in the FICCI building on Barakhamba Road. Looking through their site, they boasted of several things spread across four floors. The museum has four exhibit galleries, namely: The Introduction of Natural History, Nature's Network Ecology, Conservation and Cell - The Basic Unit of Life.

But on reaching there, we were all very much disappointed. First of all, there are no lifts for the visitors - they are only for the staff. You have to actually climb stairs through the floors to view the exhibits on different floors. The air conditioning at nearly all the floors was not working; and with the whole floor a closed area, there was very stuffy environment inside. The exhibits on display were ill-maintained - some were looking like they have never been maintained from the time the museum was opened (in 1978).

Overall, a bad experience. What does the government expects from people if their museums are so ill maintained? Looks like nobody cares about these things anymore in India.

Details:-
National Museum of Natural History,
FICCI Museum Building,
Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110001
Telephone: 91-11-23314849

Book Review: Desperately Seeking Paradise By Ziauddin Sardar

2008-05-26T14:32:00.000+05:30

"Desperately Seeking Paradise" is a spiritual-cum-philosophical autobiography by British author and scholar, Ziauddin Sardar. In this book, the author is in search of the right approach for paradise (and please do not take it literally) - one notion which is termed as the prime objective for every Muslim. In his search, he joins one sect (or thought of school) and then gets dejected by its approach/thoughts/people etc... and then leaves it to join another and same thing happens there as well and then another and so on... His search takes him from Mecca to Bejing and all the other places, in between meeting with people like Zia-ul-Haq to Anwar Ibrahim, even attending a mujaheddin meeting with Osama Bin Laden in attendance, and him running into Iran's military police in times of Ayotollah. There is an entire chapter dedicated on 'The Satanic Verses' controversy - talking about how the author felt bad about 'The Satanic Verses' and the Ayotollah's fatwa as well. Here the author regrets that the core issue was buried under whatever political drama that took place around the controversy.

The book is filled with lots of information about various aspects of Islam, ranging from different terms associated with it to the current as well as traditional interpretation of different things associated. He also looks into different school of thoughts and poses a not-so-rosy picture of things. This book was written in pre-Iran, pre-Iraq, pre-Afghanistan era and with his descriptions one can relate to what is happening now and how its roots are related to those times only. The authors quest for a new initiative about "paradise-seeking" is not accepted in the traditionalist societies where the true meaning of Islam has been confined to having a beard sometimes. He also tries to understand what does Sharia means in actual terms and how it should be adapted in modern times - again he finds that societies just want Islam in totality but are never open to understand the totality itself.

I am not sure what to make out of this book - I am as confused about this book as the author is about his search. The main problem as seen by the author is that nobody is willing to listen to modernist Islamic views. Overall, a nice read for me at least - for understanding more about Islam and another face of it where there are modernist thoughts in plenty.

Unaccustomed Earth By Jhumpa Lahiri

2008-05-12T10:47:00.000+05:30

After reading her two earlier (commercially) published works, Interpreter Of Maladies and The Namesake, I was eagerly waiting for Jhumpa Lahiri's next one - Unaccustomed Earth. And once again, I was spell bound by her literature. Unaccustomed Earth is truly wonderfully written and keeps the short story writing to the top. She is a master (short) story teller and this latest collection of short stories is another example of it. The best part about her short stories is that her characters are well defined and complex, her handling of the words is marvelous, her stories are never incomplete and they feel like a full novel.

The short stories in this work are:-
Unaccustomed Earth
Hell-Heaven
A Choice of Accommodations
Only Goodness
Nobody's Business
Hema and Kaushik:
Once in a Lifetime
Year's End
Going Ashore

First five stories are individual in themselves while the last three are interconnected. In the title story, a young mother Ruma, is visited by her father, who forms a bond with his grandson. All the while, Ruma is unable to make a decision to ask him to stay with them or not and his father, on the other hand, is harboring a secret love affair. In "Hell-Heaven", a young girl narrates the story of her mother falling secretly in love, outside of her marriage, all the while not accepting it but feeling emotions of a jealous lover when her love marries another girl. In "A Choice of Accommodations", a husband's attempt to turn an old friend's wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In "Only Goodness", a sister tries too hard to get her brother all the support to come out of alcoholism and in the end it threatens her own family. In "Nobody's Business", a young girl makes a wrong choice in love while her family is looking out eligible suitors for her and her roommate hesitantly tries to save her, nearly getting himself dammed in the whole process. And Hema and Kaushik, a trio of linked stories — is about the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from their foolish childhood to adulthood on separate painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later.

I would say that I started this book with a prejudice and finished with it as well. But it never came in my way of reading this book from another point of view. It was just that I could not find faults in her writing - for me a fault is a boring phase through the book, a predictable story line or a complete lack of words and emotions. She kept me involved in the book all the while and never once I felt like what-am-I-reading. And for me that is a big thing while reading something. She has surely kept her high short story writing status well and truly intact throughout this book. Some people would say that she writes about confused Indian immigrants again and again and re-using her character set but then there is no deny from the fact that she is doing it wonderfully well.

"Malgudi Days" By R.K. Narayan

2008-05-07T22:36:00.000+05:30

Nearly everyone of us (from my generation) would never forget the "Malgudi Days" we used to watch on the television in our childhood. That title music still lingers on our lips. To hear the tune, click here. Well, the serial was based on a wonderfully written collection of short stories from one of India's greatest novelist, R.K. Narayan.

It is a collection of short stories written by the author (around 32 in number) which are based in a fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. The fiction town of Malgudi has been imagined and described in such a form that it could be any town of India. The vast majority of the stories are less than ten pages long; several are under five; and only one is more than 20. Narayan wrote many of these stories under deadline, within the limits of word count and column length for The Hindu, a Madras newspaper for which Narayan had a contract for a weekly submission beginning in 1939. At the same time they all seem spontaneously and effortlessly composed. Each stands on its own, but they are inherently intertwined while remaining independent from each other. The only force binding them is the town of Malgudi.

The main characters in each of the short story is a real life character - be it a school boy, a retired old man, a gardener, a maid, post man, snake charmer, cobbler, a gateman or even a dog. They all seem so familiar (especially for people like me who were born and raised up in a small city - not a metro); they are people from every walk of life. In nearly all the stories, the description of Malgudi is very real-like - you can actually imagines its market place, its school, its main roads and other things while reading the stories.

Here are some of the best stories from the lot:-

Attila: Attila is a small pup in a family who is bought with the expectation that he will grow up to fierce and protector of the house, after all he has the right pedigree. He turns out to be the friendliest dog in the world and when a thief enters the house he turns protector in most unexpected fashion.

Leela’s Friend: Sidda works as a domestic help in an affluent household. His main task is to play with the daughter of the household, Leela, who is just a small girl. Leela is very fond of Sidda. One day her gold chain goes missing and Sidda is accused and handed over to the police. The chain is found later on.

