Glimpses of world history II

The arab civilization -

Arabs were nomadic people living the desert life. Nobody was interested in them. They were not interested in anyone else. The arba clans would live a tough life and fight among themselves. They were however, great travellers. Before Islam was introduced (technically Islam was introduced by Pr. Abraham, it was revived by Pr. Muhammad. As u know Islam is the youngest religion, and our scripure acknowledges Pr. Adam, Noah,Abraham, Moses, Isah (jesus) as our prophets too.), the arabs were also a superstitious lot, steeped in darkness, with many malpractices like female infanticide, etc. (Being a muslim myself, you should excuse some bias on my side :-D)
Then Pr. Muhammad preached his religion. The arabs fired with this new message and zeal, went on to spread their religion. Islam's message of equality and brotherhood had great appeal to the oppressed citizens of the neighbourng countries and hence, the arabs won wars in many places effortlessly. That was the greatness of a single person who enlightened the whole nation. The arabs are credited to be first ones to have scientific thinking. Infact, contrary to current status of the religion where questioning is considered kufr, in those days, questioning was encouraged. The first word to be revealed in Koran was Iqra which means read in Arabic. Emphasis was on gaining knowledge or Ilm rather than accepting the dogma. Therefore, renaisance came to Arab 1000 yrs before the european renaisance.
Anyway, returning to the history, this era was an age of development of science, art and culture. Arabs on their mission of conquest stopped at Sindh near India. In Europe, they were stopped at Tours in France. The arabs however, later adapted themselves to the luxurious life of the rulers. They were no longer the nomads of Arabia. But they still fought petty battles within themselves. However, their empires were still much more civilized and advanced than the other european empires of the time, which were still oppressed.
Then the warriors of Central Asia, the Seljik turks, converted to Islam. These tribes were an uncivilized lot compared to the arabs of the time. They became the new face of Islam. It seems that the custom of purdah was adapted by these turks. They were more or less barbaric and destroyed cities and did not encourage art and culture to flourish. I think it was around this period that Islam started being rigid. The free-thinking that was encouraged in the religion started by the Prophet was prohibited in the reign of the Turks and the current status of Islam to a large extent can be credited to these tribes who were illiterate in the first place and spread the distorted version of the religion to the nations they conquered. Same with Mahmud of Ghazni, who in the name of Islam, plundered and massacred in India for mercenary reasons. I wouldnt call him a muslim!

When I read this, I so much wished that I should have been born in the era of the Prophet. The religion then was at its height of brilliance. Women were encouraged to study. In fact, women held administrative positions in Prophet's days! Islam gave equal rights to the women. Their property and marital rights are still much advanced in this age. Its another issue that the rights in this age are manipulated by men. Triple talaq is not allowed in the religion. It has its stipulations though they are ignored by the men AND the "learned" men. Same with polgamy etc etc.

Somebody else who was very impressive to me was Chenghiz Khan ( he was not a muslim). Unlike other great conquerors who started young, he started his career when he was 50+. He won wars through strategy and organisation.

Isnt it interesting to read history this way? Whole centuries are described in a chapter. So one doesnt go into the minor details of the trials and tribulations of the people. Their day-to-day living, on this large a scale, becomes a story for the future generation. What story will I leave behind for my future generation? Will they say naani did this... did that... ? :-D I hope they are interested :-D

Glimpses of world history I

Long long ago, I dont remember how long ago, I had enthused about writing about Glimpses of World History by Nehru (JN) and then that was that. This is my first attempt. I have so many impressions gained from this book that its all cluttered in my mind. Ill try to be clear.

I have currently reached 1200 AD (or AC-after christ as Pt. Nehru puts it). Reading that book is really like a time travel through the ages coloured with JN's impressions. JN comes across as a very learned person, unprejudiced in his thoughts. He must have read so much to have this clear idea about every nation! He he, he does berate the English in the mildest, gentlest possible way now and then.
So here I start
Indian civilization has been around for more than 5000 years! Long before the western civilisations developed, Indians and Chinese were way ahead in art, culture, civil infrastructure. There were great centers of thinking in Asia and Africa while Europe was still barbaric. We dravidians are the oldest inhabitants of this nation :-D In fact, I think our genetic strains are also unique. I remember seeing something about this here. In fact, the tour through that site is also a time travel through the ages.
Buddhism started as early as 600BC. Hinduism has existed even before that. These two religions, inspite of being much older than Christianity or Islam, have managed to be less violent in history. There have been so many bloody wars carried out in the name of religion which in real have been for mercenary reasons. Empires barbaric and beastly in nature have ruled for centuries at a stretch and then these empires have perished into anonymity.
Alexander, the world-conqueror as he is called, achieved all that before he died at the age of 33! But he was not all that great and he destroyed great number of cities and people on his way. He reached the borders of India but the mountains and an Indian king called Porus kept him away. In fact, I had once heard about greek colonies still in some areas of Pakistan. Ill get more info about this and post here.

Patliputra, Nalanda, Magadh were centers of learning. Arthashastra talks about the local rules and regulations implemented in those days. It seems in those days, fines were imposed for chucking garbage, letting water or mud collect in the streets etc!! We don't have that kind of civilization now!! And compare all this with the current state of Patna. But the biharis I have met so far have been industrious, intelligent and enterprising. Like one of my friend said - just like Kerala -> god's own country and devil's own people, Bihar -> devil's own country and god's own people :-D No offence meant.

Water ... mughal-e-azam

I saw the movie Water yesterday. A well made movie. I was warned beforehand that it gets depressing, but it ended on a hopeful note. I liked that about this movie. Lisa Ray was gorgeous. I have been her pankha since Afreen. Seema Biswas and Raghuvir Yadav are veterans in this field. John Abraham also has acted well. The kid's character was very touching. Movie is worth watching.

Yesterday was a movie night :-D After dinner, my wingmates were watching French Kiss in the common room. I have seen that movie n # of times but its charming everytime! That was followed by Shall we Dance and then a bit of Mughal-e-Azam. I stayed till the song Jab Pyar kiya to Darna Kya. That movie is a masterpiece, though its a bit slow. I would like to have a copy of this movie. The grandeur of those days, the luxury, Madhubala's beauty, Akbar's demeanor, Dilip Kumar - everything was impressive about this movie.

Shani is beautiful

Yaiyaiyaaaaaa I saw Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moon's today :-D

Our institute has procured this sophisticated 8" telescope called Celestron for the astronomy club. So, we had an informal session tonight.

I saw Saturn's rings. To the left, is one of the pics the club members took of Saturn's rings at an earlier session. What I saw tonight was not colourful. I think this particular image has been processed. Additionally, we could see a smattering of stars in the background too. It was beautiful and very unrealistic. After the many documentaries I had seen on TV as a kid, seeing the planet this close was an experience.


We also saw Jupiter. I could spot four parallel bands on this planet. I also could see a dark spot on one of the bands which is The Red Spot on the planet. The Red spot is actually a storm on the planet's surface and its diameter is supposed to be larger than the earth's diameter. The picture I have put up here is from a NASA site and you can find more details from there. I could also see four moons of the planet- three on one side and one on the other side.

Unfortunately, clouds covered up the sky and we had to discontinue the session. These clouds cover up Chennai's sky every day and then disappear without raining like Lagaan's kaale meghaas.

If I am so thrilled after one meeting, I can imagine the astronomer's thrill in his profession. But, I think the truth is that every profession at a smaller scale is monotonous. Occasional thrills make the job lively.

I am a regular stargazer albeit my stargazing is limited to identifying the constellations and planets with my naked eye and saying hi to the hunter, who I imagine is a handsome hunk waiting for me :-P . I am glad I attended this session.

Where is the outcry at the Palestinians' treatment?

"My family was among those displaced and, though a child, I vividly remember the panic and misery of that flight from our home in Jerusalem on an April morning in 1948, with the scent of spring in the air. Palestine by then had become a raging battleground as Jews fought to seize our land in the wake of the 1947 United Nations partition resolution. My parents decided to evacuate us temporarily. "We will return," they insisted, "the world will not let such injustice happen!" They were wrong: the world let it happen and we never returned."

