Religious dogmas and rituals : Pseudo-Science

I have a bad habit of running into trouble with the guardians of religions. More than that I run into my own parents and family members, and some friends, and other people who know me (and vice versa). Everybody seems to have closed their eyes of logic and rational thinking. There used to be a time when people knew that Sun travelled on Seven Horses around the Earth. Now we know what the truth is. Unfortunately most people still believe that Sun goes around the Earth. 

Now look at this.

I am a bengali Brahmin by birth. During my baptism ceremony (janeyu sanskar) I was told that for the next one year "you are not to eat, chicken, mutton, eggs, onion, garlic and masoor dal". But "you can eat fish". That I could never figure out why was fish exempted. It is more alive than an egg. Most eggs released in the market are unfertilised eggs and hence eating them would not KILL any life.  But a fish is a wholesome living creature, then how can it not be counted in Non-Veg??? I remained puzzled. I asked my grandma and got an answer, "it is vegetable". No offence meant for the bygone soul but even at an age of 13 I figured out she doesn't know the reason.

In fact no one could ever tell me the reason before I myself got hold of it. It is more of a socio-economic compulsion to include fish in vegetables than anything else.

Consider this, bengal is a coastal state with huge amount of water bodies in and around it. It is a rice bowl too. Now that makes rice and fish its staple diet. Even the poorest can afford to eat fish by catching one in the ponds. So it must have occurred to the Bengali Brahmins of bygone era that including an AMMENDMENT IN THE RELIGIOUS BOOK OF DOGMAS on fish being a vegetable will allow pepole to eat it on all days and ceremonies. Citing various atrocious examples and reasons they must have taught the people about fish being very pure and pious and a vegetable. So here we are DOGMAS win over LOGIC. Egg is non-veg but not fish.

The guardians of religions have done more harm to religions and people following it than any good. And the problem is that people still tend to follow those things blindly.

Same goes with various fasts such as navratra.

We all know that fasting is good for our body. Our digestive system gets a break from its routine and heals itself. But that happens in FASTING. Now that means serious fasting. Unfortunately you must visit the shops during these times. VRAT KE NAMAK, VRAT KE CHIPS, VRAT KE AALOO PAKODEY, VRAT KA THIS- AND VRAT KA THAT..... God in the name of fasting people eat like anything ..... they eat more than normal and then they say they are fasting .... now how scientific is that !!!!!

Think for yourself.

Popular Misconception

That day I just happened to ask a very simple question to a group of people. And I was really startled to get the answer.
The question is as follows.
A child in a snowy region created a SNOWMAN out of snow(obviously). Now this kid wanted the snowman to last as long as possible so that the snowman should not melt easily. He sought help from two people (lets say) A, and B
A:- Drape the snowman in a jacket from head to toe and it will not melt.
B:- A has gone crazy. If you drape the snowman in a jacket the snowman will melt and so just keep it in open and it will last long.
My question was: Whose option should the child take? A or B?

Amazingly enough, if I asked this question to 100 people, 96 of them answered that the option should be B. Most people were and are of the opinion that draping the snowman in a jacket will warm the inside of the jacket thereby resulting in rapid melting of the snowman. Rather is it good to keep the snowman in open.

The real answer is as follows.

"A" is correct. The snowman should be draped in a jacket. The thicker or multi-layered the better.The reason is that jacket or woolens create an insulation around the body. This insulation prevents the outside heat from entering the body but at the same time it doesn't allow the inner energy to escape too thereby creating a thermos flask type condition. This prevents the melting of the snowman as it remains virtually unaffected by the outside fluctuation of temperature.

This is the same case when you must have seen that ICE Chunks by the ice vendors are always covered by saw dust or thick rough clothing.
Some people may say that we feel warm inside the jacket but that warmth is the body warmth and not that the jacket is creating its own.


But a simple question like this threw up a viscious challenge of looking at the popular misconceptions that plague science and day to day life too.

Bhagwan ke naam pe ........ (In the name of God ....)

A few days back I was having an argument about God and the dogmas associated with it. I was shocked to see that God has been reduced to a meaningless cocktail of dogmas and rituals. The meaning of God has been lost somewhere. Strangely enough there are the following types of people I have come across.

1. Religious Fanatics: For these guys God is all about a set of rules that their RELIGION has put forward and anything other than that is nothing short of SIN.

2. Ritualists: These are far more moderate than the Fanatics but then their concept of God is about a super human creature who has single handedly created the universe and all the religions and has laid down some rules which one is supposed to follow or else HE will punish you.

3. Rationalists: Utter non believers in God and point out to recent scientific findings and logic to show that God doesn't exist. For them Religion / Spirituality / God is all a farce.

4. People like me: I can safely call myself Non-Religious but Spiritualist.

I went to the Youth forum of ISKCON just to see what they have to say about God. This incident is true and almost 7 years old. There was a gathering of almost 150 odd guys from all walks of life, both old and young included.
Now there came this Orator who was supposed to give us a talk on Science and Krishna. This guy got down from his Merc in a white Kurta-Pyjama andw as garlanded. I was informed that he is some IITian turned INDUSTRIALIST who has been donating huge sums to ISKCON and has become a BHAKT of Sri Krshna. I understood why was he chosen for the talk.
He started off with a song (totally off beat) which I somehow endured because I wanted to know what he had to say. Then he started with the sentence, "Everything is Krshna. Science is just a farce, an illusion and we must not accept what science tells us".
He pointed out to the Big-Bang theory and said," Have you ever seen a CAR or a WATCH or anything coming out of a bursting cracker???? Then how can you accept that the universe got created from such a bursting thing called the Big-Bang".
I was left aghast. This guy had absolutely no knowledge about science, Physics in particular and he was comparing the BIG-BANG Event to the bursting of a cracker?

I immediately objected which was put aside and the talk continued.

Then he said," I don't understand what is there that science is trying to find out? all our scriptures already tell about everything. Scriptures also tell about the first aeroplane (the Pushpak Vimana) which was in existence much before wright brother made the silly plane.

I objected again and told them that it is unfair to say that since scriptures say about everything means that one should not try to unravel them now?

Even "2001- A space odyssey" by Arthur c Clarke talks of a space station but it took engineers four decades to actually make one. Just because something is written somewhere doesn't mean that all is achieved.

Now that created a furor there with virtually everyone going against me. I stood my ground. I told them point blank that this is a complete waste of time as that Guy was not qualified to speak since he neither knows science nor he knows spirituality. all he knows is what is writen in a couple of books on Krshna and against Science. I left that place but not before challenging that guy to give up everything that the FARCIAL SCIENCE has created including his MERC, his money and even his clothes (I think I went too far that day).
I never went back again.

This incident told me one thing that all that people know is purely bookish and without logic.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say, "Let the disciple test his guru and his own belief in the light of logic and experience before accepting or rejecting anything".

Not many such people are around now a days.

It is a really sad state of affairs.

Hopefully someday people will understand that Science and Spirituality are nothing but the two sides of the same coin and Religion is just a set of rules to effectively follow ones course of life.

