Pulp Fiction

On Missed Signs....

2006-01-09T16:01:00.000-05:00

Roadtrips are a lot of fun. Get a bunch of your buddies together, rent a car, get a map, have a vague idea of which direction you want to go, and you're all set. I've gone on quite a few roadtrips but the most memorable ones have been those in which V~ has figured. v~ is this incredible chap who has this uncanny ability of coming up with THE defining moment(s) of the trip. We eagerly await these moments and he never disappoints. This is what happened the last time around......

We were driving up to SanFranciso from LosAngeles. As always we'd started as late as possible and decided to forgo the preferred scenic route, and take the 'straight'(Yes!!it truly was straight) road up to San Fran. Me, J~ and M~ were in a convertible, while P~, v~ and Poo~ were in the SUV with P~ driving and V~ navigating. About a 100 miles north of Los Angelels, was this "big" split in th highway with one road going up to Fresno/Bakersfield and the other going to SanFran/Sacremento(Where we were heading). There were signs all over the place giving directions, and we easily took the road leading up to SanFran. Five miles down that road, we get a call from V~,

V~ : Hey guys, did you notice that the road divided up, and only one went up to SanFran?
M~ : Ofcourse we did, and we are on the correct road, why do you ask?
V~ : Er...We missed it and we're driving towards Fresno now...
ALL OF US ~: Whaaaaattt???.You were the navigator, how could you miss that sign??.
V~ : Er..I was busy clicking pictures..
M~ : Of what?
V~ : Nothing in particular, I took some of the hills, roads, and some signs.

All right,so you miss some exits, big deal!!. It happens to everyone. But no,it doesnt end there.A couple of hours later, we stopped for a break, and V~ and the rest caught up with us. We reviewed the snaps V~ had taken and we found this.....

V~...I salute thee...:)..

Go Gophers!!

2005-10-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

Minnesota BEATS Michigan at the Big House !!!..

Now, how many times have you heard that?!!.This one deserves a blog entry :)..What say J~?..:)..

PS: The last time Minnesota had the Little Brown Jug, its current running back Gary Russell wasn't born
PPS: Yes!!!I AM addicted to football!!

Football Therapy!!

2005-10-10T14:14:00.000-04:00

Ah!!Yes, the blog !!!...It's been a while since I visited the blog world. Lots of things have changed at my end. And I've grown wiser with every change(or so I think).

Speaking of changes, I've been completely cured of my 'earlier' addiction. To get rid of my addiction I followed a strict TV regimen.

My "TV Regimen" included the following tenets.
-> One shouldn't watch TV all the time
Sounded fair, So i went out and got the season ticket to the Gophers Football game(s).
-> One should indulge in some exciting TV prgms once a week.
Exciting TV pgms?Hmm..the two things that I know to be classfied in America as exciting tv pgms in Americs are reality shows and Football. I can't stand the former so i opted for the latter.
-> Add a bit of this 'excitement' to your everyday life, and you'd be happy forever
As farfetched as it sounded, it was still worth a shot. So i join this Fantasy football league, and decided to put my managerial skills in to action.

I called this 'Football Therapy'.It worked marvelously, and I no longer care what becker had for breakfast this morning or what seinfeld did last evening.Now I go for the games on Saturday, watch the National Football league on Sunday, and work on my fantasy football team everyday.

The Physicist in me says " Addictions can neither be created not be destroyed, they can only be
transformed from one form to another"!!So it begins........

And yes!!.I'm at the bottom of the league...:(.........

On Lost Friends

2005-05-19T13:14:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big fan of libraries. There is a great deal of irony in choosing libraries to loathe considering that I love books-- it's as if I like trees but hate forests. Bookstores are fine, its just libraries I have a problem with.

It may be my inability to return a book on time. Calendars, planners, and bright colored messages on the back of my head do not seem to help the inevitable late fees. I discovered long ago that buying a book is a cheaper option.Or it could be the libraries itself. Places that demand whispered voices -- like funerals, china shops and libraries -- are frightening and stressful. I can't seem to get in or out of one without setting off an alarm and bringing unwanted attenion to my general nervousness.

Most of all I fear the quiet wrath of the librarian. The cold stare that tacitly disapproves of my book choice, study habits or inability to understand the catalog system is far worse that any screaming reprimand I could receive. I live in fear of sneezing, coughing or breathing too loud. But then, my educational career has forced me to deal with my library phobia, as they house the information I need to gain the powerful student curreny of good grades. Business school gave me no choice in that matter. It was not only, expected but demanded that I makes use of the annals of research printed and bound for my benefit.

I went begrudgingly and only when it was absolutely imperative. After several personal prep talks I even worked up the courage to ask one of the many librarians staring at me in condemnation a question or two. No one tried to tackle me when I brought in coffee or a cookie and an alarm only sounded once in my presence. Slowly, the library and I were becoming acquaintances, not quite friends just yet, but cordial colleagues with a common purpose - academic success.

Then it happened. An early morning fire at the school, the final weekend of spring break closed the library for the rest of the semester. The library was not harmed by the fire itself, but by the measures requires to put the blaze out. A friend who would refer to herself as a "bad catholic" happened to uncharacteristically attend mass the day beore the pope died and now feels she may have been the last nail in the coffin. Upon hearing this story, I fear that the my newfound comfort in the library had somehow caused its demise.