Iswaran: In India, we seem to have very little tolerance for failure and Iswaran flunks his 12th board examinations more than once. He seems not to care and develops a tough exterior. This story rings true for many Indian youngsters even today.

Lawely Road: Lawely Road pokes gentle fun on the fixation of changing names of everything British after India got independence. In this story, the municipality wants to pull down a statue of Sir. F. Lawely with hilarious consequences.

Father’s Help: Swami (a small child studying in first standard) develops an headache in the morning just before school. Father is adamant that Swami has to attend school. Swami tells tales to father that his class teacher Samuel has a fascination of skinning people alive. Father writes a strong letter to the Headmaster of the school and Swami has to deliver it. The dilemma Swami then faces makes this story the best one.

A must read classic in my opinion.

A Visit To International Dolls Museum, Delhi

2008-04-21T09:39:00.000+05:30

On the weekend, thinking about a place to go in the summer heat of Delhi, we zeroed-in at Shankar's International Dolls Museum at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. Since, there is no photography allowed inside it, I would not be able to share photos here but I would try my best to describe the place.

It was set up by cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai in 1965 with around 1000 dolls. It now has 6,500 dolls from 87 countries across the world making it probably one of the largest collection of costume dolls anywhere in the world. They have dolls from nearly every part of the world - including special sections on Indian dolls from different states as well as depicting different events through dolls (like Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi Yatra, Man's landing on Moon and much more). There are some very interesting dolls like Boys and Girls Festival dolls from Japan, replica Dolls of the Queen’s collection (UK), Maypole Dance from Hungary, Kabuki and Samurai dolls from Japan and Flamenco dancers from Spain.

For more information, visit their website by clicking here.

Contact Info:-
Shankar’s International Dolls Museum
Nehru House
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110002
Phone 91-11-3316970–74 (5 lines)

Timings:- 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. (Ticket counter closes at 5:30 P.M.)
Weekly Off:- Monday
Tickets:- Rs. 15 for Adults and Rs. 5 for Kids (below 12 years)

Book Review: From The Holy Mountain By William Dalrymple

2008-04-20T23:01:00.000+05:30

William Dalrymple is that sort of a writer you would love to read just because he has written it. For me, he will always be such a writer. Every book of his has been good than the other one. He surely writes a lot about Middle East and Indian Subcontinent. In "From The Holy Mountain: A Journey Among The Christians Of The Middle East", he travels the Silk Route of ancient Byzantium through the present day Middle East retracing the AD 578 journey of John Moschos, a well known Byzantine monk, traveller and historian. All along the way he only sees a dying heritage in form of neglected monasteries, declining number of Christians and great sort of confusion among different religions in the region.

He begins his journey on Mt. Athos after seeing the older manuscript of 'The Spiritual Meadow' (the book by John Moschos), travels to Istanbul, eastern Turkey, Tur Abdin, then on to Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. Wherever he went, he retraces Moshos' route, visits remains of his era and tries to stay in the same monasteries as Mochos has done centuries ago.

All the while he notices that early Christian presence in the area was very significant and it has been declining steadily ever since. It has been sometime due to political suppression or sometimes just due to better opportunities outside - but in nearly each instance it has taken its toll on the region's culture and heritage. Some of the monasteries mentioned by Mochos are now extinct or destroyed either by time or governments. On the one hand, he notices the differences between Islam and Christianity getting wider and wider down the ages. On the other hand, he still find these religions intermingled together at some holy places praying together for miracles or babies.

Certainly worth a read for its rich description of the place, early times and understanding of current scenarios.

Book Review: "My Name Is Red" By Orhan Pamuk

2008-04-07T15:29:00.000+05:30

Reading novels from Nobel Literature winners is not my cup of tea. So, when a friend suggested "My Name Is Red" to me, I was apprehensive to start. After all, it is written by Orhan Pamuk, Turkish writer and winner of Nobel Prize in Literature 2006 for his novel titled "Snow". My Name Is Red was written much earlier (in 2001) but still it would be an effort to read it - so as I thought. And, I was indeed correct. It is not effortless reading but it is surely worthwhile.

In general, Orhan Pamuk has been vocal about freedom of expression issues. In year 2005, he was forced to flee from his country due to the hate campaigns against him after he made a statement regarding the mass killings of Armenians and Kurds in Antolia. There were criminal charges brought against him for these remarks but they were subsequently dropped. I have earlier read some part of his Nobel lecture and his thoughts touched me a lot. An excerpt from his Nobel lecture is as follows (translation by Maureen Freely) :-
What literature needs most to tell and investigate today are humanity's basic fears: the fear of being left outside, and the fear of counting for nothing, and the feelings of worthlessness that come with such fears; the collective humiliations, vulnerabilities, slights, grievances, sensitivities, and imagined insults, and the nationalist boasts and inflations that are their next of kind ... Whenever I am confronted by such sentiments, and by the irrational, overstated language in which they are usually expressed, I know they touch on a darkness inside me. We have often witnessed peoples, societies and nations outside the Western world–and I can identify with them easily–succumbing to fears that sometimes lead them to commit stupidities, all because of their fears of humiliation and their sensitivities. I also know that in the West–a world with which I can identify with the same ease–nations and peoples taking an excessive pride in their wealth, and in their having brought us the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Modernism, have, from time to time, succumbed to a self-satisfaction that is almost as stupid.

My Name Is Red is a kind of murder mystery set in 1591, when the murder of Elegant Effendi, a painter in the Ottoman Empire, threatens to expose a blasphemy that has infected Ottoman court painters. It is rumored that a secret book commissioned by the sultan is dedicated to European artistic styles, which favours figurative arts (prohibited in Islam). Four miniaturists, under the guidance of a rival to the sultan, have been painting it secretly. Consumed by guilt, Elegant confesses one evening, inciting someone to murder him. The clue to which miniaturist murdered him hinges upon the nostrils of a horse: In a drawing found on the dead man's body, these nostrils displayed a distinct style. This story of the sultan's secret book and the murder is told in the first person from the point of view of various narrators, not all of them human. So we hear from the corpse, the lovers and the murderer, a gold coin, the color red, and many more. The characters talk with the reader directly, and nearly each chapter has its own narrator starting with the murdered painter himself in the first chapter.

Wonderfully written book.

Sacrifice

2008-04-07T12:11:00.000+05:30

Whenever a politician says he/she has sacrificed a post to work for the people, I do not believe him/her. So, when I heard the news that Rahul Gandhi has sacrificed a ministerial post for working at grass root level, I started laughing. Gone are the days of Mahatma Gandhi when such sacrifices were done (even then Mahatma Gandhi was not able to stop himself from running the government literally from his house). Now, politicians only make calculated gambles when they sacrifice something.