FEMALE EGO -- Part 1

DISCLAIMER:::: TO ALL FEMALES WHO ARE READING THIS POST, I AM NOT AGAINST FEMALES IN ANY WAY. THIS POST IS WHAT I HAVE ANALYSED AND UNDERSTOOD ABOUT FEMALES IN THIS SMALL LIFE THAT I HAVE LIVED SO FAR. SO IF YOU FIND IT OFFENSIVE, I AM REALLY SORRY.  IN THIS ARTICLE I AM TALKING ABOUT MOST WOMEN BUT MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE ALL WOMEN.


A simple word EGO can have such gigantic ramifications I never did know, till I came across the most misunderstood, and rightly so, species on this earth--- WOMEN.

People always talk about MALE EGO. But trust me female ego is more dangerous than male ego. And the reason lies in the stealthy nature of female ego.

I will cite some examples.

My friend Anamika (name changed to protect identity) was the first person who made me realise this. I went to meet her once in a restaurant, Bikanerwala, in Delhi. That day she was wearing something which I felt she looked odd in, so I told her frankly my opinion. She smilingly accepted it. But since that day I noticed a change in her behaviour towards me. Then one fine day we met again at the same place and this time I was wearing a red checked shirt. She blasted me like anything. I was just stumped. My mistake was that unnoticed to me I had previously put on the same shirt 3 time before too in our 3 out of 5 previous meetings. And she blasted my dressing sense, my zero color sense and what not. I would have driven to madness had she not blurted out, "YOU DON'T HAVE A PROPER DRESSING SENSE, A PROPER WAY OF CHOOSING COLOR COMBINATION AND YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I WAS NOT LOOKING GOOD IN THAT DRESS...". I realised that this was a tax free high interest return of my comment the other day I made about her clothes. Gosh the time gap was well over two months and she was blasting me now for something like that??? Well that is an example of female ego for you.

The other day I was installing a new parallel switch of the water pump in our home. We have two flats situated on over the other. The top one has a water pump and the bottom one requires more water thatn the top one. Since we remain most of the time in the ground floor flat so we needed a connection for the water pump in the ground floor too. Atleast that is what I thought. Unfortunately my mom who has a flair of hatred towards technology and innovativeness told me not to do this. But when I know something is of collective good I usually go ahead and do it. So I did it. And within a few hours mom realised that I had been correct all along that this new method will ease our lives. Now nearly a month later came a day when no one was upstairs and we required water in the ground floor flat. So I decided to switch on the water pump using our newly installed parallel switch. But the moment I switched it on I figured out that someone has to go upstairs and manually fit the pipe in the tap's mouth before we can start the switch. So I asked m brother to do so. My mom suddenly said, "THIS ALL IS THE FAULT OF THIS SWITCH. I HAD TOLD YOU THEN ITSELF THAT THIS SWITCH IS OF NO USE BUT YOU WON'T LISTEN.......BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH ...." . I walked out of the house.

Women can never forget an insult, or ridicule or even a light hearted joke on them. In the face they may smile and even laugh but inside they will always itch to strike back. And they do that in style.

More later..........

A thought on women empowerment.

I hate injustice and inequality whether meted out to me or anyone else; but specifically against women.

Being a man when I can clearly see that our society is deeply unjust in its way of treating women why can't others see? Specially women themselves???!!!!

My biggest challenge is my own mother. Sorry to say but she at times display the same mental set up which is displayed by the egotistic unjust people of our society in the name of culture and parampara. Trust me this PARAMPARA is one word which has been grossly misused just the way JIHAD has been grossly misused.

The other day I had a big time fight with my mom. And the issue was as usual the rights of my wife. What infuriated me most was that being a woman herself my mom failed badly in upholding the very basic rights that my wife should enjoy.

I sat down calming myself and thinking what to do next. I think somehow the solution lies in making women empowered for upholding their own rights rather than trying to convince men is the real solution.

There should be charter which should read like this.

1. Every woman is first the child of her parents; sister of her siblings and then wife of her husband and at last daughter-in-law of in-laws. That should be always the hierarchy of how a woman should have her rights. And this should not change even after marriage. In fact its real meaning starts after marriage only.

2. A woman is an independent entity and should have the right to voice her opinions as well as refuse what she thinks is unjust or improper which includes sexual advances made by her husband.

3. Most importantly a wife should have a say in every household related matter which generally seems to be a male bastion.

4. Men have to understand that even if a wife is a HOUSEWIFE, that work in itself is one of the most difficult multitasking jobs in the world. Being a housewife is no easy job. It is rather a very thankless job.

5. If a woman after marriage wants to work, she should be supported as mush as possible. Everyone has the right to be self reliant. And the best part is women can actually be amazing home maker cum professional; something men can't even think of becoming ever.

6. Education is not the birth right of males only. Women are equally entitled for it and they can, given proper opportunities, outshine men in every field.

Empowerment starts from our homes. Husbands have an extra responsibility to understand the needs of their wives and work accordingly. It is a husband's responsibility to judge a situation by ANALYSIS and LOGIC and not by what his parents and family has to say. I am not asking husbands to go against their parents but remember what Sri Krishna said in Gita, "In the war of truth and dharma there are only two categories, those who follow dharma and those who are against it. Doesn't matter if they are your family members even."

Same case here. A JIHAD has to be fought. A holy war against age old malpractices and injustices against females and as I have always said, CHARITY HAS TO BEGIN AT HOME.

The day I became a DAD

13-03-2013 //// 08:34 AM

The day I became a dad.

Outside the operation theater of Yashodha Hospital I was anxiously standing near its open window, looking outside and keeping my thoughts concentrated on just one thing, what next???

The previous night Swagata, my wife, could hardly sleep. She complained of severe pain every five minutes. We both thought that it was due to some acidity and nothing else. Just a day before that she was discharged from Dr. Nilu Khuneja's nursing home and then she was fit and fine.

Suddenly the door creaked open as I startled and looked back. A nurse was peeping out as she asked, "who is with swagata? Please come and see your son."

I couldn't believe my ears. I walked down to a small trolley in which wrapped in a blanket and cotton was my son. So small, weak and not crying at all though trying to.

My life suddenly changed. My perspective changed. I was looking at a small creature whom nature has nurtured in its own enigmatic ways inside my wife's belly. The fusion of a sperm and an ova, both the size of less than a few micrometers across, has resulted in him. What elegant engineering must have gone into such creation!!!!

As I stared at him the following words from Brihadaranyak Upanishad floated in my mind,

"THE ENIGMA OF LIFE CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD THROUGH THE STUDY OF ITS MANIFESTATIONS. ONE MUST GO TO THE ONE, THE SOURCE TO KNOW THE MYSTERY OF MANY".

As the trolley was pushed into the nursery, I realised I have become a DAD. 

Managing Apps on Android Phone

Hi Guys I am back with my experiments again.

You might already know this but I got to know only today so sharing with you in case you are as ignorant as I am.