In truth, most of us are online junkies anyway -- we prefer to do out internet searches in the library -- surrounded by old-school hard copies reminding us of how much harder our predecessors had to work. Still there is a sense of loss.

My new experience with the library remains incomplete -- it's the same feeling as when you start dating a school mate just a little too late, too close to summer. What will the fall semester bring? Will I confidently walk in, without setting off alarms and successfully research?Or am I destined to remain a connoiseur of online databases. unware of what to do when the internet access fails?.

In the meantime you can find me clicking pictures outside libraries - close to them, but afraid to go in.

Wooing the Lady !!

2005-04-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

I am completely in awe of the complexity of the universe and the arbitrary nature of many of its little wrinkles and fractal permutations. Infact, it all appears so difficult that we all pray for a little luck to get us through.

A couple of days back I was proctoring an MBA exam. Ten minutes before the end, this MBA student gives me his answer sheet and walks away. I was just putting his exam away,when he came running back up to me,and asked me if he could have his exam back. The way he pleaded with me, made me think that he'd forgotten to add something of 'great' importance.

There was just about five minutes left, and me being the considerate proctor, I gave it back to him and asked him to work on it very quicky. Unfazed, he took a piece of colored paper from his wallet, and rubbed it all over his answer sheets. After doing this for a while, he grinned , gave me his answer sheet and said

"Thats my lucky charm" .

I was too stunned to say anything.

Ah!the things one do to woo the lady.And if luck,indeed be a lady,the courting,the flattering,and the indulgences directed her way continue unabated.From the Exams to playing to walking to living,you name it,superstitions and good luck charms are embraced,usually against people's own good judgment.

But why do we do this? Just because, just in case, or just don't ask.Come to think of it, believe in them or not, good luck charms and superstitions have been an integral part of human life throughout history. From rain dances, to human sacrifices, to touching up answer sheets, they're all attempts to curry the favour of gods or the powers to be. Good luck charms and superstitions can serve simply as comfort, but at the other end of the spectrum, the world of superstitions can be a hall of mirrors navigated by people who border on obsessive-compulsive behavior.

The black cat crossing the road is a classic example. I do feel a bit discomforted when one crosses the path, but then the excitement of expecting the unexpected(which, by the way, never happens), makes me go on my way. But I know a few people, who would faithfully obey the sign from above, and turn back and go another way.

And to top it, intellectually people understand that it doesnt make sense, but emotionally they're unable to make the break.And we all know,Emotion always overruns intelligence, otherwise we'd have world peace, right?.

Well, I'd like to believe that, they're really an attempt to control the universe that is way too powerful for us to control. And now, I'm going to practise some 'mumbo-jumbo', and try my luck at making breakfast.

Whats in a name!!!

2005-04-22T16:16:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while, I go on this 'death-wish' trip to Detriot, to visit J~. So there I was, a couple of weeks back!!.7.00 AM in the Morning, and I'd been in downtown detroit for 20 Mins!!! And the news played the now so familiar

"Good Morning ye all, the latest from downtown Detroit, in a shoot-out lastnight, two policemen were killed......."

(And as you can see, I've survived so far). J~ derives a lot of pleasure in making me relish every moment of being alive, by always coming late to pick me up. After 60 Minutes, I'd almost given up hope of making it out alive, when J~ finally turned up. I let out a sigh of relief and got in the car, and after the 'not bad!!you're still alive' dialogues.....J~ dropped a bombshell...

J~ : So, How would you like to put your Hindi skills to good use....
Moi : eh? Hindi?. Were you drinking last night?..
J~ : Er..No...Actually, we're heading to a 'Children's educational fair' now, as part of the Indian Student association. We're organizing a 'Write your name in Hindi' event.
Moi : Damn neat, so whats for breakfast.
J~: Candy!!! You and I are running the first shift...I'm in charge of setting things up.
Moi : WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT?? Write in hindi?? you and I??..we cant even write our names in Hindi...and our best hindi was left way behind in the Pilani mess..

But J~ was adamant and insisted that we were being way to modest about our now perfected hindi. So there I was sitting in this table waiting for the next bunch of grad students to save us, before we began embarassing ourselves. J~ in the meanwhile came up with this brilliant idea of preparing a chart featuring 'Hindi Alphabets from Mars'. We tried finding the hindi equivalent for every english alphabet, and in this process we 'discovered' that we could represent all the english alphabets with less than a dozen hindi alphabets. An acheivement we're still proud of.

Well, our job was done, we'd set up everything, and so J~ went out to call for replacements. That was when all hell broke lose. Suddenly I was surrounded by a dozen kids aged 5-10.....the fair had opened!!!

" WOWEEEEE!!! I Want to write my name in HEENDI", shouted one....

and that set of a whole chorus of 'Me too's '....and I panicked!!!!.But then something struck me, In the land of the blind , the one eyed man is king. And that reasoning made me feel very very good!!. And mustering up all my 'hindi', I squeaked,

'Who wants their name written in Hindi, the national language of India',

and soon the Wayne's, the Zachary's, Amy's, Julia's and Linda's were all leaving the table, in joy claiming that they could now spell their names in Hindi. J~ returned after a while, and was amazed at the speed at which I was churning out 'hindi' names...but soon he was busy distorting names as well..