When Sonia Gandhi sacrificed PM post, it was termed as historic by her followers. "Historic", excuse me, she is a politician and she took a very well calculated step. Let Manmohan face the hostile opposition and run the government from her house. Otherwise she would have been targeted due to her foreign origin and she would not be able to remain "all-clean-and-clear". Same has happened with Zardari in Pakistan. By keeping his own control, he has remained good and became pseudo-PM as well.

If we want to talk about real sacrifices then let’s talk about numerous parents in India, who sacrifice their middle age and their old age for happiness of their children. Or, talk about numerous wives who still sacrifice their ambitions first for their husbands and then for their kids. Some of them even sacrifice their food for their kids. Now, this is real sacrifice - not "Rahul baba" declining a post. He was born with golden spoon - no matter how much he sacrifices he would still be with golden spoon.

Book Review: Freedom At Midnight By Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins

2008-04-03T22:54:00.000+05:30

Freedom At Midnight is supposedly a non-fiction book written in fiction style by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, first published in 1975. Although I would say that it is more fiction that actually a non-fiction book - some of the facts mentioned in it are controversial and biased. With all the fiction and fact thing being mixed, you will be left wondering if this book is a fiction book or factual one. The book covers the events around India's independence, starting from Lord Mountbatten's association with India to the death of Mahatma Gandhi. This book is surely one of the better accounts of the most important phase in the Indian subcontinent - especially India and Pakistan. The book covers different aspects to the Indian independence very effectively - who were the main people driving the whole process, who actually prepared the maps of India and Pakistan, what happened to the royal palaces/property/grandeur of pre-independence princely states, and many other such questions are handled.

One thing which I realized in this book is that it is somewhat biased towards Indian National Congress political leaders of that time and portrays Muslim League leaders in the negative shade. Well, I may not agree entirely with the authors - no one is just black or white - everyone has grey shades. And INC leader surely had their fair bit of share in grey shades.

Even though I would say that this is a better way to learn about those events. It is surely not a historical commentary of events - the writing style is simple and engrossing. Surely a one time read.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

2008-04-01T22:48:00.000+05:30

Whats great about this book is that it will change the way you look at things. Economics, for me, has never been my cup of tea. It is a science much bigger than reaching to Mars, I think. But this book is made for people like me. It is fun reading, all the while using data mining, to prove why things happen as they happen in terms of economics.

"Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" is a book by Steven Levitt (University Of Chicago) and Stephen J. Dubner (New York Times). It proves that economics is not dull all time and not all related to finances most of the times. The book's topics include:
Chapter 1: Discovering cheating as applied to teachers and sumo wrestlers (See below)
Chapter 2: Information control as applied to the Ku Klux Klan and real-estate agents
Chapter 3: The economics of drug dealing, including the surprisingly low earnings and abject working conditions of crack cocaine dealers
Chapter 4: The controversial role legalized abortion has played in reducing crime
Chapter 5: The negligible effects of good parenting on education
Chapter 6: The socioeconomic patterns of naming children

Authors ask a lot of hilarious questions like: If drug dealers make so much money, why do they still live with their mothers? or Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? or Do real estate agents have their clients’ best interests at heart? or What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? or How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?

The book was first published in 2005 and was a best seller, selling more than 3 million copies till now in around 30 languages. For many people, this book is an absurd book. But for me, this has been a "aha" effect book - nice one time read. Wonderful way of looking at things - it surely turns conventional wisdom on its head.

For more, have a look the book's official site.

Shoaib banned for five years

2008-04-01T22:23:00.000+05:30

Suddenly, PCB wakes up and bans Shoaib Akhtar for 5 years for bring disrepute to the game. Hello, where have you been till now? You are the one who actually made him a star and gulped all his tantrums since the beginning. If there is a coaching manual on "how to destroy a cricketer", then PCB's handling of Shoaib should come as the highlighted chapter. Ball tempering, drugs, indiscipline, fake injuries and lack of commitment - you name it - and Shoaib has been linked with all of the cricket's bad things. But PCB always overlooked them all - just for their benefit - they made the man bigger than the game. And now it has destroyed a wonderful career - the most fascinating fast bowler will only be bowling in IPL for some days.

Well, money is a big deal but then cricket is not just about money. It is about pride.

Book Review: "The Namesake" By Jumpa Lahiri

2008-03-29T23:35:00.000+05:30

Jumpa Lahiri has done it again. After her marvelous debut short story collection titled Interpreter Of Maldies, she has delivered The Namesake (now a Hollywood movie as well). If anyone had any doubt her talent after reading Interpreter Of Maladies, they would be surely removed once they finish The Namesake. The way she builds her characters early in the novel through short story type episodes and then weaves unexpected turns of events all through the novel is truly amazing and refreshing to read in today’s fiction writing.

Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli are immigrants to Boston from India when they give birth to their son. Their son ends up with the name of Gogol, just because his "good name" never arrives from his grandmother in India. Gogol hates his name and grows up as American as he can while his parents stick to their Bengali past. The unfortunate Gogol is tethered to this dual Indian-American life, never quite fitting anywhere. At first he shifts to Americanization, pushing aside the Indian rituals. But after a number of relationship failures and some few successes, Gogol is attracted to the comfort of his heritage. His perspective changes dramatically over the course of events, especially when he sets a bond with his father as well as the name given to him.

Jhumpa Lahiri has written a wonderful novel about immigrant lives, families, and bonds that can never be broken. Gogol’s story is actually a simple one, as lived by many Indians in America. This is surely one of the best ones in recent times.

Book Review: "Interpreter of Maladies" By Jumpa Lahiri

2008-03-26T22:32:00.000+05:30

Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of nine short stories by Jumpa Lahiri. It won the prestigious Pulitzer prize for fiction in year 2000. It is Jumpa Lahiri's debut and it tries to capture the dilemmas of Indian immigrants and their identity crisis with themselves. The stories are mostly set in America and India.

The short stories are titled as
A Temporary Matter
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
Interpreter of Maladies
A Real Durwan
Sexy
Mrs. Sen's
This Blessed House
The Treatment of Bibi Haldar
The Third and Final Continent

This is a remarkable collection from one of the most promising Indian American writer. The way Jumpa Lahiri makes the reader relate to her stories characters is hard-to-believe and need-to-read-to-understand. To write a short story is not an easy thing to do - there is such a short time to build a story and take it to its peak. But Jumpa Lahiri does this wonderfully. Although her message is through the lives of Indian immigrants but it could be globally related - that is the beauty of it - you do not need to understand Indian culture, aspiration, society and mentality to understand her stories.

Surely, worth a read. Short story-telling at its best in some of the stories.

"If" By Rudyard Kipling

2008-03-26T17:37:00.001+05:30

A great inspirational poem
_________________

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
_________________

Moonrise @ Satvik Resort, Bhimtal

2008-03-25T11:43:00.000+05:30

A shot of moonrise as seen from The Satvik Resort in Bhimtal on 21st March 2008 at about 7 P.M. (courtesy Pulak Ranjan Shukla, founder of Satvik Resort). As per his observation over the past decade, before and after poornima (full moon night) near holi, the spectacular moon rise is visible and it appears very much coloured on Holi night.