This time it was about managing apps. Those who use Android would know that the number of Home screens is rather limited and generally 16 apps (1 x 1) can be put up on one screen. Now my Canvas 2, running on Android ICS, has 5 Home Screens which gives me a maximum of 80 apps (1x1 size) to be loaded. But since certain widgets take up a lot of space (like weather widget takes up an entire Screen) hence I was and my wit's end to figure out which app to keep and which to dump. And then I stumbled upon the solution.

Coincidentally we need not install any more app. It is an inbuilt function of Android which I saw when in desperation I placed one app on the top of another app and they both got stuck at one place. On gently tapping the fused tap the door to the holy grail got opened. Look what I did in the following pictures.

As can be seen the two apps can be seen on the two sides of the screen. Now the next pic will be of one app on the top of the other.

So now the two apps have fused. This can be done by placing one app on the other. Now when you want to choose the apps just tap the fused stuff and you get something like the one given below.

So you have ended up creating a folder in which you can not only load N number of apps but also name it.

Now my entire app world is right there on the front screen.

Now if you guys have not done it yet, then do it and be on with it. Trust me this simplifies your life to a great extent.

Our cradle rocks above an Abyss !!!

Today I realized the very futility of my existence. 

It is a holiday today, 24th of February, 2013. I just now took a bath and went out to the park for a stroll under the sun. Right now the sun and its warmth is so soothing; in a couple of months the same sun would be hell bent on frying us up. But till then it is so soothing. It is then that I realized something.

I realized the very existence that I have is nothing more than a blip in the universal time frame. I am but a worthless creation in the universe and I have so much of ego in me. I looked around to see if I was correct. If the feeling that I was having was correct. I realized yes it is indeed correct.

Just Imagine !!!!!

• The universe, at least the observable universe is 15 billion light years across which makes it something like 3500 billion cubic light years in volume (and it is expanding every moment) and that 1 light year is like 10 trillion kilometers. Now the number that finally comes out is just humongous.
• In the aforementioned universe there are at least a 100 billion galaxies one among which is MILKY WAY, our home galaxy.
• In Milky way, like most other galaxies, there are close to a 1000 billion stars out of which there is a small star called SUN.
• In SUN's family there are 8 + (many) planets, hundreds of satellites (moons) and thousands of other rocky stuff out of which a very average sized planet is EARTH.
• On this earth lives 7.5 billion earthlings and hundreds of millions of other birds, animals and other known and unknown creatures out of which one human being is me, Shubham Chakraborty.
• And I am standing on a CRUST of thickness 32 kilo metres which is separating me from thousands of degrees of boiling hot lava below my feet. 
• You might say 32 kilo metres !!! Whoa ..... but hold on the lava we are standing on is 2400 kilo metres and below it is another 3200 kilo metres of hot core. So dear we are at the mercy of this thin crust which is floating on the lava..
• And when I looked up into the sky I realised that only 15 kilo metres of any worthwhile atmosphere is separating me from a certain death of vacuum. 
• And guess what, me and people like me have some really bloated ego !!!

We human beings don't take enough time to think about the very futility of our existence. That when we are here we are to hold hands in hands and do something that is for the benefit of all. Universality and not Humanity is what is the need of the hour.

Friends, fighting ego is the most difficult thing because ego will not let you realize, let alone accept, that you have an ego. So when you feel you are something GREAT keep the aforementioned points in your head and your feet will remain firmly grounded.

As Vladimir Nabokov  put it, 

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.". 

What is in a SURNAME???? Quite a bit .....

We all are living in a male dominated society. A society which for arbitrary reasons thinks that males are superior to females and females should be treated, more or less, like slaves. In this society it is important to give birth to a boy than a girl as the boy is responsible to take forward the clan, "vansh". And combined with other evils like dowry and the age old fact that girl, after marriage, will go to the husband's house, makes girls a very expensive "commodity" of a household. This is another reason why female foeticide and infanticide is so high in our society.

I have been, like many of my like minded people, appalled at this entire turn of events. I thought that my parents are not of that mentality, but alas!!! i am so  very wrong.

The other day I had a heated argument with my mom regarding the inclusion of surnames in names. Mom said that it is important that we should have a boy child rather than a girl because my father's clan has to be taken forward. I was amazed at that stuff and I was forced to ask whether she thought that we are a species of dinosaurs on the verge of extinction and we need to preserve our clan!!!!

I finally figured out the root cause of all these problems. SURNAME.

After marriage girls are supposed to change their surnames and adopt the boy's. This way her identity is being lost. And boy's clan will move forward.

A  boy in the family is must to take forward the surname, clan. It doesn't matter whether scientifically we are taking forward our clan with the help of our GENES or not. SURNAMEs it is seems are more important than GENES.!!!


Surnames also indicates whether I am a brahmin or a dalit. A SHUBHAM is not indicative of my caste but SHUBHAM CHAKRABORTY or SHUBHAM CHAKLADAR spills the beans.

And finally,  as someone pointed out, even a female dominated society is not good enough as the problems will persist in an entirely new avatar.

So the need of hour is not to have either a male dominated or a female dominated society; rather a balanced society.

And I strongly believe giving up of surnames and going just by the First name would be much beneficial.

Imagine a society which just have names for people and no surnames. The following things will be remedied.

1. Caste based discrimination would be on the edge as NAMES alone will not tell you about the caste.

2. The problem of taking forward of clan will get abolished automatically. No SURNAMES and hence, none to be carry forward either.

3. Females will no longer have to worry about a surname. They will be free to marry anyone of their will specially in the absence of the direct know how of a person's caste related background in the absence of a SURNAME.

4. Female foeticide and infanticide will definitely come down as the need to take forward the SURNAME based clan system will no longer be there. It will be purely scientific and GENE based clan system in which both males and females will have equal share.

But the problem is how to do it.

Government will not do it. The reason is simple. Politicians are narrow minded, have regressive thoughts and depend on vote bank politics.

They are corrupt and what not and expecting them to establish something scientific and logical is beyond question.

We ourselves will have to do it. It should be started off as a fashion and we may not be able to achieve our goals in one generation, but we will be able to do it over a period of time.

Guys of my generation and all those who concur with me kindly take note of this and do the need full. There are guys of my generation group as well s others who will not concur with me and they will show the world that they are still inherently patriarchal in nature. Some are highly qualified and are working at big places and yet have a narrow social view point. I can excuse them. For they know not what they are doing.

But for the rest of you, kindly do something.

My poor Canvas 2

As I told you all in my last post that I am obsessed with my mobile ..... Now I have installed Debian OS side by side Android ICS on my Canvas 2..... and I am excited.

Frankly the new Debian OS is not working smoothly ... but then Canvas 2 has its own limitations.... I am wondering how would Galaxy Note 2 behave ..... I wish I had one and I would have experimented with it .....

Anyways here are the pics.....

And here is the video link.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIdRMmlgtZo&feature=youtu.be

Stay tuned for more guys ....

My obsession .....

Yes I  am obsessed..... badly at that ..... I am ready to kill and be killed ..... I have lost the sleep at nights .... my day time restlessness has increased manifold ...... and ya I have no hesitation in accepting that I am obsessed ..... and the good part is that my wife knows about my obsession and she is also obsessed about my obsession and is getting obsessed to get me rid of my obsession but I am not sure whose obsession is more powerful- her's or mine!!!!