After the storm had passed,

J~ : Do you think ,that kid will ever find out that you spelt his name as 'Jakoory' instead of 'Zachary'.

Before we could exchange corrections, we were surrounded by yet another group of children, and we went about our ways, killing english names. But then all the equations changed when this very ABCD girl came up to the table with a kid and said,

'Look Rebecca, you can write your name in Hindi' ..

I wanted to say ' yes she can if she wants but we can't for sure', but senses prevailed and I quickly became very busy arranging stuff around/under/over the table. And so they moved over to J~'s side. And to top it, Rebecca turned out to be this 'I seek knowledge' kid, and asked ' What is hindi'..and the ABCD's girl reply...

'Oh!remember, I wrote your name in Sanskrit, this is a similar language'

...was enough to scare the bejusus out of J~.But I must say I did enjoy watching J~ squirm in his seat, beads of sweat forming in his forehead, trying to spell 'Rebecca'correctly..And finally after what seemed like a very long time, he succeeded in writing the name and they left. And now it was my turn...

' How did it go? Did you get Rebecca or Rebekaka?......

But I guess we'll never ever find out...and finally our replacements arrived, and Pandits S~ and J~ walked out heads held high. Besides, Whats in a name??

In Search of WiFi

2005-02-22T02:58:00.000-05:00

I called up J~ and thanked him profusely for his 'timely' warning, and ask him for another favour. All the WiFi zones,in the nation's best 'E-Enabled' airport, charge a small fee for their service,an unaffordable 10$ an hour.So J~ finds out that there's this hotel close by which has wiFi zones in its lobbies,and more importantly, its free. Now, thats cool, free WiFi => I can burn a couple of hours easily, and try and get some work done.

So I checked with the Information counter as to how to get there, and was extremely happy when they told me that there was a free shuttle service to the hotel. They casually asked me if I had a reservation there.I put on my poker face,and replied 'Yes,Ofcourse'. (C'mon it isnt all that big a lie!!)

I get out of the airport, see the shuttle, get there and let the handler load my stuff. I'm quite happy at this new devlopment, get in to the bus and find a comfortable seat. That the bus was packed with 'Gentlemen' and 'Ladies', and not dishevelled young grad students didnt bother me one bit. I was a man on a mission. Nothing could stop me!!!Well, almost!!

Little did I know, that this was 'complimentary' shuttle for guests with reservations. So I was 'plesantly surprised' when the handler came in and asked everybody to sign off with their reservations. I had to escape, and that I did!!.

I walked up to the handler, put on my poker face again, and asked
'This goes to the Hilton, right?'..
H - ' No, to the Double Tree, Sir, you're on the wrong bus'..
M - 'Oh No! I think I made a mistake, I need to go to the Hilton, I have a reservation there'.
H - 'No problem, let me get your stuff, and hey!!dont worry!!this happens all the time here'.

For a minute I was confused, what happens all the time here?.People trying to sneak in to star hotels ?.The kind fellow not only got my stuff out,but also gave me directions,and described the 'Blue and white' striped Hilton bus.I guess he had a feeling I couldnt read all that well !! I thanked him profusely, walked in the direction to which he'd pointed till I was out of his sight, and then got in to the airport again.

So much for WiFi, and thanks again J~ for the (in)complete Information. Boy!!I love Atlanta!!

The WeatherMan Strikes!!

2005-02-21T23:51:00.000-05:00

Here I'am stuck in America's busiest/most expensive airport, Atlanta Intl airport. The flights take-off and land, but the passengers stay put on the ground. No wonder its busy!!. It all started when I wished J~ well, late last night. Its close to midnight, and J~'s busy trying to predict the next 'solar flare from his 'multi-purpose' lab in the basement.(The janitor also stores his supplies there!!). Solar flares, as he'd explained, affect satellites. Now that is really important research, because without satellites, there is no 'satellite' TV!!. And for a TV addicts,(like me), thats armageddon!!

I'm for sciectific research and the betterment of manhood, So to encourage him and to better understand the importance of his research I pose an innocous question.

'Hey J~, do you see any 'solar flares' coming up tommorrow morning?, I have a flight to catch. Let me know, so I can put some sun-tan on'.

J~. misinterprets my intentions, and replies
'Yeah, I see one, and U'll burn in your flight tomorrow.'.

He couldn't have put it better.My flight from Texas, takes off late, and sometime later, the captain reports that

'Due to bad weather conditions in Atlanta, we'll be flying over Atlanta for an indefinite period of time'.

While I was flying over Atlanta, my connecting flight takes off without me(Yeah!!I'm important, I paid for the ticket). And BURN i did.I've been waiting here for the next available flight for the last 12 hours.

Thanks J~ for the warning, I atleast got my sun-tan on.

PS: I just checked, and the flight that I'm supposed to take ,is delayed by 2 more hours, thanks to bad weather again. This time, its at the place where the flight is coming from!!Brilliant!!