Book Review: "Notes From A Small Island" By Bill Bryson

2008-03-24T11:15:00.000+05:30

Notes From A Small Island is a travelogue by Bill Bryson about his farewell journey through England, Wales and Scotland before leaving for U.S. so that to "give his children the opportunity to live in another country, his wife the ability to go shopping after 10 P.M., and rescue Americans from the delusion that they were being abducted by aliens" (all is his own words). He travels through his adopted homeland by rail, bus or foot and captures, as usual, the details wherever he goes.

The best part about Bill Bryson is his eye for detail and his laugh-out-loud humor. This book has the details part intact but the laugh-out-loud factor is somewhat subdued. If you are truly a Bill Bryson fan, you will be a little disappointed by this one - at least I was. The book is more about his experiences rather than the history, people and other local things for the places he visits. Also, the second part of the book goes rather boring with his same type of rant about hotels he stays in, strange place names, identical places etc. Maybe it is because, as he says, there is everything identical in all the British places.

Overall, single time read. Not as good as "Walk in the Woods" or "Down Under" but still it has its own moments.

Taslima is right

2008-03-20T09:59:00.000+05:30

Yes, she is right when she termed Indian government of being no better than "religious fundamentalists". If a so-called secular Indian government cannot protect rights of an individual (that too an artist) then it is surely religious fundamentalism. This episode brings shame to the country and now wherever she will go, she will talk about her experience here with the government machinery and surely they would not be good.

For me, as an Indian, I feel bad about turn of events and the government’s inability to stop or correct them. I also do think that it is better to be a non-secular entity than being a pseudo-secular one (which I feel the current government and its constituent parties are). At least being a non-secular entity, you can be straight forward in your approach. It is strange that the government was all quiet when Taslima was being humiliated in Hyderabad or Calcutta or was treated like a fugitive in New Delhi/Jaipur - now she has every right to say what she is saying. What all does these politicians do to stick to their posts :)?

Book Review: "Transmission" By Hari Kunzru

2008-03-19T09:36:00.000+05:30

Hari Kunzru's Transmission is a wonderful, witty yet thoughtful fictional novel about an Indian programmer who dreams of working in US, gets the opportunity, but finds it hard to survive there. It is a story about a computer virus, the man behind it and its effect on the global economy. It is also a satire on American culture and its technology dependence by means of the main protagonist's journey as well as other characters.

The main protagonist, Arjun Mehta, is a computer programmer & bollywood movie buff, who lands into his dream - working in Silicon Valley. But once he reaches there, he realizes that the reality is very different from the dream. His job is not what he desired and working is part time. Living in near poverty, he lands into a job at an antivirus company. When job cuts in the company threaten his job as well, he devises a plan - to create a virus named after his favorite bollywood actress, unleash it on internet and then become a hero by finding a "cure" for it. Unfortunately, he can't, and the things go out of his hand - the virus threatens the whole world economy and brings a lot of disgrace for his favorite bollywood actress as well.

Although the characters are shallow and the focus is more on their plight as well as satire over American culture, I feel this book is worth a read. Not as good as "The Impressionist" but still readable - easy read and funny.

Book Review: "White Mughals" By William Dalrymple

2008-03-17T09:25:00.000+05:30

"White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-century India" is a marvellous non-fictional work by Dalrymple. The sheer detailness and vastness of the subject shows meticulous research done by William Dalrymple for this book.

The book is set in late 18th century and early 19th century India and tells the romantic affair and marriage between James Achilles Kirkpatrick, East India Company resident in Nizam's Hyderabad, and Khair-un-Nisa, a Hyderabadi nobleman's grand-daughter. I think I have put it very much in simple terms but this book is more than this love affair. It is a research into complex East India working during those early days as well as a research into their complex administrators and office bearers. It is a research into cultural, religious and political state-of-affairs from Indian perspective. It is a research into Nizam's & Maratha's political clout at that time as well as English and French impact on it. The book is solely based on historical archives from those times - never once Dalrymple tries to put unnecessary words into the main character's mouth. It is really a remarkable feat considering the sensational nature of the topic itself.

A great book and must read for anyone who likes to read about Indian history as well as Anglo-Indian legacy with East India Company.

Book Review: "Eating India" by Chitrita Banerji

2008-03-13T14:49:00.000+05:30

"Eating India: An Odyssey into the Food and Culture of the Land of Spices" is a book by food writer Chitrita Banerji about Indian cuisine, its evolution and present state of affairs. It is a wonderfully written book much like a travelogue - or a culinary travelogue. It is a journey filled with food culture across India - from the backwaters of Kerala to the Saffron fields of Kashmir. The most important aspect of this book is her attempt to cover obscure food traditions as well from the Parsis or Jews of India. Really a credible attempt.

For all the people who love good food and love knowing more about what they eat, this book will be worth a read. If you think you know a lot about Indian food then read this book to prove yourself wrong (at least I was proved wrong). The author has covered various aspect of Indian food which we are not aware of - like the impact of Portuguese, French, Dutch and obviously English waves in Indian history. It also touches upon the geographies, local customs, history and people of certain regions and the impact of all these factors on that region's cuisine.

If you are food lover, do read this book.

Book Review: "Three Cups of Tea" By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

2008-03-10T17:26:00.000+05:30

Very seldom one comes to reading inspirational non-fiction at its best. This book is one of them. If you are reading this review and have not read the book yet, my advice to you to read this one. It is not high on its literary merit but its on the top for its inspirational value. Tegu recommended this book to me and what a recommendation it has been. Thanks Tegu for this one...

This book is one man’s story about fighting poverty, cultural divide and educate girls in some of the remotest corner of Pakistan and Afganistan. It is also this man's answer to the increasing terrorism in these areas - as he says, for every child going into regular school (not extremist schools) he is reducing the terror factor. The man, Greg Mortenson, is a ex-army medic and a mountaineer. During this failed attempt to scale world's second highest peak, K2, he lands into a rather forgotten region of the Karakoram Mountains. And begins the extraordinary journey to defeat poverty and terrorism, one school at a time, in these areas. Inspired by the need to give back to the villagers who cared for him a lot, Greg starts a mission to build schools for the children. And then it spreads from one village to another, till the time it becomes a full fledged humanitarian organization called Central Asia Institute building schools, bridges, water systems, and vocational centers. Although he faces lots of personal, financial & political obstacles, Greg Mortenson works his way through them and is still delivering to people not just in Pakistan but also in Afganistan. And during his course, he is also shattering the very negative views people have about this region. Not every child is terrorist here as is usually projected.

This book would make you think before saying, "What difference can one make?” Read this book for not how it is written, read it for what it has been written.

