Yesterday, when I was playing tennis, I noticed something really interesting. I saw a woman had tied something on her waist using some kind of a rope ... with both hands free for carrying stuff that was maybe more important. I stopped to look at her closely, and then I realized that this "something" was in fact a kid. Probably her own child. Found this quite amusing, so thought I should post here.
Anyone ever noticed something like this in India? I haven't! Now don't you start talking about Rani Laxmibai!
Friday, May 04, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
written on July 18, 2008
here because I don't want a random passer-by to read it .. will be kind of embarrassing :)
Kabhi na poori hone waali koi aarzoo si hai
Koi jo kahin hai hi nahi uski justuju si hai
Par najaane wo kaun sa ehsaas hai ki
Saanson se ruh tak sab mehkaane waali koi khushbu si hai
Lagta hai jaise anjaani kuchh kami si hai
Palkon mein jaise kuchh nami si hai
Par najaane kaunse wo sapne wo yaadein hain unhi palkon mein
Ki muh par ek muskaan jaise thami si hai
Khwahishen shaayad kuchh khokhli si hain
Zindagi shaayad kuchh dhundhli si hai
Par mujhe neend se jagaana na koi,
Band aankhon se duniya dikhti kuchh bhali si hai
Kabhi na poori hone waali koi aarzoo si hai
Koi jo kahin hai hi nahi uski justuju si hai
Par najaane wo kaun sa ehsaas hai ki
Saanson se ruh tak sab mehkaane waali koi khushbu si hai
Lagta hai jaise anjaani kuchh kami si hai
Palkon mein jaise kuchh nami si hai
Par najaane kaunse wo sapne wo yaadein hain unhi palkon mein
Ki muh par ek muskaan jaise thami si hai
Khwahishen shaayad kuchh khokhli si hain
Zindagi shaayad kuchh dhundhli si hai
Par mujhe neend se jagaana na koi,
Band aankhon se duniya dikhti kuchh bhali si hai
Sunday, March 18, 2007
India begin world cup campaign in style
Is this the one fall that India always needs before rising to the occasion? Or does this mean India will come back home soon to enjoy the spring season? Well, I have put in hope after a long long time! Won't lose it soon .. I still hope to see India lift the world cup. Go Sachin ... I am with you :)
Saturday, March 17, 2007
An old memory - some kid math
Please don't get turned off by the mention of the word 'math' there ... don't worry ... I know my readers :)
Being at home brings back a lot of childhood memories and they are always fun to be talked about. And parents and relatives all around are only too pleased to reiterate them. Anyway, what I intend to bring here is my first mathematical 'discovery', which, to this date, I consider as one of my biggest achievements considering the age at which it came. I thought it had to go somewhere .. so why not here!
I was in class 5 or 6 I guess and so about 10 years old. We were taught congruence of triangles in school. For those who have forgotten this or those who never went to primary school (this is for you, Chandan :D) here is a link providing a description of the 'four' axioms for congruence. http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2817&CurriculumID=24
Please don't take this as an insult if you remember this. This set me into thinking how these axioms guarantee congruence of triangles. This is one thing about that age ... you tend to ask a lot of questions to yourself and to others .. I probably still do .. but that is maybe because I haven't really grown at the same pace as others.
So I was soon fiddling with my compass and pencil trying to figure out a reason for these axioms. I soon figured out the reason, which in itself was an achievement, I think. The reason is of course pretty simple. For example consider the first one on the above link. If two sides and the including angle are given then we can draw the triangle uniquely using pencil and compass. Each of those axioms is based on a similar criterion. However, the fourth axiom (RHS) kind of confused me a little. What was so special about that angle being a right angle. I didn't really understand. While drawing, I tried to alter that angle a little. I soon saw that as soon as you reduce the size of the angle a bit there can be two possible triangles with the given dimensions. This was a good enough justification. But then ... wait!!