Observations
1. Never question/doubt/ridicule the importance of the research carried out by a graduate student.
2. Delta WILL GO bankrupt.

Of Lost treasures!!

2005-02-19T02:02:00.000-05:00

Till a few years back I used to get a lot of Cards/Letters, but things have changed now. The Cards and mails have been prefixed with an 'E-' ,and nobody asks where I live, anymore!!.

Infact, there was this one year,I didnt receive many B'day cards. And one E-mail-less day, this troublemaking realization actually came to me out of this room in my head that is the source of useless information.Well,I guess I just needed a reason to feel bad, and there it was. But I was ok with it. I can take it, I'm tough!!. No, I wont complain when my 'cheap' friends dont even care enough to send me a stupid birthday card. I can do without them, Right!!!.

A couple of months later, I was home visiting my parents, and I was cleaning out my room, when I found this box full of cards/letters from the yesteryears.I got the box out,and with a 'heavy' heart and a puzzled frame of mind, I began to read the cards and letters. And who else but Floyd could help in such situations, so I queued them up and cranked up the volume.

Here it all was. The candles, cakes, money, wisecracks, jokes, ure old enough to.., miss you's, and the Untellable. Heavy messages about love and joy and peace and goodwill. If that wasnt enough, there were those handwritten messages of affection from my 'cheap' friends. Seldom have I felt so bad and good at the same time. So wonderfully rotten, elegantly sad, and nostalgic and all. Utter Bathos!!.

And as fate would have it, I was discovered in this condition by my friend, who'd come to see me. She laughed. I showed her the 'find', and there we were, swept away by this outrageous outbreak of nostalgia, singing along with Floyd,

"Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say"

Well, what can I say?. I guess wonder and awe and joy are all always there in the attic of one's mind somewhere, and it doesnt take a lot to set it off. But yes, I sure do miss getting cards and 'handwritten' letters!!.

Artistic 'HIGH'

2005-02-18T02:41:00.000-05:00

This 'Untitled' oil on canvas, was sold for 9 Million Indian Rupees.(215K $). I'm no art connoisseur, but after looking at it from (all) possible angles, all I can conclude is that
- I should give up interpreting 'Modern Art'....after all its 'modern' while I'm not!!.
- The 'artist' is a genius.
- Selling a non-existent 'painting' for 9 Million, and making a mockery of supposed 'art lovers', by aptly titling the same 'Untitled' -> Sheer Genius!!

But, If you do see something in this work of 'art', do let me know. I'd love to know if it actually means something.

Three's Company!!!

2005-02-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

'Three' is a number that's been haunting me for a long time now..

Mangalore, India

It all began, close to 15 years back, I was in my 4th grade and was vacationing at my aunt's place in Mangalore. M'lore's a beautiful place, great beaches, amazing weather and the works...and as brilliantly portrayed by every bollywood movie ever made, thats where I first fell in love....Ok!!As a 4th Grader, I guess I didnt know much about love then,(not that I know now), and for that matter, I didnt know what to fall in love with. But I just knew, I couldnt go without this amazing creation for even a day!!. My First Love....Ideal IceCreams...the best IceCreams I've ever had till date!!. Now, getting back to the main thread 'three';My Aunt and my Cousin were getting ready to go out, and submit my cousin's application to one of the school's there!!.And I smelt my chance to tag along and get some much needed 'milkshake with Icecream', and so I very innocently asked my aunt if I could come along too. My Aunt was horrified at the thought of the 'three' of us going out together. And she said,

"Dear, We're going out on some important work, and its considered bad luck to go in three's"....

All that ran through my ignorant mind then was ,how some dumb number could deprive me of some much need ice cream...

.................'Three' didnt strike for another ten years..................
BITS, Pilani, India

Another beautiful night in Pilani, (and this time around I was in love with an intoxicating liquid), me and my friends were returning from c'not, when we were stopped by this 'supposed' ex-Bitsian. He was drunk, and claimed to have passed out from BITS a few decades back, and that he was living a comfortable life in the US. We humoured him for a while, and were just about to leave when all of a sudden,

"Hey Guys, You all remind me of the times I had in Pilani, tell you what, I'll give you three hundred rupees, drink to my good health"....

he gave us the money and two packs of ciagrettes to go with it, and left. Boy!Were we thrilled...Hail!!Drunk Ex-Bitsians!!..We had THREE HUNDRED bucks, and that was BIG MONEY in Pilani!!. We quickly worked out a plan, 4 of them went to ANC(Oh!How I miss the All Night Canteen) to get the goodies, 2 to the Bhavan to set things up for the party, and the lucky THREE were sent to get the main course. It was close to 11.30 PM, but then we'd done the 'walk' a zillion times to let time bother us, and besides this was a godsent gift.

The THREE - S~, K~ and B~ (Relative anonymity ofcourse!!).

Just as we were leaving the campus,

B~ : "You know what, they say when Three Brahmachari's go together, bad things are bound to happen"....
S~ : "Oh No!!Not that number again, its already cost me a lot (I was still sore about that lost MilKShake), it isnt stopping us now, stop this Mumbo-Jumbo, and think rationally.
K~ : "Yeah, c'mon B~ dont tell me you beleive that"
B~ : "Well, Ok, if you guys insist"

To cut a long story short, On our way back, we were mugged by some god damned locals,forced to exchange the 'stuff' for safe passage, and walked the 'long' walk'(It was always longer on the way back) back emptyhanded and cursing B~ for bringing up 'Three'!!!.