 Anyways the reason or rather the object of my obsession is my recently acquired Canvas 2.... It is an Android Device running on Ice-Cream Sandwich .....

Generally people install GAMES and songs in the mobiles.... or sometimes they end up using it for office purpose ..... but I am using it for a different purpose .....

The following is what I have done till now.....

1. Sourcelair --- This is a C/C++ compiler for android phones .... trust me it works well...

2. Terminal IDE -- Helps me play with the Linux kerner inside the Android OS...

3. DroidEDit --- Helps me type my source codes for Python as well as LaTeX .....

4. TeX Portal -- My LaTeX Compiler ....

5. Py4Android --- My Python Interpreter .

6. Android SDK Manager ---- To tinker with the APK files.

and many more are in offing ....

I have been on an investigation spree ..... I hope I don't end up turning my Android Smartphone into an EXPENSIVE PAPER WEIGHT.

Some recent events

It has been quite some time, as per my standards, that I have written anything. So it was pretty imperative that I write anything, something. So how about some recent events of my life.

December 2012 ended with my Low Power AC getting great reviews from judges at National Science Congress. Though we couldn't make it to the final 25 but we will get another shot at it this year.

And then came January and Odyssey of Mind. Lots of struggle. Many of my team members changed. One did not turn up on the final day. But all the three vehicles and the different propulsion systems worked and we came 2nd. And viola we are selected to go to the World Finals in USA this summer.

My decision to leave the corporate life and enter teaching as my career is paying me back. Money is not much in this line but ample creative and intellectual satisfaction. This is something I have craved for a long time and many many thanks to Veena Mishra ma'am, Balachandran Ma'am, and our Chair Person ma'am for providing me with the opportunities to do all the crazy stuff that I am doing.

I hope to do more and more such things.

Comedy of sms !!!

Well long distance communication over sms can sometimes create confusion. But when the sms is not clearly mentioning the details, it can lead to outright hilarious results. I happened to be on the recieving end of one such situation today. So let me explain exactly what happened.

I was supposed to talk to a guy regarding some bank related issues. It was my friend who gave me his number and details over an sms. The following is the sms that I recieved.

ABC Bank 9891xxxx56 cm aggarwal concerned person ak tyagi reference gk sinha.

Now the funny part is that my friend didn't type the sms. She forwarded it to me. It was typed by Mr. MV Aggarwal who is the relative of Mr. GK Sinha and is my friend's colleague.

I was told, on call, that I am to talk to Mr. AK Tyagi who is the the concerned person and that I have to go to meet him at Maliwara Chowk Branch of the bank. So the platform was set. 

I placed the call on 9891xxxx56 and a guy picked up the call. The following is the dialogue that ensured.

Me: Hello!!

Receiver: Yes, hello!!

Me: Am I talking to Mr. Tyagi?

Rec: No. I am afraid this is a wrong number.

Me: Are you from ABC Bank?

Rec: Yes. May I know whom I am talking to?

Me: This is Shubham Chakraborty. I got your number from Mr. Aggarwal.

Rec: Aggarwal???? This is Aggarwal speaking?? I mean I am CM Aggarwal.

(Now I got confused.)

Me: Well I think ... well see I need to talk to Mr. Tyagi, whose number has been given to me by Mr. Sinha ... I mean Mr. Sinha gave this number to Mr. Aggarwal who is not you but asked me to talk to Mr. Tyagi.

(There was silence from the other side)

Then came the reply.

Rec: Never mind Mr. Shubham, why exactly you want to meet me?

Me: I wanted to meet regarding a bank loan.

Rec: Ok you can come over, I will be waiting.

Me: Sure sir, I will be there soon as I am nearby.

Now I started to search for ABC Bank at Maliwara Chowk. After half an hour of strolling across the the one kilometer road, which is usually full of traffic of all kinds, I was literally exhausted. I asked atleast ten different people about the location of ABC Bank, but to no avail.

Finally I called up Mr. Aggarwal.

Me: Sir, this is Shubham here.

Rec: Ya Mr. Shubham. You didn't come.

Me: I am still searching for your bank. I can't locate it here. I am standing at Maliwara crossing, can you please tell me which way to go?

Rec: Maliwara!!!!??? ABC doesn't have any branch there. Our branch is at Navyug Market. You need to come here.

(My jaws dropped. Navyug market was a couple of kilometers from where I was, may be a bit more. Taking a rickshaw in this frigid conditions was out of question and so was walking. Finally walking seemed to be a better option.)

Anyways I started to walk towards Navyug Market. Was praying to god that I don't want any more surprises.

I didn't get any. Had a smooth discussion with him. He turned out to be a nice person.

Finally when I came out, I gave a call to my friend and told her all that had happened due to that message and that ABC Bank is not at Maliwara but at Navyug Market.

I was also able to figure out that Mr. MV Aggarwal  is related to Mr. GK Sinha who had talked to Mr. CM Aggarwal and given the number to Mr. MV Aggarwal  who in turn smsed my friend which got forwarded to me.

But one thing that is not clear to me yet is who is this Mr. AK Tyagi and how did his name creep into the sms.

 

Welcome 2013

The last year, 2012, had been a great year for me for a variety of reasons.

1. I changed to a new place of work, Amity International School.
2. My one project got selected to IRIS Science Fair where we won the third prize.
3. My other project got selected to the finals of National Children's Science Congress (result awaited).
4. My research paper got selected at IIT Bombay for SciPy.in conference.
5. I got admission to BEd.
6. I started to do my research work in computational physics again. Hopefully this time I will do justice to it and to the person who has shown confidence in my abilities.
7. Two more great things happened in my life which I will reveal in due course of time, when the time is right. But their seeds were sown in the year 2012.

Now I am looking forward to 2013 to fulfill some more of my ideas and aspirations.

Hope the same for you too.

My motto of life has become
 "THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY"

Let us stop Rapes ... let us be the harbinger of change

Seems the mayan prediction was not wrong after all. They said humanity will come to an end and it did, atleast in India and specially in Delhi. Friends with the coming year a new beginning is being looked at by all and sundry but will it bring a new beginning to our nation and its women?? It depends on US. We cannot blame the government for inaction because it never acts anyways. We cannot blame the police for they have the history of making a mockery of the very justice system they are supposed to uphold. We cannot blame the political parties for they are here to play politics, doesn't matter what the topic is. It is WE and US who are to be blamed. It is our mentality and when we say OUR it includes we MEN of every generation and WOMEN of past generation (in general). MEN because we all are potential rapists, whether you like it or not this is the truth. And if a married man, like me, had ever forced his wife into having sex against her will he is already a rapist. So I am very much pained to say and accept that we all men are potential rapists. I included WOMEN of past generation (in general, BTW exceptions are always there) because most whom I have come across are still living in a world where girls should stay covered from head to toe and should stay indoors etc, etc which undermines the very philosophy of freedom, equality and basic human rights. Hence I included them.