Australian Brand Of Cricket

2008-02-25T10:43:00.000+05:30

They say they are hard and competitive. But do they fall to the other side of the line more often than not while playing? I would say "Yes" as well as "No".

Yes, because I am an Indian and in recent past they have been involved with non-cricketing issues with Indian team members only. At those times, it feels like they are rude, arrogant and snobbish all at the same time. They sledge at people and when people sledge back, they feel bad about it and run to match referee to interfere. They cannot take other people's spit-at-the-face attitude while they are ones who started it all. I was most hurt by Andrew Symonds column in an Australian paper on returning from last Indian tour, where he took shots on everything about India - its people, its crickets, its climate etc... Well, if you feel so bad about India, whey are you then signed up for IPL?

Now to the other part - No, because this is the way their society is. They are born and raised tough - unlike Indians. Parents there take their kids to fishing & sailing trips which is unlike us. This is the way their treat their life and their sports and they are competitive about it. It would be pretty hard for us to understand what they are like. One thing is for sure that they love their cricket.

Overall, I think there is surely some extent of arrogance in Australian cricketers - especially after Steve Waugh left the stage. And it is easy to be arrogant when you are successful.

Bulla ki jana mein kaun?

2008-02-21T11:32:00.001+05:30

A great sufi song by Baba Bulleh Shah - one of the greatest sufi poets to walk on this earth.
***************************************
Na maen momin vich maseet aan
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan
Na maen moosa na pharaun.

Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen andar ved kitaab aan,
Na vich bhangaan na sharaab aan
Na vich rindaan masat kharaab aan
Na vich jaagan na vich saun.

Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun.

Na vich shaadi na ghamnaaki
Na maen vich paleeti paaki
Na maen aabi na maen khaki
Na maen aatish na maen paun

Bulleh!, ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun

Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen bheth mazhab da paaya
Ne maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na vich baitthan na vich bhaun

Bulleh , ki jaana maen kaun

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulla! ooh khadda hai kaun

Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun
***************************************

Not a believer inside the mosque, am I
Nor a pagan disciple of false rites
Not the pure amongst the impure
Neither Moses, nor the Pharoh

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not in the holy Vedas, am I
Nor in opium, neither in wine
Not in the drunkard`s craze
Niether awake, nor in a sleeping daze

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

In happiness nor in sorrow, am I
Neither clean, nor a filthy mire
Not from water, nor from earth
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri
Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari
Nor do I live in Nadaun

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Secrets of religion, I have not known
From Adam and Eve, I am not born
I am not the name I assume
Not in stillness, nor on the move

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh! do I stand alone?

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Book Review: "The Age Of Kali" By William Dalrymple

2008-02-20T16:47:00.000+05:30

William Dalrymple's fourth book, published in 1998, is again on Indian subcontinent (mostly India but also touches upon Pakistan & Sri Lanka plus a brief visit to Réunion, an French island in the Indian). It is a collection of essays collected through his nearly a decade of travel around the Indian subcontinent. The name, Age Of Kali, is a reference to KaliYuga - which is the time (as per Hindu cosmology) when world's imperfection's become so big that there comes a need to start the whole cycle of life afresh. He is surely an Indophile Scotsman, which become more evident after reading this book - where he (despite all the essays of political corruption, ethnic violence, and social disintegration) does feel for India's diversity and the will to survive all times. Nearly half of the essays in the book are not written in his usual travel chronicle style - they are more like interviews and interactions with people. And nearly, in each chapter, he asks some tough questions which the subcontinent is still facing. I would not say that the book is dark, but it would still make you think "why did not he found any happy stories to tell in India?".

Dalrymple covers a lot of ground including Bihar, Rajasthan, Vrindavan, Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Madurai, Goa, Sri Lanka, Réunion Island, & Pakistan: Islamabad, Peshawar. He starts with Bihar, where he finds corruption, caste conflict, government breakdown, and general lawlessness to alarming extent. He then moves to Lucknow, once a beautiful pre-Raj city, where he finds its heritage decaying due to poverty, neglect, corruption, and being replaced by ugly concrete towers. Next is Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, a "temple town" where many devout Hindus believe Krishna still lives, and also heartbreakingly a place for many thousands of widows, who live lives of terrible poverty and suffering, the result of traditional Hindu society views on widows. Next significant essay is from Rajasthan, a tale of informal social workers among village women struggling to stop infanticide and child marriages and promote education for all children, focusing on a social worker who was raped and faced both caste and gender-based bias. Another good essay is about sati (the act of a widow throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre); and his visit of the village where a famous sati case was reported in 80s. Then there are some essays on Bombay, Bangalore, Madurai, and Cochin. Next significant essay is a wonderful summation of his interactions with Tamil Tiger - he went to their core areas and met a significant leader as well. The most turning part of this essay is his meeting with the 20-somethings Tiger girls who were trained to give life for the cause. The essays on Pakistan consists of his interactions with Imran Khan, ultra-famous sports star turned politician; the ruins of the fascinating Gandhara civilization (a composite civilization influenced by the Alexander the Great), and an interview with and account of Benazir Bhutto and her family.

It is a good book, written with honesty and dedication towards India. Although some of the initial essays are depressing - but then India is not what you see on travel books.

Book Review: "The Men who killed Gandhi" by Manohar Malgaonkar

2008-02-18T15:45:00.001+05:30

“Men Who Killed Gandhi” was first published in 1978. It is like a research work by the author where he tries to unearth the facts about Gandhi’s assassination. Recently, the book has been released with new documents, and rare pictures that leave the readers amused. Interesting archival records include copies of the Air-India tickets used by Godse and Apte to make the trip from Bombay to Delhi and back for the assassination and even their bills at Hotel Marina in Connaught Place where they stayed while carrying out their mission.

It is an informative book about historical facts but it reads like a thriller about a well-laid murder plan. It traces the whole events (partition of India, riots, Gandhi’s fast) leading to the assassination and the trial at Red Fort afterwards. The book tries not to take a side at all – which is a good thing provided the fact that neither of them (Gandhi or Godse) was justified. If Gandhi was not justified to go on hunger strike for releasing 55 crores to Pakistan while India was at war with them, Godse was equally not justified to kill somebody (and that somebody in this case was Mahatma Gandhi). The book states that both Godse and Apte were pledged to the cause of an independent and undivided India. And they held Gandhi liable for India’s division.

The book also points out the leniency with which police handled the events leading to Gandhi’s murder (including a failed bomb attack only two weeks ago). As per the author, if the police would have been fast enough (and would have cut through their internal egos/red-tapism) they would have surely caught all these persons earlier enough to avoid the assassination. On the other hand, book also points out the childish ways of the murders and their co-accused, how on each step they left some witnesses behind to identify them and bring them to justice. It also points out that how Gandhi was all together alienated from the realities of divided India and public sentiments during last days of his life – and paid with his life for that.