Three - STRIKE ONE

And since then we've been quite wary of 'Three'. Infact, recently, B~ had an interview, and I was to drop him. But as would have been, another friend of us also wanted a ride. But B~ and me didn't want 'Three' along this time, and dragged another
'Non-Beleiver' along.

B~ got through the interview!!!!

.................And last night.................................................

Holiday Valley, NY

After THREE hours of skiing, we were relaxing at the warming hut. And I noticed this gang of four snowboarders. One of them lit up A match, and lighted the cigarettes of two others. And finally, he was about to light his cigarettes with the same match stick, when the fouth guy said

"Dude, don't use the same stick, lighting three smokes in one stick will bring bad luck".

And bang came the reply
"Oh S*** you!!", and he calmly lit up his cigarette with the same matchsick.

Now, I knew 'Three' had quite a reputation back in India, but here, Nah!!It couldn't possibly hold, but I sure was surprised to hear 'Three' being mentioned. After all , we were in America, and I'd just finished a wonderful 'Three Stooges' roadtrip.Soon, We left the hut, and hit one of the tougher trails. I was almost down the trail, and skidded to a halt, to take a break, when I saw the 'Matchstick Dude' fly past me. He was taking a sharp turn, when his snowboard hit a bump, and he flew off the trail in to the bushes!!...Ouch!!That was the worst fall I'd ever seen. Before we could go over and see if he was alright, the Ski Patrol and his friends reached him, and helped him out. The guy was badly bruised and had also twisted his ankle.

When I passed the group, I heard his friend say..'I told you, it'd bring bad luck'....and bang came the reply again '...S*** You'....

Three - STRIKE TWO

'Three' was back......

Big Brother is Watching...

2005-02-14T18:47:00.000-05:00

All Ye Bloggers out there, you might be interested in knowing about this 'new development' in Corporate America!!.

And they sing 'the land of the free and the brave'...Pretty close!!..We're almost free!!!..

Mid-Week Blues!!

2005-02-10T19:03:00.000-05:00

Every morning,(Ok!Make that afternoon),when I near school, I sincerely wish for one for these 'happy' mishaps'!!. Honestly. grad school ain't all that bad, but OH YEAH!!It does get to you at times!!.

The Shoot

2005-02-07T20:33:00.000-05:00

Me and some friends of mine had been on this roadtrip to Florida, and we'd tried to outdo each other with our 'photography' skills. For purposes of 'relative' anonymity lets call the three stooges(Yes!!We were three), J~ , V ~ and S~, and here are their masterpieces.

J~'s entry, titled 'The Watchtower', a snap clicked in the everglades.

S~'s entry, titled 'Born Free', taken in Keywest, Florida.

And V~'s entry, titled 'Flying high', clicked in Keywest, Florida. BTW..That's one of us up there!!

Any winners here?.

The Games People play..

2005-02-03T02:10:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to Blockbuster for
1. The End of Late fees
2. The Monthly pass, courtesy of which I have seen almost every A,B,C-Grade movies ever dished out by Hollywood.

Infact, I'm in to movie-reruns now. I've been picking up movies which i've previously seen and enjoyed, seen but need to refresh the lead role's punch lines, tried to see but slept through. I'd picked up 'Beautiful mind' on one such occasion. As most of you know, its a brilliant movie, and I still believe Russell crowe deserved an Oscar for his acting in this movie than for his portrayal of Maximus in Gladiator(BTW..I loved the movie). Getting back to the movie, its about the legendary John Nash, whom I will always remember more for his letter of his recommendation, than for his brillant work in game theory.
Well, who wouldnt want a letter of recommendation that just had "This man is a genius". Mine went 'I know Sunil for the last.....hardworking,sincere..........admit him with aid...yeah with AID".

OK, absurd as it may sound, I was really 'inspired' by the movie, and I decided to take up a course in Game Theory. My decision to watch a movie over deciding courses to register for the semester had, as Nash would have put it, 'paidoff'.The course itself is really interesting and to top it, its being handled by one of the best Professors that I've ever had.(Prof.Wayne Bialas). Here's are some interesting titbits from his class.

- Game theory is so popular thanks to a) Von Neumann b) John Nash c) Robert McNamara d) 'Beautiful Mind' - the movie and e) The other (un)fortunate mathematicians who choose to work on it.
- Robert McNamara's claim to fame : Advised the Kennedy Govt to increase the number of nuclear war heads. This, he predicted, would also encourage the soviets to increase their warheads thereby neutralizing the nuclear power of both countries. The argument being, If I had one nuclear war head, and you had none, I would be at an advantage. But if we both had 100 Warheads, then we're better off not using them.
- Unfortunately, the above logic still holds true. And this implies nuclear disarmament will be an unrealized dream.

Well, I'll leave it at that. BTW, for the movie buff, here's a list of movies which use game theory.