The full article is here

Im sulking

I watched the movie Being Cyrus today. Its a good movie - slickly edited, good performances, and a good soundtrack. Have u heard the soundtrack of the movie Oliver Twist!! Thats good too. When is it releasing in India or has it already released?

I have been lost for the past few days again - distracted and wandering. But its a phase and Ill get over it like I have done too often in the past :-D

You know what bugs me about this place and this field? People lose interest even in the simplest of things here. Leave alone going trekking or sight-seeing occasionally- even when something good has been planned in their backyard (like an astro-club meet!!), they are not interested. I mean my source of misery is exactly this. I dont want to stop doing other things just because Im into research. And Im sure this is not the normal state of affairs in other research institutes either. I think its something about this place. I know Im cribbing and not being faithful, but I'm bugged. Come on!! Its not as if one doesnt waste time elsewhere. Pray show some life!!
hmphhhh

Scapegoat - Daphne du Maurier

I read this novel and Ill give an outline of the story here. ( This is a spoiler for those who want to read the book. For them, Ill say go grab the book. Too good. )

John is an Englishman, a professor of french history, teaching in France. He has no family and is detached from the world. Just when he loses hope in his life and decides to join an abbey, he meets his mirror image, Jean who physically resembles him but is the exact opposite in nature. Through Jean's trickery, John is forced to live Jean's life when he dopes John and runs away with his documents, clothes- everything that defines John's identity. John is therefore forced to go to Jean's chateau. Knowing nothing about the people he meets, he gradually discovers their relation to Jean, their problems and Jean's role in creating those problems. Hence, he, who is now playing the role of Jean, is made to feel responsible for Jean's follies. John hesitantly gets involved and to a large extent, in a fumbling manner, sorts out the tangles Jean left behind. Just when he has settled into the family he saved from destruction, Jean returns to take his rightful place. Meanwhile, Jean (as John) has destroyed John's systematic life - he has resigned from the university, sold the apartment, encashed his savings, even his cherished Ford car is now muddied and battered. And the story ends with Jean going back to live in the chateau and John continues on his way to abbey.
DdM is a writer par excellence. Her narrative style engages the reader completely. John's path of discovery in the new place with new people, his personal mortification in having to deceive the people of the chateau, his bumbling attempts to solve their problems - almost everything has been very magically described.
Her stories generally reach the depths of despair but always, as a rule, end on a hopeful note. But I have issues with this story. Its not fair at all. Jean has always dealt with his relations in a heartless and reckless manner, destroying their happiness and not even repenting about it. He choses to leave John to deal with them and escapes to nowhere. And just when everything has been set right, he returns to take his place. He always get the best deal and John gets the bad one. Not fair :-(( I hate the ending with all my heart. I wish Jean had died.

I, as a rule, avoid depressing movies as I generally get involved in the plot. Therefore, I avoid books with sad endings with a greater passion, as with books, one uses one's imagination to picturise the setting and so its a greater risk to read such books. And after the ending in this book, I now need a hug very badly..mummmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie :-((

He he :-D
Happy weekend :-D

Books....

Books I have been reading recently-

• Valkyries by Paulo Coelho. This book is about getting in touch with your guardian angel. Ill confess most of it went above my head :-D But one good point I gathered from this book is to banish the second mind. I have this bad habit of parallel processing. At times, even when somebody is talking to me, I'll be thinking of something else at the same time. I do this while reading, working, etc. Getting rid if that habit will help me a lot in focussing :-D
  Something else was about not looking down and instead looking around while walking. I do that too :-D He puts it in more decent words viz. expanding one's soul :-D Many a times I have not seen my friends approaching me from the opposite direction, as I would have my head down and would be thinking about something . Those who know me just joke about it but those those who dont, think that I have deliberately ignored them. This book was more about philosophy and more spiritual and hence a bit (rather a lot) beyond me as Im mostly a I-me-myself kind of a person. No shame and no regrets about that :-D. I would like to read Devil and Miss Prym. I have heard a lot about that.
  

• A lovely well written romance novel. I don't remember the name :-D
  

• Currently reading Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier. I have loved all her books that I have read so far. She is one of the authors who stand out for their story telling and engaging plots. Every book of hers is a delight.

What would I ever do without books!!

Im looking forward to seeing Fanaa (more for Kajol than Aamir in the movie). Ill never ever see Krisshhhhh. The songs look funny. Hrithik looks gay. Priyanka looks artificial as ever.

Chutti over :-(

My much talked about vacation got over and Im back here :-) As for whether I was bored or not, there were a few times when I did get bored :-D But overall, I had tons of fun. Ahh the bliss of doing nothing!!! I hope this semester is fruitful and the final one.
Things I did - attended a wedding, read two books Angels and demons by Dan Brown and One night at the call center by Chetan Bhagat, watched Ice Age 2, and ate and slept endlessly :-D

In between all this, I heard the shocking news abt the Gujarat riots. Pray tell me how can a 300 years old monument be an encroachment ?? It generally so happens that the cities develop around these. There wouldn't have been an issue if the demolished building was a mosque. As mosques can be built anywhere.. (err Babri masjid pops up in my mind but thats a whole different story) My point is that some people do have feelings attached with durgahs, they being places of hopes for a few plus its a heritage site even if its not officially declared a heritage site. This was an unnecessary teaser and it managed to fuel up people's anger plus one saw the huge bhaade ke mobs worsening the situation. Any little thing fires up people's anger. We have become this intolerant!!
This time when I went to my hometown, we couldn't get reserved seats owing to the heavy holiday rush and so we had to travel in the General. Its a learning experience :-D You know I just got this feeling there that deep down there is some resentment, anger, separation or call it what you want. One could feel a subtle hostility between the communities. It was related to very simple things like sharing seats. And what was disturbing was that this kind of feeling was among the younger people. The older ones were very friendly. Things were not this way few years back. We are becoming more polar. Tamil Nadu never had this as much as I know. I have heard of minor riots 3 decades back . But nothing serious and god forbid if something snowballs in future.

And hey I voted for the first time in my life :-D Im a proud citizen atleast for today :-D

Chutti hai !!!!

Im going on a vacation starting from tomorrow :-) Im sure within two days Ill scream Im bo..............red but then I need to get bored of something else to get back to what Im bored of now :-D
I guess I should change my naaraa (slogan) from Life is boring to Life is stationary or Life is monotonous or some such thing. :-D
So have fun but
be jealous of me
cos bored or not bored
its a vacation for me
:-D

Delusion angel

In Before Sunrise (sorry Im not over that movie yet :-D)

Daydream delusion.
Limousine Eyelash
Oh, baby with your pretty face
Drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes
See what you mean to me
Sweet cakes and milkshakes
I am a delusioned angel
I am a fantasy parade.
I want you to know what I think.
Don't want you to guess anymore.
You have no idea where I came from.
We have no idea where we're going.
Launched in life.
Like branches in the river.
Flowing downstream.
Caught in the current.
I'll carry you.
You'll carry me.
That's how it could be.
Don't you know me
Don't you know me by now.

A nature trek in the backyard

A few of my colleagues and me went to the Guindy National Park (GNP) for a nature walk today early in the morning. I could still see the moon in the sky. It was that early !

It was a lovely experience. We took the nature trails that the forest offcials had already laid out. This is a longer trail and passes through the dense forest. GNP is a harmless forest. Atleast thats what I felt there today. I mean the fauna is mainly deers (spotted deers and black bucks), jackals and snakes, mongoose etc and a vast variety of birds. We didnt spot any of the dangerous animals on that list :-D
It has many varieties of flora though. The place was so untouched by humans that one could smell the greenery - you know when a tree is cut, it gives out a distinct kind of smell - that kind. Plus, we could smell the fragrance of the different flowers blooming there. Imagine no pollution, no odious deodorants, no orcs. Just pure nature. This must have been the way it was when Adam and Eve came here. God's way of compensation for chucking them out of heaven. But then, Adam carried the grudge on his mind anyway and destroyed this place as well. I'm digressing.