It doesn't work for acute angled triangles. But what if we make the size of that angle a little bigger? A little more than 90 degrees. It still works, or so it seemed. And then I drew again ... and then again .. yes, it was working!!!!!
So why restrict this axiom to just the right angle case .. it works for all angles greater than or equal to 90 degrees.
So now, what was the next question in mind? Or rather what were the next questions? Am I the only person to have discovered this? No, it can't be! But then it could be true as well! Most people around are not so smart anyway :D ... I was half imagining myself besides the likes of Srinivas Ramanujan with my picture in the next edition of that Mathematics book. It sounds a little funny now. However, it all just stayed there itself. I couldn't really discuss it with the teacher at school because I was never really liked by math teachers ... too bad this went unpublished until today :D. Probably what I "discovered" is well known by all and was well known even then.
But I still don't understand why that axiom was restricted to right angles in those text-books.
Being at home brings back a lot of childhood memories and they are always fun to be talked about. And parents and relatives all around are only too pleased to reiterate them. Anyway, what I intend to bring here is my first mathematical 'discovery', which, to this date, I consider as one of my biggest achievements considering the age at which it came. I thought it had to go somewhere .. so why not here!
I was in class 5 or 6 I guess and so about 10 years old. We were taught congruence of triangles in school. For those who have forgotten this or those who never went to primary school (this is for you, Chandan :D) here is a link providing a description of the 'four' axioms for congruence. http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2817&CurriculumID=24
Please don't take this as an insult if you remember this. This set me into thinking how these axioms guarantee congruence of triangles. This is one thing about that age ... you tend to ask a lot of questions to yourself and to others .. I probably still do .. but that is maybe because I haven't really grown at the same pace as others.
So I was soon fiddling with my compass and pencil trying to figure out a reason for these axioms. I soon figured out the reason, which in itself was an achievement, I think. The reason is of course pretty simple. For example consider the first one on the above link. If two sides and the including angle are given then we can draw the triangle uniquely using pencil and compass. Each of those axioms is based on a similar criterion. However, the fourth axiom (RHS) kind of confused me a little. What was so special about that angle being a right angle. I didn't really understand. While drawing, I tried to alter that angle a little. I soon saw that as soon as you reduce the size of the angle a bit there can be two possible triangles with the given dimensions. This was a good enough justification. But then ... wait!!
It doesn't work for acute angled triangles. But what if we make the size of that angle a little bigger? A little more than 90 degrees. It still works, or so it seemed. And then I drew again ... and then again .. yes, it was working!!!!!
So why restrict this axiom to just the right angle case .. it works for all angles greater than or equal to 90 degrees.
So now, what was the next question in mind? Or rather what were the next questions? Am I the only person to have discovered this? No, it can't be! But then it could be true as well! Most people around are not so smart anyway :D ... I was half imagining myself besides the likes of Srinivas Ramanujan with my picture in the next edition of that Mathematics book. It sounds a little funny now. However, it all just stayed there itself. I couldn't really discuss it with the teacher at school because I was never really liked by math teachers ... too bad this went unpublished until today :D. Probably what I "discovered" is well known by all and was well known even then.
But I still don't understand why that axiom was restricted to right angles in those text-books.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Sachin Tendulkar - दिल है कि मानता नहीं
After having watched cricket quite religiously for a number of years, I almost quit watching cricket a few matches after last world cup. And during the time I watched cricket, it was more for Sachin than for anything else I guess. It might sound foolish but it gave some satisfaction to watch a graceful shot come from Sachin's bat as compared to it coming from any other. And then when I realised that it would be really unlikely to see the same old Sachin back given the age and the injury worries, I quit watching cricket and shifted to tennis. Most probably, I will quit watching tennis too when Federer retires. Probably that is what passion is. It blinds you! It makes you think one-dimensionally. But I like doing things that way :)
Anyway, passion is not what I want to talk about here. Now that the world cup has begun and India's campaign will begin soon too, here is a review of the previous world cup and a preview of the current one with respect to Sachin, as I see it, of course.