Friends we need to change this mentality. Unfortunately it is now way beyond our efforts to make the MEN and WOMEN of past generations understand and sensitize about this ghastly act and how one needs a mental and attitude change to stop it all.

But our present and upcoming generations can be sensitized. It is we, who empathize and feel the pain, it is we and only we who can bring about the change. Guys this is not a movie where we shout and say that "yes we will not let her sacrifice go in vain...." and then everything fizzles away. To overcome friction we always need a force and she has provided the force. Let us not waste it and wait for another innocent girl to sacrifice her life for us to overcome this friction.

Remember one thing guys, NO ONE IS SAFE ANYWHERE. If it can happen to Damini/Nrbhaya, it can happen to any one and anywhere. So if you want your sisters and daughters and friends to feel and remain safe, it is we who will have to do pro-active policing and sensitizing of younger minds.

Guys on this last day of this year 2012, let us take a vow to do something, anything in our capacity and beyond to make this world a better place for everyone.

Am I a rapist !!!!????

Now that NIRBHAYA is gone I am asking myself a simple question, AM I ALSO A RAPIST?

How so ever disgusting it may sound but it is true that every MAN is a potential rapist.

I have been forced to seek answers to several questions which are hard to think off, let alone answer.

Why do men rape? Is it a libido related problem or does the problem lie somewhere else?

And most importantly AM I ALSO A RAPIST?

I seek to answer these questions with a logical and analytical bent of mind.

I somehow feel that libido has nothing much to do with rape than is a sadistic attitude. How else can one explain the horrendous atrocities that rape victims are usually subjected to after being raped? In Nirbhaya's case an iron rod was inserted inside her and that literally ended up killing her. Now an iron rod is not an extension of one's libido infested organ, then how and why was that used at all?

No. rape is not all about libido. It is about male dominance. Nirbhaya suffered because she resisted her friend from getting beaten up. She put up a fight and that turned the men into monsters. So it is the men and their bloated ego along with dominance in their blood and complete disrespect for others in their genes that make them monsters.

So what can be a solution?

I believe if we MEN are the real cause of troubles then the curfew should be imposed on the movement of MEN rather than of women as is the case now a days. Every tom, dick and harry (read Politicians) are putting their foot in their mouth by suggesting that women should stay indoors at night. Now if we MEN are the real culprits then is it not logical to impose curfew on MEN after say 7 pm? or section 144 all over India from 7 pm to 5 am everyday against MEN ONLY.  That will actually serve the purpose given our presumption that ALL MEN ARE POTENTIAL RAPISTS. 

May Nirbhaya's soul rest in peace and guys let us do our bit to make the nation a safe place for all and sundry.

My First Scooter drive and my last one too

This incident dates back to my graduation days. My friend Pawan used to stay near sector 10 market, here in Ghaziabad. I told him to teach me how to drive a scooter. So brought out his vintage Bajaj scooter and asked me to mount it, and I did so.
Now he taught me the procedure.

1. Hold the brake and the clutch and kick start the scooter while rotating the accelerator.

2. Once the scooter's engine start release the brakes and slowly release the clutch.

3. As you release the clutch slowly increase race and then off you go.

4. And ya not to forget I was supposed to put the scooter in the first gear before releasing the clutch. So that means step 4 was supposed to take place before step 3.

With this enlightening knowledge I kick started the scooter and off I went. Well sort off. The moment I released the clutch the scooter stopped with a hitch.

But I was not one to give up so easily. So I tried again. And again and yet again ....... on my 23rd attempt the scooter finally started to crawl. First gear, 10 km/hr and I was driving a scooter. Wow!!!!!

But this wow!!! was short lived. I turned right around the first corner off the park and 3-4dogs started to chase me barking. I couldn't figure out why they were chasing my scooter which was hardly crawling. But I kept my cool. Then came the second turn and it went smoothly. Another 50 meters later came the third turn and the moment I turned I saw the beast heading for me. Well the beast was a car heading straight to me and that unnerved me.

For the first time in my life I was driving a scooter and then on that narrow road I was face to face with a car. My previous experience with cycles had been pretty disastrous and those things went through my mind. In a bid to avoid crossing the car I sped up to around 15 kmph. As I neared the turn I saw that the car would cross me before I can make the turn so I took a detour. Instead of turning through the road I went straight through the dirt track. Unknown to me there was a pot hole on the dirt track which I was in no position to avoid. So went in my scooter's front tyre and then the rear one as the front one emerged out. So I had avoided crossing the speeding car.

Now I gave some race to the scooter but it won't move on. Rather after revving up my scooters engine the scooter just won't go forward. I couldn't figure out what went wrong.

Pawan came running only to find the reason why the scooter stopped suddenly. When the scooter's front tyre went into the pothole my extended palm was not only holding on to the scooter's handle but also the clutch. So unknowingly I clutched the clutch and the gear turned to neutral. So when I cam back to the road the scooter was in a neutral gear and hence won't go forward.

That was the first and last time I drove a scooter. So much for driving a scooter.

Century !!!!!!! Yeah

This is my 100th post

When I started a few years back, I never imagined that I will be at my 100th post.

To all those who have been regularly reading the crap that I write, thanks a lot for reading.

For those who are yet to read, please feel free to see and feel of what all things that I keep doing in life.

Thanks a lot guys for reading this and stay tuned !!!!!

Are we really civilized ????!!!!

Are we civilized human beings?
This is one question I had been asking myself ever since I read about the rape of the Physiotherapist in Munirka.
That rape in itself is a horrific crime and on that the brutality met out to the girl has been too hard to gulp. It is like a tight slap on our face who claim to be living in a civilized society. Society is made of people like us and also includes those guys who committed this horrific crime. I think it is high time we restore the balance and make our country a safe place to live for women. It is high time we do something, anything.
A day after the incident I happened to go to a shop to buy something when the shopkeeper started to speak about this incident and pinned the entire guilt on the girl. According to him the girl should not have ventured out like this at night and she wanted to have this so she got it. I got so infuriated that I blasted him back by saying that it is this mentality like his' that these incidents are happening.

Why should a girl not venture out at night? Why should she not wear what she wants to? We teach our daughters and sisters to dress up properly; but do we teach our boys not to RAPE girls? Do we teach our boys to have respect for GIRLS? No. I suppose not.

I believe that a girl has all the right to venture out even at 2:00 at night and dressed whatever she feels like and no one ABSOLUTELY NO GUY has the right to even touch her let alone do anything else.

If this cannot be taught easily, this should be done the tough way. Sometimes violence becomes the only way to end violence as America did by dropping atomic bombs on Japan. And I think something can be done now.

As a reader what do you think should be done?

1. The criminals, not only these ones but every rapist, and molester should be castrated in full public view and then they should be allowed to live with the sign of what they did. This would be worse than death as death would be an easy way out.

2. Children, specially boys, from early life should be sensitized about these horrific crimes and what that can lead to. Sometimes fear is a good deterrent.