Back to this, there was this picture-book area which had tall trees and small and very green shrubs/ plants ( My zoology+botany sense is almost zilch). Colourful flowers were blooming on the plants. And sunlight was filtering through the leaves. I have seen such pictures on desktops and Natgeos. This was my first-hand experience of such beauty.

While returning, we went a little off-trail. There was this little valley-like area behind the bushes. This led to a very small pond with some water in it. The whole place had the leaf-laden tree branches as the roof. It was very peaceful there. One could sit there for hours just listening to the bird-calls. To complete the picture, a very blue kingfisher flew in and perched on a branch hanging above this pond. From there, instead of getting back on trail, my friends lead us through the denser forest. I was very sceptical but followed anyway (Im a ninny when it comes to adventures. I just dream of them). We saw some bones of deers too. We were joking that we would also be there if we cant find our way back :-D

Finally, we came out through a gate into the children's park (a mini zoo here) which officially opens to public at 9. We were in there at 8.30 :-D Anyway, we had special permission so that was ok. Many of the animals like spotted deers, blackbucks, monkeys and birds which were free to roam in GNP were in cages here. What's the purpose of zoos ? In this day and age, kids can very well see these animals online. Atleast the enclosures should be larger than what they are at present. A wild-life sanctuary makes more sense. He he I think, we being denizens of few square meter labs, are in a similar situation.

I don't have any pictures of this trip but I think this will stay in my memory - a beautiful trek in the backyard.

We were in Delhi when I was a kid. And I used to look forward to Chennai-Delhi trips in the summer. This route has awesome sceneries. But then, I think you travel anywhere in India, you get to see beautiful sceneries - every region with its own unique beauty. This particular route has mountains and very deep valleys (near Itarsi) , rivers, a very green Andhra.. So I used to (and I still) dream about
roaming around in those areas where no humans have gone before. Imagine a trek from the source of a river to its destination..
That would be lovely ...

Make hay in May

These past few days, many a times I have thought of something which could be posted here and then its gone by the time I login.. I feel equally blank now. So Ill take a break for a few more days. Meanwhile, May will be here soon and Im looking forward to the May flowers or the gulmohars - the best thing about May :-)

Its a wonderful life

Saw this good movie by Frank Capra called Its a wonderful life. Its the story of a man called George Bailey who has had ambitions and dreams but was unable to fulfil them because he was tied down by his responsibilities. So he has lived a normal life helping out others. He now faces a terrible crisis and is totally dejected and decides to end his life. An angel, yupp a real angel is sent down to stop him. The angel makes him realise that if he hadn't been there in first place, how different his town would have been, that one man touches everyone's life in so many ways and everyone plays a crucial role in the scheme of things. Its a black and white movie. James Stewart and Donna Reed play the lead. The movies ends on this note : No man is a failure who has friends :-)

Yummiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie

I am a food freak. I try every cuisine. I love all kinds of food (ahem properly cooked food). I hate the dosa cooked in our mess but I relish eating a properly cooked dosa in a restaurant. Of all the dishes I have eaten, my mom's dishes are the best. She is a magician. When I was at home, I never used to value her culinary skills much. It was an everyday thing. And so I would take it all in stride when my friends used to gush about her cooking. One of my friend still remembers her gaajar ka halwaa. He says he can't forget that taste. He ate it some 5 years back!!! After 6 years of hostel life, I now realise her worth. It's a skill to mix everything and make it even edible. And if you add lots of love and affection to it, mannah can never even compete with it. She outperforms herself every other meal. When I am at home, I eat every meal as if its my last meal ever.
I know cooking. Agreed that I have a theoretical knowledge of most of the non-veg dishes but then I am a theoretician (psst.. I know what goes into biriyani :-D). And I have cooked too. These were on the few occasions when mom was out of station or she was not well. I love to see the hopeless miserable looks on my sibs' face then :-D I have been told that I cook well. But thats the crux you see. When I cook once in a blue moon, I enjoy it but if I have to do this day in and day out, I think Ill go crazy. My father has already given up on me. He looks at me with that tera-kya-hoga expression :-D U know when I told my pa that my life partner should be free-thinking, intelligent, and cheerful, he laughed !!!! Really. Do tell me. Are free-thinking-intelligent-cheerful men an endangered species ?? I hope not :-D
Anyway, my food-gushing originated here.
If you are a food freak you have to check it out. You can find recipes and delicious pictures there. In the last few minutes, I imagined myself feasting on all that :-D
Someday, Ill have my own kitchen where I will cook my own dishes for my own pleasure. Ill try these dishes out then :-D

My journey through...

Glimpses Of World History- by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

Thats the book Im planning to read next. In this blogspot, I have ranted and raved, posted sense and nonsense. So my next venture is a small section on this book as I journey through it. I dont know how faithful I'll be to this mission and how interesting it will be to the readers of this blog who mainly have been my friends and family, who were too nice to let me rant alone :-D For me, this blog has become a habit.. a place to post my random thoughts, gossips and other adabadawadaa - a good escape route from my interesting research work which in the shorter time-scale becomes monotonous. :-D

Anyway coming back to the point or to the book, I have always wanted to read about the world history, more so the Indian history. errr it was a part of my school syllabus but at that point, history was a subject to which I paid attention only on the previous day (rather night) of the social sciences exam. I guess remembering all the dates made it a tedious subject. Maybe I would have paid attention to it if it was just a story sans exams. Therefore, later in my life, I have regretted being an ignoramus in this area. So when I saw this book with a friend, I was excited about it. Now this book is a collection of letters Pt. Nehru wrote to his teenage daughter, Indira. I was fascinated. Here is a man who talks to his daughter as an equal. Apart from the platitudes, he sort of has an adult conversation with her. The language is top-class. I was bowled over by Nehru, the father.
My first step has been to cover it up with a paper. As this book has been lent to me by a friend, and since I'm very scared about spoiling someone's books ( I hate it when people mess up my books), covering up the books has always been my first step. The newspaper I used is today's and has this pic..


Now apart from the fact that this was the first accessible bit of paper, I liked the idea of having this as the cover page :-D U see the guy with the black beard in the center ? He is Zulfi Syed :-D Now u follow my trend of thoughts !! Generally, I cant stand the hairy people but trust me he looks a million dollar without the extra hair. He is also 6+ :-D The lady next to him is gorgeous though in a proud way. This pic is from the movie Tajmahal. Taj looked awesome in this movie. I have happy memories of seeing this movie :-D We had a riot laughing over bits of it. And do you recognise the guy in the extreme right? He is Arbaaz Khan :-D He he we too thought he looked familiar.

Have a nice weekend :-)

Medha Patkar

Medha Patkar continues hunger strike at AIIMS

Development is necessary but not at the cost of so many families. What Medha Patkar is doing is very noble.
There was supposed to be a fast in Chennai too today to support her. I came to know about it only in the evening. I hardly think I would have taken the time out to go and give my support. Thats why what Medha Patkar is doing is so great. Its good that there is nation wide support for her andolan now. The middlemen and the red-tape that tag along with any government decision are also in a big way responsible for the poor man's sufferings.
By the way, how can an essential service like the SBI go on an indefinite strike like this?? Surely there are other ways of protesting. But then only these extreme measures get people's attentions. Thats the main issue I think. If the government would pay more attention to these vital issues in the first place, these services wouldnt resort to such drastic steps. Still I think, going on a strike like this when almost the whole nation has entrusted their savings to SBI, is unethical. Im not affected by it but what if somebody has an emergency and needs money immediately?
And hey this quota system should stop. 50% quotas in IIT/IIMs!!!! Those were the days when people had unequal oppurtunities. I feel now that everyone has the same exposure and same oppurtunities and its upto the communities now to avail it. Instead of giving quotas like this, they should remove the reservations in the institutes. Equal treatment to everyone. It makes sense to give quotas to below poverty line students. But not to a second generation SC/ST/OBC (Im an OBC since muslims are educationally backward. I hope this changes someday. We never used any quota btw) whose father has already availed himself of this and is now minting money.