World Cup 2003: India started out on a disastrous note with a dismal performance against a minnow (I don't remember which one it was and am too lazy to look it up) followed by an equally bad performance against Australia, India looked all set to come back home empty handed. But our dear Sachin Tendulkar had different plans. He realised that, as usual, he has to do most of the work alone. Next came England. With this shot against Andy Caddick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMbIO5aCBI0, Sachin announced what plans he had for World Cup 2003. The rest, as they say, is history. Sachin led India to the final almost single-handedly. What next? Well the whole of India was waiting for the cup. Various statistics came up. I remember myself going around telling people that the cup is India's because India has never lost a world cup final (India played only one world cup final before that) while Australia loses every alternate World Cup final. These stats are a lot of fun :). However, Mr. Zaheer Khan had different plans. Having reached the final, our dear Indian bowlers began to think they are the best in business, almost equivalent to the likes of McGrath and company. Result - Zaheer Khan began the first over with a lot of aggression, a lot of sledging, those exchange of looks with the batsman .. all so perfect. The only thing that was below par was bowling. We almost lost the match in the first over. The rest of the match was just resting on the hope of a revival which was never to be. India had to chase 360. Sachin got out in the first over and with him went India's hope of lifting the cup. The rest of the match was merely a formality. So as I see it, the rest of the ten players owe the world cup to Sachin and to me.
World Cup 2007: After having enjoyed detachment from cricket (yes, detachment is really really peaceful), I want to once again follow this world cup with the same amount of enthusiasm, maybe one last time, hoping for a positive result. This is most probably Sachin's last world cup, and probably the only achievement missing from his glorious career. He has promised the fans back home that there will be something to cheer about when the team returns. I would be waiting for some six off some 'Caddick' announcing Sachin's intentions. I know there are a lot of players in the current Indian team who are looking good .. and also that Sachin has not been doing all that great in the past some time .. but I still believe or maybe want to believe that Sachin Tendulkar can still do anything. I want the WORLD CUP ... बस मुझे और कुछ नहीं पता :D
Anyway, passion is not what I want to talk about here. Now that the world cup has begun and India's campaign will begin soon too, here is a review of the previous world cup and a preview of the current one with respect to Sachin, as I see it, of course.
World Cup 2003: India started out on a disastrous note with a dismal performance against a minnow (I don't remember which one it was and am too lazy to look it up) followed by an equally bad performance against Australia, India looked all set to come back home empty handed. But our dear Sachin Tendulkar had different plans. He realised that, as usual, he has to do most of the work alone. Next came England. With this shot against Andy Caddick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMbIO5aCBI0, Sachin announced what plans he had for World Cup 2003. The rest, as they say, is history. Sachin led India to the final almost single-handedly. What next? Well the whole of India was waiting for the cup. Various statistics came up. I remember myself going around telling people that the cup is India's because India has never lost a world cup final (India played only one world cup final before that) while Australia loses every alternate World Cup final. These stats are a lot of fun :). However, Mr. Zaheer Khan had different plans. Having reached the final, our dear Indian bowlers began to think they are the best in business, almost equivalent to the likes of McGrath and company. Result - Zaheer Khan began the first over with a lot of aggression, a lot of sledging, those exchange of looks with the batsman .. all so perfect. The only thing that was below par was bowling. We almost lost the match in the first over. The rest of the match was just resting on the hope of a revival which was never to be. India had to chase 360. Sachin got out in the first over and with him went India's hope of lifting the cup. The rest of the match was merely a formality. So as I see it, the rest of the ten players owe the world cup to Sachin and to me.