Super'Sit' Me

2005-01-21T01:35:00.000-05:00

A new addiction that I've 'acquired' has forced me to remain THIS dormant in the blog world.The last couple of months have been quite an eye-opening experience, I have succesfully managed to temporarily 'subdue'(yeah..subdue would be apt), a few of my vices. But I guess as the wise put it,'to be a man of virtue, you need to acquaint yourself with vice first'.And so began my new addiction.

It all began that fateful day, when I convinced my room mate to make a 400$ investment.I still remember that 'Oh!WHat a deal, you wouldnt regret this!', I think the man upstairs heard that, and he is making me eat those words now!!. I've been telling myself its a phase that everybody goes through here, but when one of my friends looked at some 'recent' snaps and commented 'Ok!!You're looking very 'healthy'......my world came crashing down on me, and I realized that my addiction was taking total control over me.A lot of them have written about this addiction, and I've read a few and laughed at their experiences. I mean, who could get addicted to those totally entertaining, unbelievably funny....SITCOMS??.

My body refuses to give up....I raise both hands high up in the air, and proudly proclaim 'ME'!!

See...I told you I'm addicted. Here's the list of 'SIT'-coms I've been watching off late

1.Becker
2.Frasier
3.Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
4.Friends
5.King Of Queens
6.Malcolm in the Middle
7.Seinfeld
8.Yes!Dear

And I almost always take a 'break' during 'Everybody Loves Raymond', just to make sure that life still goes on. And to ride out the post sitcome feeling, I end up watching 'Fear Factor', which makes me sick enough to turn off my friends 400$ investment( The T.V has become too powerful to be named ,more on the lines of 'it-which-must-not be named').And I've realized that I just cannot stand seeing people embarassing themselves in shows like American Idol, Fear Factor etc.I almost always change channels when they show somebody embarassing themselves on 'NATIONAL' TV. I cant seem to understand why though!

Ok, If somebody has gotten over this addiction and still has managed to get 'Cable' at home, please leave your contact details. I badly need some advise. In the meanwhile, its time for Friends!!

What is Marketing?

2004-11-21T18:11:00.000-05:00

Finally, I have some real life examples which emphasize the various aspects of the subject I'm trying to master. Often times, I've been at a loss when others go

"Dude, Marketing eh?Pretty cool I say, but what is marketing?.".
and then there's the usual 'oh!!you sell soaps'(I'm tired of that joke now).Lets go beyond soap in to something of 'greater' interest. So here are some enlightening insights in to the field.

You see a beautiful girl at a party. You go up to her and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
- That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a beautiful girl.
One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, "He's fantastic in bed."
- That's Advertising.

You see a beautiful girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
- That's Telemarketing.

This one's highly unlikely, buts suits the purpose!!

You're at a party and see a beautiful girl. She gets up straightens her dress, walks up to you and pours you a drink. She says, "May I," and reaches up to straighten your tie brushing herself slightly against your arm, and then says, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
- That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a beautiful girl. She walks up to you and says,
"I hear you're fantastic in bed."
- That's Brand Recognition.

You're at a party and see a beautiful girl. You talk her into going home with your friend.
- That's a Sales Rep.

Your friend can't keep her entertained so he calls you.
- That's Tech Support.

You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be beautiful women in all these houses you're passing. So you climb onto the roof of one situated toward the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm fantastic in bed!"
- That's Spam.

Thats Marketing in a nutshell!!

Shattered Myths!!

2004-11-06T01:33:00.000-05:00

"A myth, in its simplest definition, is a story with a meaning attached to it other than it seems to have at first; and the fact that it has such a meaning is generally marked by some of its circumstances being extraordinary, or, in the common use of the word, unnatural."
-John Ruskin.

I was a strong believer in Mythology, and would still have been, if not for that fateful meeting with a Greek. I'd recently watched the movie 'Troy' and was quite upset about the distortion of 'facts' in the movie. I complained to my greek friend about this and the explanation that he gave has 'deeply' disturbed my beliefs in almost everthing that I'd ever beleived.

The greek dismissed Homer's 'Illiad' as a book written for entertainment, and argued that except for the fact that the greeks attacked troy, nothing was actually beleived to be true. No 'Almost Immortal' Achilles, No 'divine' Helen, No nothing. Although, I'm forced to agree that some of the facts have been distorted, I just cannot accept that nothing ever took place.

Ok fine, Greek mythology can remain as 'Mythology', but our own Mahabharata and Ramayana which reflect Indian ethos in totality did happen right?. So I ask my friend about it, just to make sure that it happened. And he says

'Now, don't tell me that you actually beleived in blue-colored Mr.Krishna'....and my world comes crashing down on me!!. And since then all I've heard is
A->'There are many theories'..
B->'Nah!!They're just stories that have a moral'.
C->' They found Tutankhmen's body..not krishna's'!!.

If all this is false, and just some stories that people made up just for the heck of it?. Was there a Jesus?.Or a Mohammed?. or were they all stories too?.
Uh!Oh!What have I gotten myself in to?

Reality Bites!!