Book Review: "A Thousand Splendid Suns" By Khaled Hosseini

2008-02-18T15:10:00.000+05:30

This is another wonderfully narrated novel by Khaled Hosseini. For those, who have read his first one, The Kite Runner, and appreciated it, would not be disappointed with this one. It is a great read. Written in his usual story telling manner - where he tells some unbearable events with so ease that they become readable – he tells a lot about human relations and how the will to survive is much bigger that the destiny to perish. This is a novel where at some point of time, you feel like putting the book down and crying our heart out. And for me, it is just a wonderful feeling – there are very few writings which can do this. He also has a way of making Afghanistan very real and its people come live in front of your eyes while you read his books.

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is a female centric novel. It makes the reader feel the plight of women in the conservative societies. It also highlights the impact of civil unrest on women specially. The story begins in 1964, ends in 2003, spanning over the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the defeat and withdrawal of the Russians that led to the warlords in-fighting, followed by the rise of the Taliban, and ending with the beginning of democratic rule in which the warlords are given legitimate posts in the government. It is primarily set in Kabul with some early incidents in Herat and later ones in Pakistan. It traces the life of two women, alternating between their points of views. First one, Mariam is from Herat, born as an illegitimate country girl to a wealthy businessman, married to a 30 years older Pashtun man in Kabul, and unable to conceive a child (victim of domestic violence due to that). Second one, Laila is a Tajik from Kabul itself, born to a literate family, looses her family in a rocket attack & brothers fighting for freedom over Soviets, and agrees to become second wife of Mariam’s husband due to his extremely calculated manipulations. The two of them, are initially repulsive to each other. But in due time, they gain each other’s sympathy and trust, and become inseparable. After living their lives like rats, as an act of desperation, Mariam kills her husband, allows Laila to run away to Pakistan with her true teenage love along with her kids, and goes to hell as per Taliban’s law. After Taliban’s fall, Laila comes back to Herat & Kabul to pay visit to Mariam’s place and starts a new life in Kabul working among kids affected due to civil war & Taliban rule.

It is an extremely moving piece of writing – well narrated. It is surely worth a read.

Book Review: "If God Was A Banker" By Ravi Subramanian

2008-02-08T22:40:00.000+05:30

Generally I do not condemn books and writers but this book is an exception. If God Was A Banker is a debut fiction novel by an Indian writer, Ravi Subramanian. And I think after reading this, you would surely feel that why did I read it in first place. It is a totally amateur-ish, childish & naïve attempt at writing a book. It is not a book; it is more like an typical Indian movie. It is a story of bad boy & good boy, how bad boy reaches to higher things in life but finds himself tangled into his own web; and later realizes that he was bad and returns home and blah blah blah…

There are two main protagonists in this book – Sundeep & Swami. Both of them are from IIM (by the way, the writer is also an alumnus of IIM) – one is bad and the other one is good. While Sundeep rises to the top most position in a bank through his devilish acts, Swami raises to similar heights but with sanity. And then there is the climax, like a bollywood movie, where in Sundeep realizes that he has been bad; gets into organization enquiry and is fired (or asked to put his papers down) from the company. And then he realizes that it was all bad and blah blah blah…

The plot is very bad in the book. The characters are black or white – no gray. Each character would be established as soon as he enters the story – which shows that the writer is too immature. The novel is also loaded with unnecessary (read detailed) description of the sex escapades of Sundeep – totally crap and useless sleaze. The internal politics & working of so-called world’s number one bank has been shown in such a manner that it looks like a middle-man (one of the characters) runs it. And the only thing which people do there is either to screw colleagues wives or their lives. Ok, even if this all happens – what is the need to write a book about it? The novel is totally useless. Do not do the mistake of buying it. If you still want to read it – get your hands on someone else’s copy instead. After reading this book, I wonder how can a IIM guy write such a book – and he gets a publisher to publish it (well, this shows that he is from IIM).

भाई, क्या बात है?

2008-02-05T17:22:00.000+05:30

गूगल ब्लोग तो हिन्दी में भी लिखता है। यह तो बहुत ही अच्छा हुआ। यह एक और सबूत है भारत के बढ़ते हुए प्रभाव का। और हमे यह फ़ायदा हुआ कि हम अपनी मात्र्भाषा में भी ब्लोग्गिंग कर पाएंगे।

Book Review: "The Kite Runner" By Khaled Hosseini

2008-02-05T10:51:00.000+05:30

The Kite Runner is the debut novel of Afghan writer, Khaled Hosseini. It is also the first novel published in English by a writer from Afghanistan. And it is a wonderful book - so simple to read but yet gives subtle messages about life and human relations in between its pages. Khaled Hosseini succeeds in the blending of his drama with its context. His narrative takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery, where actions, memories and guilt are experienced.

It is a story of a wealthy Pashtun boy, Amir, from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul; his betrayal (and the guilt of betrayal) with his childhood friend, Hassan, son of his father's Hazara servant; his exodus from Kabul to Peshawar and then to United States when Soviets take over his motherland; his struggle in United States for earning. And finally, his return to Kabul when Taliban’s are ruling the country to rescue Sohrab, son of Hassan. All along the story, runs the course of other events in Afghanistan, from the fall of the monarchy to the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime.

The characters are so lovingly drawn - so flawed, so troubled. The story will make you laugh and cry, but more than anything, you will learn about Afghani people, who have suffered beyond words. It also highlights the human cost that the Taliban, and the Soviets for that matter, had on Afghanistan society.

Overall, a great read. You would not like to put it down once you start it. I would surely read other works by Khaled Hosseini based on my liking of this novel.

Bulleh Shah & Sufi Cult

2008-02-04T12:08:00.000+05:30

.. Tere Ishq Nachaya, Theyya, Theyya ..

Your Love has made me dance to a fast beat,
theyya theyya,

come, O Great Physician,
else i breathe my last breath!

Your Love made a house within me,
i filled my bowl with poison and gulped it myself.
come quick O Great Physician, or i will die!

a peacock cries in this grove of love,
my pretty Beloved to me is Kaaba and Qibla.
You smote me with Love but never inquired about me.

Ishq (divine love) and fire are same,
but the heat of the love is intense.
fire burns the wood,
but ishq burns the heart.

water extinguishes the fire,
what is the remedy of love?

Gulam Fareed says:
nothing remains
where Ishq makes its abode.

black is my robe,
i am filled with sins,
people think i am darvish.

O Fareed wake up,
and wander around the world,
find someone blessed,
that you also be blessed.

come, O Great Physician,
else i breathe my last breath!

Your love has made me dance to a fast beat,
theyya theyya,

This is a translation (courtesy http://mysticsaint.blogspot.com/2008/01/abida-parveen-sings-bulleh-shahs-sufi.html) of a Bulleh Shah song.