World Cup 2007: After having enjoyed detachment from cricket (yes, detachment is really really peaceful), I want to once again follow this world cup with the same amount of enthusiasm, maybe one last time, hoping for a positive result. This is most probably Sachin's last world cup, and probably the only achievement missing from his glorious career. He has promised the fans back home that there will be something to cheer about when the team returns. I would be waiting for some six off some 'Caddick' announcing Sachin's intentions. I know there are a lot of players in the current Indian team who are looking good .. and also that Sachin has not been doing all that great in the past some time .. but I still believe or maybe want to believe that Sachin Tendulkar can still do anything. I want the WORLD CUP ... बस मुझे और कुछ नहीं पता :D
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
On the way
Have been off blogging for some days .. but will resume soon ... for now .. am at home .. Zurich can rest in peace for a few days, people can sleep in their rooms without having to worry about the laughter of a certain Indian guy living in Turnerstrasse 21.
Btw, the flight was great .. there were two Hindi movies in the flight ... Jaaneman and Khosla Ka Ghosla. Chose to start with the former 'coz of Preity Zinta :)
However, couldn't bear that one past the following few lines of the opening song
"Main Pareshan Hoon Ek Majboori Par
Hoga Gam Jaankar Saath Hoon Main Magar
Mujhko Rehna Padega Zara Doori Par
Sirf Do Hi Mahine Hai Seh Lo Agar
Mera Future Hai Teri Kasam
Mera Future Hai Jismein Piya"
I couldn't stand this even for Preity Zinta!
Anyway.. so then moved on to this other movie .. Khosla ka Ghosla .. this one was total fun. 2 hrs of total entertainment. A story about a typical middle class man KK Khosla who spends all his savings to build a "ghosla" to live in after retirement only to find it being possessed by a certain Mr. Kishan Khurana ... played by Boman Irani. And then it is upto the Khosla household to cheat back Kishan Khurana and get their house back. If Bollywood moved a step in the right direction with comedies like Hera Pheri and the MunnaBhai double, this one takes it a step further!
And yes, I don't know why ... but I listened to the last song "chak de phatte" of the movie at least 20 times ..maybe it just sounded too Indian .. or too Chandigarh'ian' :D
Btw, the flight was great .. there were two Hindi movies in the flight ... Jaaneman and Khosla Ka Ghosla. Chose to start with the former 'coz of Preity Zinta :)
However, couldn't bear that one past the following few lines of the opening song
"Main Pareshan Hoon Ek Majboori Par
Hoga Gam Jaankar Saath Hoon Main Magar
Mujhko Rehna Padega Zara Doori Par
Sirf Do Hi Mahine Hai Seh Lo Agar
Mera Future Hai Teri Kasam
Mera Future Hai Jismein Piya"
I couldn't stand this even for Preity Zinta!
Anyway.. so then moved on to this other movie .. Khosla ka Ghosla .. this one was total fun. 2 hrs of total entertainment. A story about a typical middle class man KK Khosla who spends all his savings to build a "ghosla" to live in after retirement only to find it being possessed by a certain Mr. Kishan Khurana ... played by Boman Irani. And then it is upto the Khosla household to cheat back Kishan Khurana and get their house back. If Bollywood moved a step in the right direction with comedies like Hera Pheri and the MunnaBhai double, this one takes it a step further!
And yes, I don't know why ... but I listened to the last song "chak de phatte" of the movie at least 20 times ..maybe it just sounded too Indian .. or too Chandigarh'ian' :D
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Randomisierte Algorithmen und Probabilistische Methoden
Don't look for your dictionaries - you won't find these words. This is the title of the course whose exam i have tomorrow. The lecture notes are in German and am having a great time learning German and Randomised Algorithms at the same time. What is more interesting is that the exam is open notes. Real fun!!!! You can't imagine how much fun it is when you come across words like 'Aufrittwahrscheinlichkeitserzeugende'. This is how the instructor puts it. In front of the class, she looks at me and says .."Well .. er .. how should I say .. er .. this .. er .. is an advantage for those who were born and brought up here in Switzerland. I am sure you will do well without the lecture notes too". And I was like .. "if you say so!" :D. But no matter what they do, no one can make me write lecture notes in class.
Btw, I am by no means complaining. In fact, I am pretty sure there is no univ in the world that could be better for me than this one .. this is even if I overlook the fact that it is in Switzerland :).