2004-10-31T22:27:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get this feeling, when you're doing something, and suddenly realize that you've imagined/dreamt/foreseen yourself doing that exact same thing?.It happens to me all the time. I remember the last time pretty clearly too, an economics test, and when I came to that class, I knew I'd done this before in my dreams(not on the day before the exam)!!. Strange eh?.

Oh!No! I didn't ace the test, I forgot to look at the solutions during my 'dream' run!!. Touching base with reality, got a couple of incidents to narrate!!.

1.The Taxi Ride!!
Me and a friend of mine were returning back after some nocturnal activities, It's 3.30 AM and we're in this cab heading back home. We're quite wasted, and then....

F : I feel like singing.

And launches in to some vague hindi song. I'm quite embarassed(Drunk that I'am) at this, I mean the taxi driver, the nice guy that he is, he probably wouldnt mind, but I felt my friend was taking it a bit too far. But I decided to humor him.
M:Lets save the singing for my place...
F: Whats your fav Hindi song?.
M: Ahh...hmmm....I dont listen to a lot of hindi....well..ok....Pehla Nasha....
F: Ohhh...Nice song....

And launches in to a horrendous rendition of the same. Now, I'm really irritated
M: Will you please stop it, lets not act drunk and crazy.
F: What's your problem?. You should sing when you want to, and thats what I'm doing The driver's ok with it. Yo Man, U're fine with it right, I know I dont have a great voice, but i'm sure you dont mind my singing...

Driver: ( Mumbles)..Yeah..(Actual Meaning-> You drunk #*@*#~, did you have to pick my cab)

And so my friend continues with his....'Pehlaaaaa Nasssshhh.........'.

M: Will you please stop it...
F: You dont like me singing eh?.
M: NO
F: Ok, could you stop the car......
Driver: Gladly....

My friend gets down, in the middle of nowhere, slams the door and walks away singing.

M: Could you drive me to @#$%%^^

And I come home, fix myself another drink, and get in to bed....Strangely, I didnt feel one bit bad about what'd happened. We'd both done what we'd wanted to do!!!.

2. The Interview!!

Now this one's funny, I'm watching this Football game, and the star of the Home team is being interviewed at half time.
MediaPerson:Whats the most important thing to you?
Star : Winning

The Media Person looks at the score board. It reads Home -> 4 Visitors -> 37

M:(Nonchalantly), Which team?

Houston..We have a Situation!!!

2004-10-16T01:27:00.000-04:00

My abstract thinking sessions always result in unanswerable questions. For a change, I decided to seek answers to my questions. Ofcourse, its a question of great interest to a lot of us. I picked this up from Minsky' site. It sure is a great read!!

" ...love has to be so,
involving and general,
particular and terrifying,
honoured and yet in mourning,
flowering like the stars,
and measureless as a kiss." - Pablo Neruda

What is Love, and how does it work? Is this something we want to understand, or should we see such poems as hints that we don't really care to probe into it?
Hear our friend Charles attempts to describe his latest infatuation.

"I've just fallen in love with a wonderful person. I scarcely can think about anything else. My sweetheart is unbelievably perfect—of indescribable beauty, flawless character, and incredible intelligence. There is nothing I would not do for her."

On the surface such statements seem positive;. But note that there's something strange about this: most of those phrases of positive praise use syllables like un–', Ô–less', and Ôin-Ôun-Õ', Ô-lessÕ, and Ôin-Õ—which show that they really are negative statements describing the person who's saying them!

Wonderful. Indescribable,
------ (I can't figure out what attracts me to her.)
I scarcely can think of anything else.
------ (Most of my mind has stopped working.)
Unbelievably Perfect. Incredible.
------ (No sensible person believes such things.)
She has a Flawless Character.
------(I've abandoned my critical faculties.)
There is nothing I would not do for her.
------ (I've forsaken most of my usual goals.)

Our friend sees all this as positive. It makes him feel happy and more productive, and relieves his dejection and loneliness. But what if most of those pleasant effects were caused by attempts to defend him from thinking about what his girlfriend says:

Celia: Oh Charles—a woman needs certain things. She needs to be loved, wanted, cherished, sought after, wooed, flattered, cosseted, pampered. She needs sympathy, affection, devotion, understanding, tenderness, infatuation, adulation, idolatry—that isn't much to ask, is it Charles?

Thus love can make us disregard most defects and deficiencies, and make us deal with blemishes as though they were embellishments. We are equally apt to deceive ourselves, not only in our personal lives but also when dealing with abstract ideas. There, too, we frequently find ways to keep inconsistent or discordant beliefs. Listen to Richard Feynman's words:

'That was the beginning and the idea seemed so obvious to me that I fell deeply in love with it. And, like falling in love with a woman, it is only possible if you don't know too much about her, so you cannot see her faults. The faults will become apparent later, but after the love is strong enough to hold you to her. So, I was held to this theory, in spite of all the difficulties, by my youthful enthusiasm.'— 1966 Nobel Prize lecture.

What does a lover actually love? That word ought to cover the one you adore—but if your goal is just to extend the pleasure that comes when doubts get suppressed, then you're only in love with Love itself.

Interesting eh?.

PS: No, I'm not in Love!!

Desi Riddles!!