3. Our police should be sensitized too to handle even the minorest of issues carefully and positively.

4. Our society needs to be sensitized and taught that a girl has all the right to be what she is and live the life her way. A boy comes late and he was working hard.... a girl comes late and her character is questioned..... such stupid mentality has to be cleared .....

Probably we will be able to make our society better for our offsprings....

My prayers and wishes are with the girl who is fighting for her life ......

21-12-2012: The world will end!!!!! Or not.

The world will end on 21/12/2012.
Yes it will, atleast that is what the doomsday proponents and media has to say.
And to support their claim they present the following ideas which I will try to nullify one by one.

Claim 1: Our planet will collide with another planet called Planet X or Nibiru on that day destroying everything. 

Contradiction: Today is 16th of december and there are only about 5 days left. Now a planet of the size of  Earth or even Pluto would be seen from low powered telescopes and be reported by millions of observers from across the world. But nothing has been reported yet. Forget that, with just 5 days left the planet would be very close to us by now and should be one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Has anyone seen anything yet??? NO. And on that no body, no astronomer has ever cataloged this planet ever. So will it appear out of no where and hit us ???? Think for yourself.

Claim 2: The Earths Poles will shift and everything will come to and end.

Contradiction: Well which poles ???? There are two poles of earth, Magnetic and Geographic. To rotate the geographic poles of a planet of the size Earth, basic physics tells us that the amount of energy required will be so monumental that unless a planet atleast 100 times the mass of earth does collide with Earth this can never happen. In fact my estimate of even 100 times can be unfounded and the size and mass may be thousands of times more.

If it is about Magnetic pole, then I would say YES the process of Magnetic pole shift has already begun. Generally earth's magnetic poles reverses every 20-25 million years and this one is long overdue. But the process itself takes millions aof years and we are in no imminent danger. Also when the pole shifts it will be more of a danger to certain animals and some of our instruments than us directly. So don;t worry, nothing is shifting as of now.

Claim 3: The Solar flare will destroy us.

Contradiction: Solar flares are generated by cycles of solar maxima and solar minima. This is due to a simple funda that the sun is a gigantic ball of hot plasma and its dynamics creates huge magnetic flares which spew out billions of tonnes of charged particle, some of which may head for earth. In fact occasionally  such particles do hit the earth but our magnetic shield saves us from its harms. The only thing that it can harm are our communication satellites and not US.

Claim 4: Kalki Avatar is coming.

Contradiction: By far this is the most stupid reason I have found so far. God, if it exists, has no other work than becoming Kalki and ending us and that too when we have less than a week left and Kalki has not revealed itself so far, if it at all exists. This is one of those news propounded by popular hindi news channels. They are experts in GENERATING NEWS.

So guys, believe me, there is no fear of the world coming to an end. Atleast not now.

Arachnophobia

I am a self proclaimed President of Indian Coward Association and I am not afraid to say this that I am a proud coward. Anyways insight into my cowardness will be provided some other time, as of now this incident I just recalled which happened quite some time back.

I am dead scared of spiders. In fact I am so scared of spiders that if I am given an option of facing a tarantula on one hand and jumping off a cliff, I would take the latter option.

So that day, rather that evening, around 6.30 pm I was getting ready to go out with a friend of mine to a party. Having dressed up I sat down in our bed room waiting for my friend to arrive. I have this annoying habit (annoying to myself !!!) of scanning the corners of the rooms at all levels for spiders or cobwebs. So as per my habit I was passing my time by scanning for cobwebs and spiders when I happened to locate something at a corner just above my sleeping place. Being curious I went forward to look what exactly it is.From a distance it looked like a thick curled up cobweb with a lot of dust in it. I was horrified to find that it was a spider. A pretty healthy spider at that. Curled up in its own fashion but looking ominous.

I decided to do something. So got hold of a slipper and was about to hurl it when my friend arrived. This is one thing I have never understood. Why do people arrive at the worst moments??? Specially when you least want or expect them to arrive. Anyways I didn't want to display my valor !!!! in front of my friend so decided to deal with the spider when I return. Also as I have studied that spiders are mostly nocturnal and usually move around in darkness. On that I felt the spider was pregnant !!! (what a close study I did) and I assumed that like human beings it won't move around much either.

Around 11 in the night I returned and went straight to change my clothes. I was very tired and decided to sleep. So I went to my bed and suddenly I remembered the spider. I looked at the spot I found it previously and to my horror it was not there.

Now that is a very bad news specially for a person with arachnophobia (fear of spiders). I started to search it frantically. A missing spider means it can be anywhere. And imagine I am sleeping and suddenly I wake up to find something crawling on my face. !!!!!!! Yuk!!!! It sent shivers down my spine... Armed with a slipper in one hand and a insecticide (Hit - Red one) in another I was frantically searching for it. It was 12:15 when I gave up my search and prepared myself for a long night. There was no way I could sleep on the bed. I mean just imagine a spider on my head ...... Ahhhhhhh I would be so very very dead. ..... probably a heart attack ....

I have read that sudden fear can lead to over secretion of adrenalin which can lead to cardiac arrest ..... Oh ..... I was too young to die .... and then dying because of a titsy-bitsy spider ????? I kicked myself for my fear of spiders but then what can I do ..... I have always been scared of them ......

That round shape with legs protruding from all sides and the strange way of walking ..... it is hard to say which way they are looking ..... isshhhhhhhhh it was the most dangerous thing on the earth .....

But I was tired and a long days work awaited me. So I went to sleep on a chair. ..... Somehow I managed to keep my thoughts at bay and my eyes closed ......

It was 6:30 in the morning when I woke up finally. As i stood up the bottle of Hit fell down as did the slipper. I looked at the same spot and found nothing ..... The spider was really gone for good ....

It took me three more nights of self hypnotism !!! to make myself to sleep on the bed.

Columbus and his insight

After Columbus returned home with discovery of a new land, America, in his kitty he was asked to join in a grand ceremony by Isabella, the monarch who gave Columbus the permission to voyage across Atlantic.

At the feast the men in the court were not much pleased at the prospect of Columbus being conferred the Great General of Ocean by Isabella and so they started to poke fun of Columbus. Their weapon was simple.

"There is nothing great that Columbus did. If any other sailor was patronised and chosen by Isabella to undertake the journey, he would have also succeeded as America was there for the taking."

But Columbus ignored their reasoning and taunts for a long time after which he could no longer take it any more. So he decided to do something.

He had some boiled eggs kept on the feast table in front of him. He took one boiled egg and removed the shell. Then he asked the men in the court one question. "Is there anyone who can keep the egg on the table on its vertical side?". The men said, "Why not? It is simple.". And so they tried, and tried and everyone tried till they got exhausted. Finally one of the men asked Columbus whether he can balance the egg on its vertical side. Columbus said, "Why not. It is pretty simple."

Columbus took a knife. Sliced a small part from the vertical end of the egg and placed the egg on the table which balanced itself and stood erect. Seeing this the guys said, "Hey this is cheating. Anyone could have done that. What is so new about it?"

Columbus replied, "Exactly. Everyone and anyone could have done that but no one actually did except me. Similarly anyone could have trevelled to America, but no one did, except me."