In my opinion, Bulleh Shah is the greatest Sufi poet ever born on this earth. Some people may not agree with my thoughts and would like to compare him with Rumi and Shams-i-Tabriz. Because of his pure life and high spiritual attainments, he is equally popular among all communities. Scholars and dervishes have called him "The Sheikh of Both the Worlds", "The man of God", "The Knower of Spiritual Grace" and by other equally edifying titles. His writings are surely the pinnacle of Sufi literature.

Literally speaking, a Sufi is one who is pure or one who goes about with a woolen
blanket. The cardinal features of the Sufi cult are:
(a) God exists in all and all exist in God.
(b) Religion is only a way of life; it does. Not necessarily lead to Nirvana.
(c) All happenings take place as per the will of God; nothing happens if He does not ordain it,
(d) The soul is distinct from the physical body and will merge into Divine Reality according to a person's deeds,
(e) It is the Guru whose grace shows the way and leads to union with God,

The Sufis believe that there are four stages in one's journey to realization:
(a) Leading a disciplined life (Shariat),
(b) Following the path delineated by the Murshid or Guru (Tariqat),
(c) Gaining enlightenment (Haqiqat),
(d) On realization of truth, getting merged into Divine Reality (Marfat).

I have always been fond of Sufi music or Sufi spiritual people. The Sufi cult is akin to mysticism. And I think this is the one aspect which has pulled me towards it. I have been several times to the Dargah Shareef of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and Hazrat Nizammudin Dargah in Delhi. And whenever I go to these places, I feel a kind of aura around their tombs – which I do not feel at other religious places. And this is one thing that takes me again & again to these places.

Book Review: "Neither Here Nor There: Travels In Europe" By Bill Bryson

2008-01-28T15:06:00.000+05:30

In this book, Bill Bryson attempts to recreate the travel itinerary of his youth some seventeen years earlier when he backpacked across Europe with one of his high school friend; He is alone this time with rucksack and notebook. This book a mixture of his lively anecdotes, sharp observations, and flashbacks to his earlier tour.

The book covers Norway (Hammerfest, Oslo), France (Paris), Belgium (Brussels, Bruges, Spa, Durbuy), Germany (Aachen, Cologne, Hamburg), Holland (Amsterdam), Denmark (Copenhagen), Sweden (Gothenburg, Stockholm), Italy (Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Florence, Milan, Como), Switzerland (Brig, Geneva, Bern), Liechtenstein, Austria (Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna), Yugoslavia (Split, Sarajevo, Belgrade), Bulgaria (Sofia), and Turkey (Istanbul).

The book is pure entertainment (provided you must not fail to catch the humor there). He is quite honest about what he liked or what he did not liked. And he was prompt is downgrading his rating for a "well-known" place once he reached there and did not found it up to the mark. He also diligently lavishes praises on lesser known places. He surely avoids the usual travel writer obligation to adore every place (read famous places) they visit.

I know that some of you may find this book rather strangely funny - or, even absurd at times. But only if you're obsessed with political correctness, he may offend you, but he is democratic in his targets. He has some quite interesting observations to make. Although most of the observations are now out of the date (he wrote the book in 1990) but they are funny and a refreshing change from the breathless romanticism of so many guidebooks and travel brochures. He also shows that Europe and Britain aren't as perfect as they look from the windows of a tour bus.

Book Review: In Xanadu - A Quest by William Dalrymple

2008-01-23T11:24:00.000+05:30

Most of us must have heard following opening lines of a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

The poem references Mongol and Chinese emperor Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty and his summer capital Xanadu or Shangdu (as popularly known). Xanadu has a significant place in western history as well because it was the destination of the most famous Marco Polo's trip from Jerusalem to China (which he called Cathay) carrying oil from Holy Sepulcher & presents from Pope Gregory X for Kublai Khan between 1271 & 1274.

In his book by name of 'In Xanadu - A Quest', William Dalrymple retraces the epic journey of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Xanadu, the ruins of the palace of Kubla Khan, north of Peking carrying oil from Holy Sepulcher, in the summer of 1986. He calls this book as a quest - not a vacation - just because it involves hardship and suffering not accompanied by a vacation. An intrepid traveler, and entertaining writer, Dalrymple offers an anecdotal history of the people and places he encounters en route through Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, and the breadth of China. An overland passage through these closed countries is an incredible travel feat in itself.

Although I did not found this book to be as engrossing or interesting as some of the other ones by William Dalrymple. But still, this is not a great book; it is an interesting book. Much of the book is the usual stuff of travel: difficulties in getting official clearance; locals speaking funny (read faulty) English; stomach upsets due to eating strange food at various roadside eateries; staying at inns which are sometimes as dirty as roads outside; and so on. However, in some sections he writes about more interesting things like how dull Polo's own account really is, developments in Islamic architecture, the history of some of the places, recognizing Marco's Polo description of a place and mapping it into current state of affairs. In totality, an interesting enough book by a 22 year old (remember this was his first book).

Read this book if:
1. You love reading travel books which are not like essays.
2. You are on a vacation which has turned wrong - in this book you will find that it could have been worse :)

Ishant Sharma & Perth

2008-01-21T12:43:00.000+05:30

"Perth was won" - as they said in nearly every news channel for about 24 hours after India defeated Australia at Perth. But this blog entry is not about Perth. It is about a man (not boy) who is just 19 years old, is 4 test matches old. This is also about another man, who is 33 years old and has played 115 tests for his country. This is about a small session of play (nearly about one hour) when this boy of 19-year old bowled like I have never seen anyone bowl till now for India and made the life hell for this 33 year old gentleman who is surely regarded as one of the greatest batsman of this generation.

You must have guessed it till now - yes, it is about the fine bowling display which Ishant Sharma did to Ricky Ponting on the fourth day of the 3rd test between Australia & India at Perth. If you want to have a look at the bowling display, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEXuMnw3tI or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4UEW3luWzY.

This was Ponting as not seen before, a Ponting without reply. For more than an hour Sharma tortured him until he got his wicket. It was fast bowling at its best and it was heartening to see an Indian bowling like this. In the mould of West Indies giant Courtney Walsh with the way he hits a good length on seam and attains extra bounce, he traumatised Ponting. He put his heart out and was cutting the bowl into Ponting very sharply, had a couple of good lbw shouts turned down and eventually found the outside edge to produce a slip catch. And the moment he got out, Ponting just stood his ground in his follow through - he did not looked back but just felt that this was about to happen. If it would not had happened then it would had been justice denied for the young man & cricket in general.

Satvik Resort, Bhimtal – Experience of a lifetime

2008-01-16T15:15:00.000+05:30

I visited Satvik Resort (http://www.thesatvik.com/) with my family & my in-laws during 29 Sep – 1 Oct 2007. We traveled from Delhi to Rampur through train and from there on we hired a cab. The road from Rampur to Rudrapur is pretty bad – full of potholes especially around Bilaspur. But after that, it is quite smooth. We got stuck in a traffic jam due to mud slide just after Haldwani (and eventually covered Rampur – Bhimtal distance in 7 hours), it was a respite to reach Satvik Resort and be greeted with herbal tea and warm home cooked food.