Just that I was getting a bit bored with the Google translator .. so thought of uttering a bit of crap here.
Btw, I am by no means complaining. In fact, I am pretty sure there is no univ in the world that could be better for me than this one .. this is even if I overlook the fact that it is in Switzerland :).
Just that I was getting a bit bored with the Google translator .. so thought of uttering a bit of crap here.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Something totally random
here are a few lines I wrote recently ... my first attempt at "so called poetry" .. and it is here unedited :)
Title : SNOW
There was a child
So innocent, so pure
Transparent like droplets of rain
Now he has grown
To be so serene, so calm
So composed, so correct
But, not transparent any more
The innocence, the purity are long gone
Or maybe not
Probably they still remain
The look is beautiful
Maybe more than ever
But it is all hidden behind that white cover
And yet that cover probably has to be there
For the world outside is too cold!!!
I didn't force you to read it :D ... however, now that you have read, please leave a comment.. Please note that I would consider it very very rude on your part to read this and not leave any comment!
Title : SNOW
There was a child
So innocent, so pure
Transparent like droplets of rain
Now he has grown
To be so serene, so calm
So composed, so correct
But, not transparent any more
The innocence, the purity are long gone
Or maybe not
Probably they still remain
The look is beautiful
Maybe more than ever
But it is all hidden behind that white cover
And yet that cover probably has to be there
For the world outside is too cold!!!
I didn't force you to read it :D ... however, now that you have read, please leave a comment.. Please note that I would consider it very very rude on your part to read this and not leave any comment!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
An evening with Kishore Kumar :)
Today, while listening songs on musicindiaonline I landed at this.http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/compilations/s/album.3369/
This is a compilation of a live show at Los Angeles performed by the legendary Kishore Kumar, arguably the best (male) playback singer of all time. It is quite a fantastic collection of songs. It starts off with the light comedy songs and then moved on to "heavy-weight music" as he puts it. Ended again with a few light ones where he was at his yoodling best :). I just wished the show would have ended with "Chalte Chalte mere ye geet ... ".. I think all Kishore Kumar shows should end with this .. probably he forgot about this song or maybe this was released after that performance. Anyway it was two hours of great entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed the awesome Sunday evening with Kishore Kumar!!
By the way, if you are interested in listening to the songs at the above link, these songs are listed in alphabetical order .. I would suggest listen it in the order in which they are given here. http://www.yoodleeyoo.com/database/index.php?load=film&film=Kishore+Kumar+Live+at+Los+Angeles
This is the order in which they were sung at the show. This way it is much more fun, especially as Kishoreda gives an introduction before every song every time starting with "to doston ..." .. it is very very likeable. You get the feel as if the performance is going on for real. How I wish there was just one more enthusiast here for similar stuff. Life would be so much more fun then. Damn CKD!!!
This is a compilation of a live show at Los Angeles performed by the legendary Kishore Kumar, arguably the best (male) playback singer of all time. It is quite a fantastic collection of songs. It starts off with the light comedy songs and then moved on to "heavy-weight music" as he puts it. Ended again with a few light ones where he was at his yoodling best :). I just wished the show would have ended with "Chalte Chalte mere ye geet ... ".. I think all Kishore Kumar shows should end with this .. probably he forgot about this song or maybe this was released after that performance. Anyway it was two hours of great entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed the awesome Sunday evening with Kishore Kumar!!
By the way, if you are interested in listening to the songs at the above link, these songs are listed in alphabetical order .. I would suggest listen it in the order in which they are given here. http://www.yoodleeyoo.com/database/index.php?load=film&film=Kishore+Kumar+Live+at+Los+Angeles
This is the order in which they were sung at the show. This way it is much more fun, especially as Kishoreda gives an introduction before every song every time starting with "to doston ..." .. it is very very likeable. You get the feel as if the performance is going on for real. How I wish there was just one more enthusiast here for similar stuff. Life would be so much more fun then. Damn CKD!!!
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