None of them ever bothered Columbus again.

## NOTE: This story is part fiction, part fact. But the real intention is to make you understand the logic. When we do something good, something new, people will say that anyone could have done it. But you must remember that though anyone could have done this, no one actually did except you. So, always keep your head high in these situations.

The connection between Durga Puja and Dusshera

I have been wondering for some time, specially after a colleague of mine asked me, whether there is any relation between Durga Puja and Dusshera because they always fall at the same time. Well initially I thought that they are entirely unrelated except that they happen to fall on the same date, but now I know the reason and here it is.
During Ram's war against Ravana, Ravana was superior to Ram in terms of soldiers and power. Also, except for Ravana's dastardly act of abducting Sita, Ravana was a highly learned person and a true Brahmana (here Brahmana is not about Brahmins but about a person who is close to Godly knowledge). Ram had tried to kill Ravana on many occassions but failed. It was then that Vibhishana told Ram that it was impossible to kill Ravana because of two reasons. 1. His weapon which can kill him is kept inside a pillar which is kept at Mandodri's room. 2. He worships Ma Durga every year and it is Durga's blessings which will not allow Ram to kill him. So to kill Ravana Ram was advised to perform the Durga puja.
The original time of Durga puja happens during the months of March-April when the first Navratri happens. That is the real Durga puja which was done by Ravana. So Ram had to perform the puja at a wrong time and hence it is also known as AKAAL BODHAN. In this puja Ram was required to use 108 Lotus found at Maan Sarovar out of which one was Blue in color. So Hanuman was sent to bring those flowers. On Navami (of Navratri) when Ram was supposed to perform the puja Ma Durga hid the Blue Lotus so that her ardent devotee Ravana could be saved. Ram then started to scoop out his one eye as it was considered blue in color. Seeing this Ma Durga appeared and gave him the blessings of killing Ravana.

So this is the  story of Durga Puja and Dusshera and how they are interconnected.

True Love!!!!!!

This is another true story that happened around me. The names and characters have changed. So have the events dates but the underlying story remains intact.

I had known Om since my childhood days. He was a very introvert, and yet amiable person to hang out with. It was pretty difficult to understand what he was thinking or what his emotions were. The events that I am about to describe took place between 2003-2009. Om had never really fallen in love with any girl, at least he never really told he loved anyone. But from his behavior and after knowing him over the years I knew that he wass hiding something from me. So one fine day I caught hold of him and after giving him some emotional punches, he opened up. He was in love with Puja. He met Puja in his tuition classes and they had instantly became friends. Puja was an exact opposite of Om. Outgoing, fun loving, extrovert are some words she can be described by.

Om: Man she is really beautiful. But what I love about her is her bubbly character. She is so innocent. 
Me: Innocent is the last word I will attach to her. With 3 boyfriends already dumped by her how can she be innocent? And you didn't get anyone in this world except her to fall in love?
Om: I don't believe she can really do all that. I think these are the hoaxes created by those who could not get her. They are jealous. Simple.
Me: Come on Om how can so many people be wrong at the same time and about the same person?
Om: They can be. Forgot the monkey-man incidents? Place one hoax among people and people end up crating a hundred by themselves.

That is how much Om was in love with Puja that he was hell bent on defending her.
Puja on the other hand seemed to have a different game to play. She would come out of her home on the pretext of meeting Om (Om was already introduced by Puja to her family as a very nice friend and her family too approved of him because of his nature) and would go to meet her new boyfriend.
She even went ahead and asked Om to come along to take her to meet her boyfriends. And Om would happily agree.

Me: How can you do this man? Don't you feel hurt?
Om: Hurt? Not at all. On the contrary I am glad because I get to spend atleast some time with her during our journeys. (With a broad grin)
Me: Oh come on man this can't be true. You don't feel strange at all?
Om: No. See I fell in love with her but didn't ask her to fall in love with me. Simple. So i can't really complaint.
Me: Does she even know that you love her?
Om: yes she knows very well.
ME; That means she is just using you.
Om; Oh comeon, only because she knows doesn;t mean that she has to love me. She is an independent person and has the right to choose her partner. Now you go and don't irritate me.

That was Om. Too much in love with Puja to see that she was taking advantage of Om. I tried many a times to make him see reason, but he won't listen. For him Puja could do no wrong to him.

Then one fine day (around 2006 august) Om came to me. With tears in his eyes and literally trembling.

Me: Hey man what happened? Where are you coming from?
Om: Just handed over a pregnancy testing kit to Puja.
Me: What?? You did ...... wait a minute, she doesn't even love you and ..... how did it happen?
Om: Arey not me yaar. She had sex with her present boy friend. 

Me: then why did you give her the kit?
Om: Simple yaar, she is scared. I needed to do this.

I was flabbergasted. Speechless. Can anyone be so much in love with a girl  that he would go to such extent? But his eyes told a different story. he was not crying, but he was sad. I didn't want to increase his pain. So didn't probe further. But I could see a visible difference in him. He spoke less of Puja.

It was Durga Puja of the year 2006, maha Dashami. I was in the procession which was headed to Murad nagar canal where we usually immersed the idols. Om came up to me and said that he too wanted to join in. I was surprised as he never went before. So he tagged along. I did see a plastic bag in his hand which looked pretty heavy. So I asked him, "what is in this bag?".
"Nothing much. Just my past.". That is all he answered.

Along with the idols he threw the contents of the plastic bag in the river. The contents were his personal diaries, some letters he wrote for Puja but never gave her, a couple of roses he brought for Puja but never gave her, and a Pic of Puja.

It was March 2007 when Om one day came to my house and told me that a girl named Isha had been in touch with him for a couple of years and she had suddenly proposed him.

Om was just laughing his heart out and frankly after a long time I could see the smile and charm back into him. I was also very happy.

Isha had been our classmate from school times. Even I knew her though just knew her name and nothing more than that. Isha had been secretly loving Om is something of a shocker for both me and Om but then it was ok.

Om was working with a software company in Noida and was earning well. He told his parents about Isha and though initially they hesitated, but later they too acknowledged his choice. Everything was going fine. Om and Isha were the talks of my friend circle. Isha's parents too were happy and then something happened.

One fine day, in September 2009 to be precise, Isha told Om that she was not feeling comfortable in this relation and she wanted to walk out of it. Om just couldn't react. he didn't know what to say. Isha just went out of his life. Om almost went crazy. He asked the reason, but never really got one. (It was later me who figured out that she went back to her previous boyfriend. Now don;t ask me how I cracked her email password and read all her chats for that I am not gonna tell you!!!!)

Om was back to his silent ways again.
To distract himself he went for the JEST exam and got selected. Right now he is at IISc Bangalore doing his PhD in Theoretical Computer science. (It was me who inspired him to go for this exam)


PS: A few days back Om called up to tell me that both Puja and Isha had emailed him on the same day to "touch base with him". On asking what he is doing. He just replied, "trying to touch base with them, though this time I know that Computers are my girl friends who will never betray me".