The Satvik Resort is a no-fuss, no-frill resort founded by Yoga Guru Pulak Ranjan Shukla. The USP is ‘experience of Satvik lifestyle’. It offers complete peace as it is half-a-kilometer before Bhimtal. The rooms are airy, well maintained, simple-yet-elegant & clean. We were pretty happy to find our rooms very clean and the bathrooms spacious plus clean. This is one thing which I personally like a lot in a hotel/resort.

Our room filled with morning sunlight

Never have I thought that food can be so tempting even when it has no garlic, onion & no meat. Yes, as per their Satvik experience, the cooking staff does not serves foods containing “tamsik” elements. The sitting in their restaurant is on low height chairs & food is served on low height tables as well. Food is served on “pattals” & copper bowl/glasses. And it is always served hot. They did a special lunch for us with focus on Kumaoni food during our stay.

Food was served in tradition Indian style

All the rooms face East direction, so we could see sunrise each day. On the first day, there were clouds and hence sunrise was not that spectacular but on next day it was pretty clear and I got several shots of sun rising from between of two mountains. It was much like how I used to draw it during my childhood. Our rooms were on 5th floor and there is a big balcony in front of rooms where we used to sit and have our morning or evening tea enjoying the views. The resort faces a valley and then mountains so it gives a feeling of openness.

Sitting area in front of our room

There are several excursion around like Naukuchiatal, Sattal, Nainital & others but we just visited the Bhimtal Lake & Naukuchiatal.

Go there for
- Relaxation
- Different living experience
- Tasty vegetarian food
- Beautiful sunrise

Panaromic view from our balcony

Book Review: "Shakespeare By Bill Bryson"

2008-01-14T14:43:00.000+05:30

I am not a great reader of biographies (or that too from Jacobean or Elizabethan literature) but I just finished a new book by Bill Bryson (and you say - but Bill Bryson is not about bioraphies). Yes, you are true - but this book is about a prominent figure from that era. The book surprisingly is not a travel book (oh thank god, I would not have to laugh-holding-my-stomach-till-I-cry a lot like I do while reading this travel books) but a biography of Shakespeare.

It is a very clean book - it actually does not gives its own theories about many mysterious facts of Shakespeare's life; but just tries to be itself. It is author's attempt to decode more of what Shakespeare was as a human being not as a writer. He traces William Shakespeare journey from Startford-upon-Avon to London (in Lord Chamberlain's Men) and then back to Startford-upon-Avon, where he died in 1616.

Bill Bryson highlights the major feature of Shakespeare's life (or whatever we know of him) - scant facts as we know. For example, it is rather strange to know that for nearly eight years of his life - nobody knows where Shakespeare was - before he actually surfaced as one of the most prominent play writer in London. Or, that there are hardly a dozen writings of Shakespeare in his own hand writing - and half of them are his signatures - each one different from another. And there is not a single painting of William Shakespeare in which we can say for sure how did he looked like - or even if the guy in the painting is indeed Shakespeare. Few records of Shakespeare's life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about matters such as his sexuality (just because he wrote a rather risque poem dedicated to an Earl & some sonnets of intense friendship), religious beliefs (just because it was so confusion out there at that time in general) and whether the works attributed to him were written by someone else (this is height of... !!). Bryson documents the efforts of different scholars (some bizarre and others more bizarre) - where each one tried to prove a point about Shakespeare's life. Consider this, an eccentric Delia Bacon, who developed a firm but 'unconvincing' (read "no proof") conviction that, Francis Bacon, was the true author of Shakespeare's plays.

Emulating the style of his famous travelogues, Bryson records episodes in his research, including a visit to a bunker like room in Washington, D.C., where the world's largest collection of First Folios is housed. Bryson celebrates the great era of English literature & London play circuits with facts rather then defining them on speculations. Bryson also points out that we know so little about Shakespeare because till hundred years after his death there was no serious attempt to write about his life - was it because he was not so popular at that time?

Overall, a nice read if
1. You love to read about history.
2. You love to read Bill Bryson, which I do.
3. You can imagine Jacobean or Elizabethan era and its descriptions.

Too Lazy To Update

2008-01-14T14:37:00.000+05:30

I must admit that I have been too lazy to update this blog. There had been several occasions when I had thought of writing something for this blog but just had enough will to write it for the blog.

In the new year, I would be more active on this blog. Oh no... not another resolution...

The Rise Of Fanatics

2007-05-04T09:22:00.000+05:30

India has changed a lot from the time when I was a kid to the time when I have a kid now. The most disturbing change has been in the receptive nature of the society (or a certain section of the society) - the section which I now term as 'fanatics'.

The fanatics are on rise in the country. You can see them burning effigies of a person having a certain statue in their bathrooms or asking for summons against a certain person doing a customary public kiss - because it is indecent behavior in public (strange, in this country pissing in public is not indecent but kissing is!!!). You can see them vandalizing restaurants on the valentine's day. And you can see them throwing stones on cricketer's house when they fail to win the world cup - as if we have the whole sole right over winning the world cup. They are all over the place - in the newspapers and every other news channel (and those who follow the "Great Indian Circus TV" would know we have lots of them).

Most of the times when I see them, I feel how can somebody has so much time to go and act like this. And that too nearly every other day. Are they just attention seekers or frustrated people? Do they really care about the culture and national pride or they just want to be in front of a TV camera speaking whatever shit comes to their mind?

And what I feel is that it is a mix of all these traits which makes a "successful fanatic" and I feel pity about them. They have so little knowledge about our existence and history. India has survived several invaders because we were receptive - we accepted whatever came to us. Whether it was the Mughals (we learned their arts, architecture and poetry) or the British (we learned administration, education and industrialization). Then why have we become so less receptive now - the question always puzzles me...

Quarter Life Crisis

2007-04-20T16:27:00.000+05:30

This is a nice read which I read somewhere else on the web.

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Mid Twenties...

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. You realize that where you saw your life path heading at high school graduation or even college has changed. We're not what we set out to be. Experience and "life" has altered our goals.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

Your parents have really become your best friends. Finally you are at a point in your life where you are "close" to the same level as them. You may have thought you were, when you were growing up but now you're starting to see eye to eye, using the same phrases as them, understanding the advice they had given you over the years and really enjoying their company.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You start to re-arrange your priorities. Family, good-friends, quality time are of utmost importance. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.
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Why such a name?

2007-04-20T14:30:00.000+05:30

Why Stochastic Bits?

I know this is the first question from everyone who hears about this blog. Sotchastic means randomness (non-deterministic) to some extent.

I just want to use this blog to put some of my random thoughts in writing. That is why I chose this rather unusual term for my blog. 'Stochastic Bits' is going to contain random bits about my life and my thoughts.