Defense

Attended a viva defense of a friend today. Got psyched totally. Once we go on to the advanced topics, we do lose touch with the basics a little. His defense of the thesis went well but he did falter a bit in fielding the questions in the basics.
He is now Dr. ..... :-D Great moment for him :-) I guess this day is more memorable than getting the degree :-)
Its such a long process! After completion of work, comes the synopsis lectures, submittion of thesis, then viva defense. I have a long way to go. Before achieving something, I try imagining how it will be. Somehow in this case, I cant visualise myself giving my defense. Is the goal so distant or is it so tough or I just have a shaky confidence? Whatever it is, I hope its soon :-) Cant wait for a change of place :-D
I should start getting serious about my completion too.
Here's wishing good luck to me and all such fellow graduate students :-)

he he

I can take a lesson or two from Calvin :-D

Meena Kumari - the poetess

Did u know that Meena Kumari, the yesteryear actress of movies like Pakeezah, Sahib bibi aur ghulam, was also a poetess!!




Here's a sample..

yuuN terii rah-guzar se diivaanaa-vaar guzre
kaaNdhe pe apne rakh ke apnaa mazaar guzre

baiThe rahe haiN raaste meN dil kaa khanDhar sajaa kar
shaayad isii taraf se ek din bahaar guzre

bahtii huii ye nadiyaa ghulte hu’e kinaare
ko’ii to paar utre, ko’ii to paar guzre

tuu ne bhii ham ko dekhaa hamne bhii tujhko dekhaa
tuu dil hii haar guzraa, ham jaan haar guzre

diivaanaa-vaar : frenzied, mazaar : tomb, grave,
khanDhar : ruins, bahaar : spring, bloom.

More of her here.
Good poetry but her poems have a melancholic undertone..
Ghalib is my all-time favourite. Apart from a brilliant expression, his poems have a sense of humour too. There's one sher which goes as :
Kabhi hum bhi haseenon ke galay lagte the ghalib
Ye baat hai us waqt ki jab the hum faqt do baras ke

Im still learning to understand Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry :-) My knowledge of Urdu is limited to the bare essentials so things take time with me :-D

Before sunset

This weekend, I saw the sequel to Before Sunrise -- Before Sunset. The movie is equally lovely. For those who dont know about these movies, here is the brief outline.

Before Sunrise: These two strangers meet in a train and get talking to each other. They exchange ideas and share memories. The guy Jesse has to get down in Vienna and so he asks the girl, Celine to spend the day with him and catch the connecting train the next morning. So they spend a lovely day in the streets of Vienna. Next day morning, they both promise to meet each other exactly after 6 months in the same place and they go their separate ways. This movie was not about physical attraction. They both could understand each other, though each one belonged to a different school of thought.

Before Sunset: Both of them meet in Paris after 10 years. Both of them have met different people, and have had different partners. But they have always missed the rapport that they shared with each other. This movie was about catching up with each other's life and like the first movie, it leaves you to decide the ending :-) Me the hopeless romantic believes that they get back together :-D

Watch it. Its the most romantic movie (pair) that I have seen. Its definitely different from our King Khan type of movies. Pure, refreshing cinema.

Lucky?

We coexist with these endangered species - the black bucks.


Can expect an elf to walk in any moment :-D


The road to Bree ?


Courtesy pics: A very talented IITian :-)

We are lucky to live in a campus like this which is no less than a LOTR country. We have a lake, are surrounded by a harmless forest and lots of nooks and corners like the above where one can let one's fantasy run free :-D Plus the innumerable varieties of flora and fauna which are unique to this place. Wish I was educated enough to appreciate them more :)

Selective memories!

I was listening to the songs of Qayamat se qayamat tak. The songs always remind me of my childhood days spent at my granny's house. We used to spend most of our vacation there. I have a whole lot of cousins in my maternal side. Currently we are 23 in number :-D, those days we must be around 15. And I lead this bunch :-D. Since girls dont go out there, all our activities were confined to the terrace where we would play our own little games with the music running in the background. The terrace there has a room, a hall and an open air verandah. The windows in the room open into the verandah and one had to pass through the hall to go the verandah. So acting was one of our games. We kids would enact out movie scenes or stories in the room :-D And my hometown specialises in horror stories. Being a small village, spooky stories and total belief in them is abundant there. My uncle would often narrate such stories. So one day, we were enacting out Purani Haveli (this was a B-grade movie I think) . To create the ambience, we had closed the windows and made the room dark and gloomy. So while we were busy being the bhoots, my uncle sneaked up to the verandah and knocked hard on the closed window. The whole battalion ran out screaming and while going down we ensured that the terrace was sealed so that the bhoot/my uncle doesnt come down :-D

When people tell me that I dont have a good memory of my childhood, Ill say I have clear, vivid memories of few things and others which were irrelevant were forgotten :-) I remember going with my grandpa to the rivulet that passed our village, the rare trips to the plantations close to this stream, happy ramzans spent there, playing on the big swing in our house, childhood boyfriend (:-D who is getting married next month), and being pampered by all and sundry.
Thank god our brain chucks out irrelevant and unpleasant memories on its own. Else we would be in so much confusion and misery. Those were such carefree days!!
Koi lauta de mere beete huye din :-D

O sleep! O gentle sleep!

In the movie Sarkar, in the end, heavy weights are tied to the villain's legs and he is dropped into the ocean. And he sinks.

What I need is some dead weight of that kind which drags the mind down and makes one fall asleep instantly. Because I have a serious sleeping problem these days. I have tried everything possible for a good night's sleep. I work hard in the day so that Im tired at the end of it. I go for evening walks (mind u brisk walks.. this is a big thing for me cos I was totally against all kinds of exercises. I firmly believe in the principle of least action. ) But still I have to wait for the sleep at night and I hate waiting. U know it is a misconception that girls are always late. In my experience, the boys are always late and I wonder why. They dont have a long hair to plait or dupattas to pin. Anyway, what do I do to sleep ?????

And finally in the mornings, I say this...

Danish Cartoons

My mind wanders the most when I have a deadline to meet :-D

I found a good set of articles at Institute of Islamic Studies.
There is a good article on the Danish Cartoons controversy

These cartoons are extremely offensive as they make fun of the Prophet of Islam rather than any Muslim politician as if the Prophet was responsible for all that Osama bin Laden or his followers in Al-Qaeda have been doing. Whose fun do we make? One who is dead 1400 years ago and has nothing to do with contemporary developments in the world of Islam

More of it here.
There is an article on Islamic Feminism (my favt topic by the way) and many more illuminating articles.
I had read a few articles by Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer in The Hindu but I never knew the extent of his work.Why doesnt the media focus on such educated liberals rather than publicising the imams who issue fatwas at the drop of a hat?? Dr. Rafiq Zakaria was another such scholar who passed away last year.

Indian Muslims

I discovered this site of/by Indian Muslims. All kinds of views have been expressed there. Good links too. I especially liked the link to Urdu Poetry. Good effort :-)

!!!

Hey I saw Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. Its different from the usual movies I see usually and umm it did make sense and it didn't make sense at times too :-D But what I wanted to mention here is this.. Joel and Clementine are the main characters of the movie. Clementine is this wacky girl who wears her "personality in a paste" orange, or blue hair colours!! (kate winslet by the way. she is beeeyouteephul. anything looks good on her). Now what I wanted to mention was-- she is supposed to be wierd, impulsive and all that and in one scene, in her home a Hindi movie song is being played in the background!!! I take offence.. Hindi movie songs should not be associated with wierdness. It wasn't even any Govinda song. It was 'mera mann pyaasa'
Even in Bollywood calling towards the end, the 'hero' plays a hindi song for his wife and she says "stop that infernal music" !!!! Ok agreed that the song was kind of wierd but still!!!!
We live on those. We must be the wierdest on earth then :-D
I cannot stand Jim Carrey. No not even in Bruce Almighty.. But he was so good in this movie ! First movie of his that I liked.