2004-10-15T23:05:00.000-04:00

This is as weird as it gets, I finally manage to write about my Calvin'ary skills, and Voila !! I win a Stuffed Lion at this carnival. Another signal from the heavens?. Been having too many of them lately. Moving on to more serious stuff, my colleague remarked today that
"Indians who come to the US, are either escapists or fatalists".

Let me elaborate a bit. The Escapists are the ones who want to leave the misery back in India and start a brand new life in the land of dreams. Ofcourse, could also be interpreted as making more money. The Fatalists on the other hand, think that whatever's happened was destined to happen. They believe, they were born to come here, and its for their own sweet good!!.

Do we really fall in to these two categories?or is there something more in it?. Honestly, I'm quite scared that I'm a fatalist. Shessh, another coincidence. Scroll down to see what C&H had to say about it.

The Calvin Effect!!

2004-10-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

Not a day passes by, without me imagining myself to be Calvin. I'd be considered a 'Nutter' if I carried a Stuffed tiger with me, and for that damned reason I conjure 'Hobbes' out of any object that draws my attention at that moment!!. The last one being a cup of 'Cafe Mocha'. It gives me an incredible high whenever I become Calvin, but then am i trying to retrieve the irretrievable?.
Who cares huh? In my world I'm king !!.

Here's one that I enjoyed

Calvin : Do You beleive in Fate?
Hobbes: You meant that our lives are predestined?
Calvin: Yeah..that the things we do are inevitable..
Hobbes: What a Scary thought.

BTW..I'm getting too philosophical these days....HEEELLPP :)..

Why do I do the things that I do?

2004-09-29T18:26:00.000-04:00

Oh Why?

1.A certain activity which I indulge in is a total waste of time, But everything I do, ultimately centers around that .

2.I know my priorities are mixed up, but in the last six years, I havent done anything about it.

3.The more purposeful something is, the farther I am from it.

4.Focus and Commitment are some things that I admire in others, but I have so conditioned myself to remain unfocussed and uncommited.

5.I have a particular 'weakness'. and I let it DOMINATE my life.

6.My greatest enemy is "me" and I love my Enemy, atleast for the ideas it gives me

7.The biggest decisions in my life have been made without much thought. Infact, I've put more thought in selecting the movie I want to watch than in making these decisions.

Dumpster Day!!

2004-09-15T03:30:00.000-04:00

You have something for me?

Come Weekends, and even the laziest Grad Student wants to take a walk down the street!!. Not that Romance is in the air but its 'Dumpster Day'.The day when people throw out stuff which they don't want anymore. But be advised - What they don't want, We'd love to possess. From Televisions to Lampshades,and from dressers to Book Shelves, U'll find it all in the streets. Ofcourse, not in prime shape but neverthless, VERY Usable.And hey!!Now don't feel shy to pick up stuff which you like!!. It's more like a garage sale, except for the fact that you get it for free.There was this once when I picked up a superb Book Shelf, and a Lady driving a Porsce stopped by and asked me if It was mine, and if I was planning to sell it :). She was quite disappointed when I told her the story, and said,"I'm glad that somebody's using it, I wouldnt throw that away..its awesome"...Dumpster, a concept appreciated by every grad student eh?.

The Hermit

2004-09-09T03:06:00.000-04:00

Jaggi a.k.a the Tam Rascal a.k.a the eternal Phd. student
Jaggi is doing his Phd. in Aerospace Engineering and hopes to get done sometime around 2036 considering the rate at which he is working.He is also a wannabe Jimmy Hendrix who spoilt my sleep on all weekends starting his long hours of guitar playing at 6.30 A.M in the morning! The only good side to that was we got a lot of change from the residents of Willowtree coz they thought someone was begging inside.(Yeah! Much needed change for my laundry..hehe) Actually Jaggi isnt all that bad! He makes the best Rasam and Avial and Potato Curry I have ever eaten and was definitely a great roomie.And inspite of the demoralizing start to his guitar career am sure he will come up one day to become atleast the lead guitarist for his favourite singer,the lovely Leann Rimes

PS: I pillaged this from Sid's page - http://www.sidharths.com/

Couldnt resist putting up somethin about Jaggi!!..Oh BTW, thats him striking the hermit!!

New Kid on the Block!!

2004-08-15T16:04:00.000-04:00

I've finally moved in to this neat cottage(Straight out of the fairy tales) and now have my own 'Private Space'.One whole week has gone by and "3" is the number of friendly neighbours that I've met in that time. A Chinese Post-Doc in BioPhysics, A beer Guzzling 'friendly' lady, and Barbara with her 'ferocious' l'il puppy!!.Quite an assorted lot huh?.The one thing in common was their "Welcome to the Neighbourhood"...
Ofcourse, its always a great feeling to be the new kid on the block.

The Business of Ideas.

2004-07-31T01:58:00.000-04:00

I'm quite the confused PhD student and my favourite pastime is to try and allay my fears by asking fellow PhD students as to why they chose to do a PhD. Though it sounds absurd, I feel very secure when their reasons coincide with mine!!.The other day,my colleague remarked
'We are in Business my friend, we're in the Business of Ideas!!.'
Although I do not clearly understand what it implies, I'm neverthless comforted by the fact that I'm in Business.