I want to go out somewhere today. In fact, I think I want to go out almost everyday. Im a gypsy stuck in the lab.. :-D

x-(

I get very irritated when every aira-gaira-nathu-khera thinks Im answerable to him/her. Arre my next hour is not charted out. Then why should anyone think that Ill follow a set pattern of life and if i dont why should I tell them why I dont. Do I ask why you are the way you are? Im least bothered about anybody else right now. Then God knows why people make it their business to pry in my life. That too a relatively unknown person!! just an acquaintance and she thinks I should tell her why i do something at this hr and not at that hr. yeah im pissed off and she deserved it if i was rude. This is the third or fourth time she has done this and my tolerance level hit its max grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Dont ppl have enough problems of their own that they go around worrying about others!! Na generally.. Why do people pry??

he he

A friend suggested that my prince charming should take an entrance test to woo me :-D Not a bad idea.. please take the nerd test below and let me know the score :-D
I was reading Frankenstein and it so happens that I get free time only at night. And yesterday It was close to 0030 when the creature was created :-D Scary!
Im also reading A Pelican at Blandings by wodehouse. He is the ultimate king of humour. His Jeeves and Blandings series are the best ones.

hmmm

Does sarcasm exist between friends?

I didn't think so too :-D

..

Im a passive citizen :-( I saw an accident today. A girl was lying on the road. I was in the bus. I just prayed that the people surrounding her will help her and carried on. Maybe thats the maximum I could do or maybe I could have done more. I did try calling up a trauma care number I had got from a chain mail. Turned out to be a fake number x-( (grrrrrrrrrr).
Hope she got some help.

before sunrise

I saw a beautiful movie today - Before Sunrise. Romantic but not mushy. Something which lingers on one's mind long after the movie is over.
There is a wise Chinese proverb which says marry someone with whom you can talk. Because thats the only thing that gets you through old age. I don't want to die old by the way and I dont want to die young either. I think Im not ready for it anytime :-D Im confused. Thats why God is omniscient :-D
Im on the hunt for the sequel now which is called Before Sunset.

I realised today that I practically live on music. When Im bored I listen to music. When Im sad I listen to music. (I hate sad songs especially mukesh songs.) When Im drowsy and I have to work I switch on something peppy. When Im happy I play something which matches my mood. Sufi music soothes me. Restless, lonely, ecstatic, partying, and even eating (I have a marked preference for restaurants which have a good music collection).. any mood and I need a tune. When Im not listening to it Im humming it. Its scary at times!! :-D Even when Im in company, there's something going on in my mind. Wierd ?
But then thats me :-D

hmphh

Pundit this has to make u happier grrrrr I challenge u .. take ur test BE HONEST nd lets see wat ur results are hmphhhhh

Calvin and Hobbes

One of the many reasons I love C and H. Find more here
I have a friend who looks like Susie Derkins :-D

Yaiyaiyaaaaaaa

I bought my first pair of jeans :-D And I totally, absolutely love it. And guess what! I saw my mausa mausis (maternal uncle and aunts) in my dream. They said they don't approve of me :-D Hilarious ? Wierd? or Im going crazy :-D

And I got a beautiful hard bind copy of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley gifted to me :-D It belongs to the horror genre it seems and its beautifully written. As soon as the day is over, I am going to read it. My dream - a cosy library with a huge french window looking out to the water fountain in the lush, green garden. Absolute silence except for the chirping of the birds and the rippling sound of the water. Adjacent to the window, there is a teakwood bookcase. And this book goes on to the third rack of that bookcase :-D

Something positive

A 'fatwa' against terrorists attacking places of worship
This is what I have often been ranting about in my blogs - lack of any fatwa against the killings. Though the bombings and killings have been condemned on a regular basis in the local mosques, there has been no media news about this. This is good news :-)

I saw Gone with the Wind yesterday :-D Awesome movie. The book has been my all time favourite. And Rhett Butler is the most romantic character I can think of. Its a 1939 movie. But its so well crafted, you can see what makes it a classic. Some movies create an atmosphere about you. This one did. Scarlett O'Hara is a powerful character. She is vain, selfish, but strong and determined and tackles her problems face-on. "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. " made much sense to me.
Vivien Leigh was perfect in that role. Sometimes I feel I'll have an end like Scarlett O'Hara.
But then, Im still searching for a Rhett Butler :-D Even a Barney of the Doctors will do :-D

Fortunes and tides

My orkut fortune for today reads : You will have some wonderful new experiences. I am waiting ;-D
Those fortune msgs cheer one up u know! Yesterday it said : Im well liked, adabadawada.... Chalo koi to kuch accha kehta hai :-D
I saw Iqbal on TV today. Liked it a lot.
And my latest craze in music is Fuzon. Try them out. Now I like that kind of fusion. Fresh. Even Faakhir is good to hear. Peppy. And he has a good voice. Bro I love u so much for getting an awesome speaker system.. well for other things too.
I have a copy of one nite @ call center by Chetan Bhagat. Its raining books :-D.. Lots to read and lots to do :-)
Working on weekends is soooooooo difficult. I have a deadline tomorrow but nothing done for that yet. Mind is very distracted. Focus.. that's what is lacking :-)

I have this urge to run away somewhere for a couple of days.. Mountains, rivers, greenery, mist, dew drops, breeze tinged with a lemony tangy smell, silence, sound of water hitting the stones, bird-songs and absolutely nobody else.
Option 2- a deserted clean beach. and me swimming with the waves.
There's a scene in Yuva's fanaah song where both kareena and vivek are floating in the middle of the sea. I want to do that someday :-) Swimming is something that I wish to learn someday. Its on the things-ill-do-before-i-die list.
Want to go trekking. want to bungee jump.. want to ski.. want to fly...
he he
I dont want to write that paper :-D

Hurray the weekend is here!!!

Fresh Blood

`Young' party to contest Assembly elections

More about them at LokParitran Party Home

Bus day

CELEBRATING THE STUDENTS' WAY: Yet another set of students on Wednesday observed `Bus Day', an occasion to express their affinity towards a favourite bus route. But it looks like the happiness here has grown to dangerous proportions, as many of the students travel perched precariously on all sides of the bus. — Photo: R. Ragu

This came in The Hindu today - a clipping about the Bus Day.. One of our profs contributed some more to the caption. It read as

These are Leaders of Tomorrow. Please postpone "tomorrow"

Books and blasts

After a severe drought of books to read in the past few days, I have now three books lined up for my perusal :-D - all of them belonging to a different genre.. Glimpses of world history by Nehru, Murder is easy by Agatha Christie, and Magic for Marigold by LM Montgomery..
So apart from the research work that I have to finish by this weekend, I can look forward to this too. I AM busy :-D
The bomb blasts in Varanasi is deplorable and should be severely condemned by all the religious leaders. Anybody who take lives so indiscriminately is not even human, leave alone talking about going to heaven. The people behind such crimes can't be anyone's friends.. These gruesome acts succeed in polarising the community. Plus we have the political leaders using these tragedies for their own means..

Anything can snowball into a big carnage these days.. We live in troubled times... Nobody is safe anywhere now...

he he

There was a young fellow from Trinity
who took square root of infinity
but the number of digits
gave him the fidgets.
He dropped Math and took up Divinity.

lifted from George Gamow's book called One Two Three .. Infinity.. Book looks interesting..

.

I have uploaded the profile pic :-) with all due respects to the person who created this.
He he that pic loooks so unlike me......

ye haseen fwds

These paintings were forwarded to me. The girl is gorgeous and the paintings are well crafted.
Im really tempted to use one of these pics as my profile pic :-D Should I or shouldnt I.. mmmmm If yes then which one ? The 1st one in the 2nd row or the last one?

I saw Chronicles of Narnia. Either I wasnt in a good mood or the movie WAS really boring. I didn't enjoy it. mmmmm the kids were cute.. Peter was handsome. Story would have been interesting just that I wasnt in a mood to appreciate it that day that show plus the crowd was full of hooligans who had come to make noise and the kids were emulating them!!!
I really wished for home theater systems then :-( Half the fun of cinema in theatre was lost cos of those ruffians. Tell me in what way does cat-calling and other cheap antics give them pleasure!!
Back to the movie, war scenes reminded me of LOTR. Half man-half horse (centaurs i now remember what they are called) reminded me of Hercules, the series.. and lions are the favourite subjects of my nightmares.. How could I ever appreciate one in the lead role!! He he Mr. Tumnus reminded me of an Italian physicist who had visited us recently. He was very cute indeed :-D And everyone was so mechanical in the movie.
It was just too slow for my taste. Waste of money and waste of time.

Have a nice week ahead. Time really flies doesn't it?

chanda ki doli mein...

This pic was just my first attempt at uploading images :-D

By the way, we had a similar moon in the sky tonight albeit much smaller in size. It looked majestic amongst the brilliant stars. And then suddenly, lo and behold it started raining! A slight drizzle.. but very much welcomed after the sultry day we faced. Summer starts early in Chennai :-) 2 yrs back we had such a summer. It would be hot in the day but it would rain in the evenings. It was the most beautiful summer I had ever seen. I hope this drizzle today means this year we will have a summer like that one. I like summers more than winter inspite of the heat and grime. There's a cheerfulness in this weather. Mornings are bright and inviting. Sea breeze blows in the evenings. Icrecreams, juices, water melons, cottons, and MANGOESSSSSSSSSS... Many reasons to rejoice in summer compared to the gloomy winter.

The Shah of Blah

Hey the ratio goes like this --- > mean ppl:cute ppl = 1:3. Thats why life is beautiful :-D

Im currently reading Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. I was prejudiced against him after the row over the Satanic verses and I took up this book too with much reluctance. And what I found there was a surprise. There are writers of all kinds and then there are the real writers- the ones whose writing is different. A different style, a different way of visualising things. Innovative, capturing. The ones whose books are remembered for their novelty. I think Salman Rushdie is one of them. At least this book tells me so. Now I'm tempted to read his other books. Are they as good as Haroun.. ? I now actually want to know what the Satanic verses row is all about.. Is he also a victim just as Sania Mirza is? But are the books available in market ?

My friend told me about a new fantasy series by Christopher ** - Eragon and Eldest. Thats also on my list of books-to-read.

I also saw the animation movie- Corpse Bride. Its good :-D .
A dialogue goes like this (umm the corpse bride wants to go "upstairs" to the living world so the dead old wise man asks her) - " Why do u want to go upstairs when people are dying to come down here ?? " :-D
I hope to watch Chronicles of Narnia this week :-D I AM busy!!!
Mind u I have also been working hard on what Im supposed to work hard on these days.

I'm a sucker for fantasy world.

I played cricket today :-D

Ok so I scored 0 and fielded one ball but still I PLAYED!! It was great fun.. I had more fun at the nets practising than actually playing. End result- my bat did connect with the ball. :-D I always used to wonder how ppl enjoy watching it on TV for 6 hrs at a stretch. Now I know that those who have played it will know the details and hows and whats of it hence they like watching it..

And I dont know so many ppl from our own dept!!! I sure made many friends today :-)

And I guess at some level, I AM sensitive to trivial stuff.. something simple that a friend said pricked me.. I guess Ill take some time to get over that..

A new week starts tomorrow.. Have a fruitful week :-)

Where is Physics!!! Its not engineering :-|

You scored as Mathematics. You should be a Math major! Like Pythagoras, you are analytical, rational, and when are always ready to tackle the problem head-on!

Mathematics	75%
Sociology	75%
Philosophy	67%
Engineering	67%
Psychology	58%
English	50%
Chemistry	42%
Journalism	42%
Art	42%
Biology	33%
Linguistics	25%
Theater	25%
Anthropology	17%
Dance	17%

What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3)
created with QuizFarm.com

He he Philosophy and me!!! no way.. I always liked mathematics :-)

He he

Why is it that you physicists always require so much expensive equipment? Now the Department of Mathematics requires nothing but money for paper, pencils, and erasers ... and the Department of Philosophy is better still. It doesn't evenask for erasers - Isaac Asimov

:-D

Newsmericks

Newsmericks
She has a limerick for every issue!! Creative ones too!
Like she says : newsmericks - news in limericks form...

Miss you

Dear chicken,
I have been missing you a lot. Its been more than a week since I tasted you. At times, I feel this desperate urge to forget everything and everyone for a few moments of bliss with you. I would like you to know that my heart cries out not just for you but the many others who were to follow you - the cute white eggs - the smooth white things with the soft yellow hearts. Though, I must confess that the movie Chicken Run did poke my conscience a bit. But then. every good thing has an end. You were too good for your own good.
You can never imagine the agony my heart (rather my taste buds) go through when I read about the thousands of your kind being culled.
Got to go. Sorry for being abrupt but physics calls. We humans ARE this inhuman.
Deepest regrets.

Life is a dewdrop..

Ever wondered how it would feel after death? Leave the life after death part. Its everyone to his/her own beliefs. But before all that, just when a person has died, how he/she/it would feel? I mean just a few hours without any conversation with family or friends makes me feel so desolate generally. Imagine the soul wanting to talk to its dear ones and not being able to reach across! Just lying there thinking about what could have been, what it had left unfinished and what he/she shouldnt have done. Time machines could never have been wished for more then than any other time. Just nothing to do except wait for the Day of Judgement! Even when somebody close passes away, what I regret most is that there is no way I can talk to that person again plus there's one person less in the world who loved you for no reason. Kal Ho Na Ho is a profound statement and Im dead scared about the Na Ho part :-D.
In our place, it is believed that after a person is dead, the only way he/she gets in touch with the living is in the dreams. I have seen my dearest dead relatives in my dreams so many times and I used to wake up feeling happy that they remembered me enough to come visit me in dreams (:-D) .

Anyway, this is the wrong time to think about these things :-D. This year, I would really like to know what's lined up for me! My life could change for the better or for the worse. I have so many regrets of my-life-would-have-been-different if-i-had-done-this kind. This year, I plan to test the waters. Ill throw in my stones and see what patterns emerge. That's a better move than could-have-beens. The patterns so far have been good though I have not been good enough to appreciate their beauty. I think the future is beautiful too. My doubts are confined to - in which direction will the water flow :-) Time will tell.

By the way folks, its my birthday tomorrow!! :-D Wish me luck :-D

I'll make the most of this dewdrop before it gets absorbed in the earth :-)

Success :-D

Long long time ago I was cribbing about a code not working. After working on it in between big breaks the code finally works :-D Happiness!!

Chiffonesque

Check out this blog. She writes sincerely with a great sense of humour. I loved her posts. A delight to read them.

.

Its time our politicians stopped using religion for their vote banks. We don't want to be favoured and we dont want to be left out.
It just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I wish for the day when we have mature politicians.
I, for one, have always fancied an army major or an air force pilot.. So any muslims out there do contact me :-D ;-)

.

He he another valentine's without a valentine!!

RDB reloaded

We got to see RDB again in our very own OAT. Such movies are best suited to the OAT ambience.. Cos the enjoyment becomes a community affair in the sense of hanso saath saath, applaud saath saath.

Whenever positive scenes of laxman and aslam came up on screen, students lauded, whistled and clapped in the gallery. I guess close-knit communities have the danger of shortsightedness. So when people do come out of the cliquish groups, they will realise that things are not as bad for them as they think.

Much hooplah is going on abt prophet muhammad's pics in the papers. Ignore baba.. kisi ke kehne se kuch change nahi hota. The prophet himself used to forgive other's ridicule. Those who are out to exercise their "freedom of expression" expect us to react this way and we have been doing everything to please them.

PS (23.2.2k6) - I at times find great wisdom in the Letters to the editors section of The Hindu. This is what people had to say about this issue :

A strong faith should not be shaken by childish attempts to denounce it. (21st Feb)

Time and again, we forget the message and focus on the messenger. Do gods need us humans to protect them and their reputation? (22nd Feb)

..

Grrrrr currently working on a code which refuses to sort out x( After a while, one gets so used to the code that one can't identify the bugs.

.

Too many good news today ;-D and two of my friends with whom I had lost touch unexpectedly contacted me :-D

Iran

India has again voted against Iran in IAEA! I dont know exactly if Iran is actually in the wrong or not. Iraq was also in this arena of suspicion. I feel Iran is also an Iraq-in-the-making. I hope India has a better reason for this other than pleasing the biggies.
A few years back, a beautiful Iranian girl in complete hijab used to study here. I used to admire her drive in coming all the way to India to pursue her studies.
My colleague had also gone to Iran for a school-cum-conference. He brought back delicacies, stories and photos from there. The delicacies were mainly made from dry fruits and were very tasty. The photos told us a great deal about their architecture, living habits and heritage. Imagine seeing the arches, minarets and kasheedakari seen in our Mughal palaces, ancient mosques etc in the local streets of Teheran!! Very beautiful. He had visited some ancient calcite caves too. Stunning pictures!! Iran is linked in so many ways to our own history.
Baghdad library was a storehouse of ancient literature and all that got destroyed. Hope the heritage and culture of Iran don't go the same way.

.

I finally got my eyes checked :-D This is a big event in my life cos I have been postponing this for the past three years!! Have to put on glasses :-( Mere looks ka kya hoga ??? :-(( boooohooooooooooo

sarfaroshi

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazoo-e-qaatil main hai!
Rahraw-e-rah-e-mohabbat rah na jana rah mein,
Lazzat-e-sahra nawardi doori-e-manzil mein hai.
Yoon khara maqtal mein qaatil kah raha hai baar baar,
Kya tamanna-e-shahaadat bhi kisi ke dil mein hai
Waqt aane par bata denge tujhe ai aasmaan,
Hum abhi se kya bataaen kya hamaare dil mein hai.
Ai shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat tere jazbon par nissar,
Teri qurbaani ka charcha ghair ki mehfil mein hai.
Kheinch kar laai hai sabko qatal hone ki umeed,
Aashiqon ka aaj jamghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai.
Ek se karta nahin koi doosra koi bhi baat,
Dekhta hoon main jise woh chup tiri mehfil mein hai.

We are now raring to die for our country's sake
Let's see how much of strength the assassin can display!
O traveller on the path of love, do not drop mid-way,
It is the distance of the goal that glorifies the chase.
Standing by the gallows the hangman makes a call,
Come, if there be any, by the martyr's zeal enthralled.
We'll tell you all, O sky, wait till the time arrives,
How can we at this stage, our secret plans unveil?
O martyrs in the nation's cause, kudos to your sacrifice.
Even in the enemy camp they talk of you with praise.
Fired by patriotic fervour, many a maddened youth
Has gathered at the crossing, itching for the cross.
Why are they mute and silent? no whisper, no talk,
Everyone that I see has got his lips locked.

kya jazba hai!!

rdb uncontrolled

sleepless me and no books to read. So I thought I might as well post something.

Warning: This could be a spoiler for Rang de Basanti. So those who havent seen it yet should stay away from my ramblings :)

RDB struck a chord at so many levels.

When the father says "SMS generation..char line kya bol diya samajhte hain lecture suna rahe hain" :-D I thought I say that to my father too!!!! He knows by now before I say it out that Ill say "lecture mat do papa" :-D Im a spoilt bad daughter.. no doubts about that :-D

When aamir says that beyond the college doors nobody knows him. I feel that too. Once I leave this field, Ill be mrs. anonymous. Its not as if I'm well known now:-D but there are a few who recognise me by my work and thats a good feeling. Should I give up that and get back to doing what every common girl used to do? They form a chunk of the many doubts I have these days. There's a big chasm between the world I belong to and the world I wish to belong to. But then I think one can't change everything in one go.. A bit by bit change is how life proceeds. I should reconcile myself with this too :-)
RDB says : Live life. Stop analysing. But then ye wholly possible bhi nahin hai na!

And I know so less of the Indian history leave alone world history!!! :-( The freedom fighters had a purpose and they faced larger and more justified problems. They did so much and for what! Our generation has had it easy in so many ways. I rarely have problems of that magnitude but still I crib so much about trivial issues like mess food. Should cut down on that. dont u think so? easier said than done for ppl like me :(

I got a good fwd on republic day: It says : "patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.."
Doesn't that make sense too? So hope we do our part in doing something for the country.

Well in the end, killing the minister sounded foolish to me. Agreed that he deserved every bit of it. Apart from being corrupt himself, to cheapen the sacrifice of the pilot was the foulest thing he could do. But then, killing him finishes all the evidence. He is branded as "amar senaani" And what punishment does he get? Everything is over for him after he dies na. Bringing out the truth in some way will humiliate him publicly and that was the best punishment he could have got. But then, this is imposs cos of the corruption prevalent at that level. system faulty hai. there was a dialogue in the movie Page 3 where atul kulkarni says something which goes as "system me reh kar use badalne ki koshish karo" All this sounds good theoretically but putting it into practice! But then every little contribution helps..

But I'm happy that I can't recall any instance where I have bribed anybody :-D Infact the officer who came for passport verification had given signals that I could be a bit meherbaan. But my lousy sounding Tamil came to my rescue and I acted ignorant and didnt pay anything. Got major blastings later at home and they forecasted no-passport-without-favors for me. But thankfully, I faced no such hassles and I got it. That was the only brush with bribery I faced ever in my life. Luckily :)

Everytime a MIG crashes, it IS a senseless loss of a person who actually does something useful. And who doesn't love his/her life!! To waste it cos of unreliable aircrafts is an issue.

He he Kunal kapoor looks so good!! Tall guys have been the flavor of the season. Zulfi syed, kunal kapoor... But zulfi syed, john abraham are good poster-type hunks. There is something more intense in Kunal kapoor. Or is it just my impression cos of this movie. Soha's role was also very intense and she played it out well. She is gorgeous too! A simple college-going-girl look.Everyone has acted very well in this movie. Maybe this has been The break of their lifetime.

No over-melodrama in the movie. That was such a relief! I was afraid Ill embarass myself by shedding copious tears as Im often bound to do in tragic endings :-D

Whats with aamir and patriotic movies these days?? But mind u, this movie was not just aamir's movie. Everyone in the movie played a key role. There is no special hero. Infact, aamir's too many chak-de-phattes got on my nerves. Whatever does it mean anyways???

Whatever music Rehman composes for a movie, it rocks. He is a genius. His simplicity is so much in odds with his talent! From the start, his music sets the tempo of the movie.

So overall, this movie addresses some real issues but has an unrealistic ending.

ps: Any idea how amitav ghosh's books are like? Should I try them out? Or maybe I should stick to Chaikin and Lubensky- principles of condensed matter physics :-D
or should I learn more about archimedes principle !! :-D wont forget the joke and maybe I should try that out... poor guy will get the lesson of his lifetime :-D ;-)
Why am I not sleepy yet!!!! :-((

no network rt now so the posting is delayed :-(

I saw Rang De Basani :-D

I saw Rang De Basanti :-D Loved the movie. Do go watch it! Thought-provoking.
Right now on cloud nine so will write more sensibly when I come down to earth :-D
And Im so much thankful that I work only in linux what with all the viruses loose on the net

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At times, its so difficult to put words in action.

..

Tadbeer ke dast-e-zareen se taqdeer numaayan hoti hai
Qudrat bhi madad farmaati hai jab koshish-e-insaan hoti hai.

Maybe I should learn something from this :-)

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Dreams are not meant for me :-(

musings

I think I should warn beforehand that this post is one of those breakfast-lunch-dinner menus type :-D So read it if u like it :-D

Our insti culturals are going on and we had shankar-ehsan-loy show yesterday as a part of this. My friends had come. Since, this was their first time here, they enjoyed the show a lot. But, for me, who has seen such shows so many times, there was no novelty and I got bored. In fact, last year we had a KK show and so most of the songs yesterday were a repeat for me. I know that its the atmosphere that matters but then I failed to gel in yesterday. My usual hangout crowd was missing :-). I enjoyed KK's show ten times better. And I discovered that I have a mortal fear of my feet leaving the ground :-D Thats why I make a terrible dancer :-D In all, I think I enjoyed kite flying more than this :-D, which I did in my last get-together. Maybe because we went to the beach and I love water in all forms. Guess Im a true piscean :-D
Anyways, the weekend is here. Last weekend was very hectic and after some 10 days of gruelling work I cant seem to debug another code now. So, Im just putting my feet up and rejuvenating myself :-D Hope I get back to full form next week. A major confidence booster this week had been my assessment. Mostly, it leaves me with a feeling of being inadequate for what I do. This time I felt like I knew the subject. I am always a bit scared of one of my co-advisor and I used to think that he thinks that Im a dumb girl. But I got to know from my advisor that he thought differently about me and that was such a major confidence booster!! Many more doubts and hesitations in my mind but "its the time to khisko" :-D
So I leave u with wishes for a very happy weekend and a very fruitful week ahead.

Ha ha :-D

Your results:
You are Supergirl

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Lean, muscular and feminine. Honest and a defender of the innocent.

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He he good to start my day with. I can do with a bit of morale boosting of this kind :-D by the way ppl, panga nahin lene kaa kyaa :-D

Kannathil muthamittal

3 posts in a day! he he but while preparing the figures for the report it gets pretty monotonous and the mind wanders. So I was listening to this title song from Kannathil Muthamittal and I remembered the movie too. Its a very sweet touching movie by Mani Rathnam. By the way Im a big fan of MR. I have absolutely adored all his movies starting from Mauna raagam. Anyways, this movie is about a girl who has been adopted by madhavan and simran when she was a kid. Her natural mother is a LTTE member . When the girl comes to know of this she insists on meeting her natural mother. Both M and S take her to SL and what happens next forms the rest of the story. Simran looked very beautiful in simple saris and salwars. Madhavan was awesome as a father. There's something very attractive about superdads, about the way they are so protective about their kids, especially girls. I hate it when I see moms and dads pampering their boys.. But then if they are dads already, its too late for us isn't it :-D The kid acted so well. I think she got the national award. She really moved one to tears.
Visuals in the movie are stunning. SriLanka is so beautiful. Pure unadulterated green in many pockets. By the way its a good honeymoon destination too :-D Its closer to home and costs less money and time. One of my friend went there and brought such stunning photos back. Imagine waterfalls outside ur window! I wonder why only the heaven-like places in the world are under strife. Take Kashmir, Srilanka, Assam.. All these places are the closest to nature and yet we have bloodshed there.

Main yahaan

I like the song Tu jahaan from salaam namaste a lot. Especially the part sonu sings :-) Whenever I heard that song, I have felt ki kaash......... :-D Similarly in Main Yahaan hun yahaan from veer zaara. There's so much promise and care in those two songs. I wish we get that in our real life too :-) I guess they jus appeal to the almost dying romantic in me :-)

reports :-(

Ask me to write nonsense, I'll write pages and pages but I just hate writing reports where one has to be technically correct and grammatically sound and polished ughhhhhhhhhhhhh Im writing one now. And this is the 3rd draft cos everyday my advisor gets a new idea for a format..I'm so mentally blank now.
And they have fixed this assessment next week when the whole institute will be enjoying culturals and I'll sit and prepare my presentation. Even after this meeting is over, we still will have after effects of the meeting. Ughhhhh there's no life for the likes of us according to the admin ppl. Anyways we will see light sometime soon.

veer tum bade chalo
dheer tum bade chalo
saamne pahaad ho
guide ki dahaad ho

etc etc

too early

I woke up at 5 am today without an alarm :-D Its a once in a lifetime experience for me. And I spotted 3 kingfishers too. But I dont think this will motivate me to wake up everyday at this hr :-D

Creativity!

Check out Sharad Haksar's homepage . Good creativity! More on him on rediff

Coastliners and Taj mahal

Joanne Harris has been my favourite author and I have written reviews of her books in my own inadequate words in my earlier posts. I read another of her book today called Coastliners. This is also a good read. Its about a small island (so small that it doesnt even appear on the map) and its inhabitants who are deep-rooted in superstition and have lost all hope. They believe that only the patron saint of their island can now improve their fortunes and all efforts to do it themselves will be futile. Along comes a girl who had emigrated from the island with her mother when she was a kid. How they manage to change the local attitude and prevent disaster forms the rest of the story. As usual in JH stories, human relations, local community, mystery, intrigue and romance flavour this book. Every person in the community is given a distinct character. Even the villain of the story has a human side to him and u end up sympathising with him.
Some stories have the capability to create an atmosphere around the reader if u know what I mean. When u read the book, u can picturise the island, the people and sometimes its like Alice's trip to wonderland. U forget about the everyday lab trips and think u actually live on the island :-D I get that feeling with a very few books like Lord of the rings, all JH books and few more that i cant recall now.
Ill keep an eye out for her other writings.

A very hilarious movie I saw yesterday was "Tajmahal" the Akbar Khan version :-D It was hilarious in many parts but gross in many too. The brutal scenes could have been avoided. I couldnt recognise Arbaaz Khan in Aurangzeb's role :-D The lead pair were plastic. Zulfi syed was so covered in zulf (hair) that his acting talents got shadowed if they were any. he tried. I'm still fida over him cos he had killer eyes and an awesome height :-D This movie made me want to see Tajmahal, the makbara. I have seen it when I was 9. Hardly capable of appreciating the beauty. I want to see that again.
Another feeling I got from this movie was that if Aurangzeb had not been so rigid in his Islamic beliefs and had not tried to impose it on the local public, India would have been a strong country when the English arrived. I feel a ruler should not impose his thinking on his nation. His strong measures alienated so many princely states. All the good that Mughal rulers had done before him got ruined by his approach. Many people now dont remember the good work done before him and remember only his atrocities. Evryone should be let to practise their own religion. Thats what Islam also says. Being fanatic about it never serves anybody's purpose.

Happy new year :-)

A very happy new year to everyone and may everyone's wishes come true. I have many expectations from this year and I hope I am motivated enough all through the year to fulfil them. I never knew how the last year flew by. Time goes really fast these days and we'll be old before we realise it :-D. Scary rt!!

I guess I hit a blog-block in recent days and that accounts for this big gap. :-) But I have so many thoughts rushing all together in my mind now that I guess I wont be able to put down all of them coherently. Ill give it a try. Hope it doesnt bore anyone but as I put it down in my very 1st post on the blog, this site is for my musings and raving and ranting abt issues, and reading or not reading it is entirely upto the reader's discretion.

Anyways, this new year started with many bad news. First was the attack on IISc. We were shocked at that since it was so close to us, in the sense that I have so many of my friends in that place. And an academic institution was the least likely target according to me. And as I have always said, this kind of terrorism should be condemned by state and religious institutions alike. This is not Islam. This is just misuse of Islam by criminals and murderers for their own material gains. The imams and muftis who have been issueing fatwa left and right on relatively trivial issues should come out and condemn these attacks enmasse. As this is a very serious issue which really affects the whole community. I felt good when my father told me that the imam in his mosque has said time and again in his bayaans that this "jihaad" is not a jihaad and taking lives is not the path to paradise. Such messages should be sent out to people very clearly and what better people than the head muftis who have access to the media. These attacks also succeed in creating mistrusts and bipolarity in the country. By condemning these activities, we can also reaffirm that the 12% doesnt support this.
I didn't like the treatment of this attack by the media too. The terrorists want us to be terrorised. Agreed that everyone is a bit scared now. But then, now no place and no time is safe. Thats their purpose and we all know that clearly. But airing the fears like aaj tak or the other channels did is like serving their purpose. Even if someone is brave, these channels will shake his confidence. Instead of highlighting the "dehshat in cities" in ekta kapoor style why not highlight the inadequacies of the police, bureacrats etc.!! The media is these days only in search of garam news which will increase their TRPs. Responsible journalism is hard to find these days.

The other bad news were the rape cases in Mumbai, Delhi etc. These rapists should be given death punishments. I have stated this opinion many times before in my blog. To hell with the human rights activists who keep mum when there is actually a human rights violation. This must have been a form of new year revelry for them but the girl is mentally scarred for her whole life! I think we are just one step away from being satans these days.