The day my experiment nearly backfired

I have always had this bad habit of experimenting with myself. I have always believed that I can not be subdued by the effects of bhaang. I had always heard of the stories of stupidity regarding people who consumed it. So when I had heard too much about the effect of bhaang, I decided to test.

Oh man it was some real hard hit that I took the day. So on  Durga Dashami, I decided to see what happens. I consumed a few glasses of bhaang. And waited for an hour but nothing happened. Then the procession begun and with it my analysis of my own self. Till nearly 4:30 pm, a good two hours after I consumed it, nothing happened.
Then we climbed onto the trucks loaded with the idols. The first indication of something going wrong came up when I got scared due to that silly height and my pulse started to run. But I wanted to see more of it.
By the time the trucks reached muradnagar I was going bonkers. My head was spinning. The entire world was looking like a series of photographs moving rapidly in front of my eyes.
I could feel that my eyes were not stable. They were flickering left to right and back.
I climbed down and walked a few steps. Standing was difficult. I decided to sit down, but was scared of falling asleep or rather unconscious.
In the mean time I was continuously analyzing my thoughts and reactions.
By 6:15 my condition had deteriorated. My pulse rate crossed 220 mark as I suddenly got a fear in my heart; what would happen if I fall down now? My parents will feel bad? everyone would laugh at me? etc etc etc.
This in turn increased the problems I was already facing. Then i called out for my brother. As he came he started to scold me. I requested him not t scold me then as I didn't want another round of stupid thinking to start.
Around 6:40 I boarded the bus and the bus started to roll. I was still in control of my actions and thoughts, but physiologically I was in doldrums.

Somehow I reached home, changed my clothes and hit the bed straight. At night I had dinner at 09:30. then slept off again.

The next morning I woke up with a spinning head. Hardly anything I could understand. My eyes were still flickering, though pretty slowly.
I will never forget those moments when for once I thought that I am going to die and told myself that may what happen I will hold myself straight and not let myself be a piece of mockery.

I somehow succeeded and vowed never to taste this bhaang or any other such stuff.
My experiment nearly backfired.



 

Life and Death

Before I start let me tell you a few things.
I am not a writer and these are not stories out of imagination. These are true, real life happenings. Things, events and people whom I have seen around me. I have changed the names and at times the places to keep the real people out of poking eyes. But the events are real. At times I have added tits and bits of my imagination but only to make the story-line smooth. Most of the time you will find me in the event as I am a narrator and was in some or the other way attached to the event.

This is about a friend of mine who taught me the real meaning of life.

I met him when I was still drinking milk from the milk bottle my mom bought for me from friday market here at Sanjay Nagar. And since then we never really got disconnected as friends. Jeetu was always close to my heart, he still is. And we used to fight like anything over the pettiest of issues and yet we were friends. This series of events started when we were in Class 11th. He hated Physics and Mathematics like anything, probably more than I hated Chemistry. And yet he was stuck with both. His parents, as are parents in general, were very aggressive about him making to IIT because his mother's brother's son had made it to IIT. Gosh!!! How Jeet hated his parent's approach more than Physics and Mathematics.

Jeet loved Animals. Man he was crazy about them. One day as I reached his home I found a pug coming to me with tail (or rather the absent part of it) wagging. "what is this?? I mean where did you get this from", I asked. "Oh come on it just found me and a home to live in. " spoke Jeet as he shoved me into his study room. "come on lemme tell you what I did yesterday.".
Being an excited lad I just got a li'l bit more curious. "what did you do? Some problems in mathematics". 

"duh !!! don't take that bloody name. well I tried to commit suicide". 

"Whaaaat!!! What didi you do???", I asked with my mouth still kinda open. 
"Didn't do it man, just tried to commit suicide." 

"I consumed two strips of sleeping pills and guess what I woke up today with a heavy head and dizzy feeling and nothing else. These sleeping pills are no good.", he continued.

"You see its better to die than to continue with this pathetic life".

Jeet's life was really pathetic. His mom and dad were hell bent on  making him an IITian which he detested the most. On that his grades have been following Newton's law of gravity and were in a free fall. Even I had forgotten when was the last time he had passed in any subject. In the half yearly exams our physics and math teachers had to take a number of tests just to pass him. On that his massive inferiority complex and zero self esteem was driving him into a whirlpool of depression. I knew all that but didn't know how to pull him out. At times I used to wish I could replace his parents. But well I wasn't god.

A week later as I was walking to Goyal's shop I came across Jeet again. he was his self again. Happy, at least on the outside.

"Hiiii man. Study you must but not at the expense of your friends man. and that too Physics???".
"Oh, Jeet please stop this. By the way what happened to you hand, and legs and your face?? All bruises. What happened?" I asked noticing bandages on his hands and legs and bruises on his face.

"Well was just driving down the road on my cycle when I decided to collide my cycle with this truck that was coming towards the T point I was headed to. At the last moment my instincts took over me and I applied brakes and didn't collide. So I decided to loosen up the brakes of my cycle. Then a couple of days back I decided to try again. Went towards the T point and saw a car coming. Thought it would be great if it hit me I would die and no one would point a finger at my parents. So I started my sojourn. But then I had forgotten that there was this speed breaker near the T point. the god damned car slowed down. My cycle didn;t have brakes so I ended up in the bushes as I failed to stop it. "

"But why are you hell bent on killing yourself? You don't think about your parents? You don;t care for them?" I asked, appalled at his stupidity.

"Parents??? They just want an IITian or else I am dead anyways. No point wasting and waiting two year to die when I know I will die anyways. They will kill me or drive me crazy with their taunts. I can't take it any more man."


I knew Jeet was speaking the truth but I also knew he was being too stupid.

"But don;t you think suicide is the option of cowards??" I snapped back, hoping that hitting him on his ego might salvage him.

"Oh please. Ask any god damned brave heart to consume poison, or jump in front of a train, or hang himself up or kill himself in any way. he will pee in his pants but won't do anything. So much for your brave hearts. Suicide is my way of telling God, You don't fire me, I Quit." How did I forget that defeating Jeet with his logic is impossible. I walked back home.

It was early december; it had rained that year and the cold was killing. I could often hear a rattling sound of my  bones inside me. Jeet came home. very excited he was.

"I created cyanide. Yes man. I created cyanide at my school lab. Had all the chemicals to make it. Man I will succeed this time." He said, as he entered my room.

I saw a strange glow on his face. A man who is happy because he has found the ultimate formula to kill himself. Or was he just pretending to be happy?

"What the fu** man? What are you saying? You cannot be serious". Said I.

"Oh yeah I am serious. You know my rapport with Apsara. She let me in the chemical strong room of our school. And I just picked up the ingredients. you won;t believe it works."

"How do you know it works?", I asked as I got baffled at his claim.

"Can you see the pug around? No na? He died due to that poison".

"Are you nuts?? You killed a poor animal just to check whether you would die or not? This is disgusting man. Why don;t you just pour it into your mouth and be over with this stupidity? " I roared back at this extreme act of foolishness and it really angered me to see how an animal lover like him can become so cruel at heart? I was actually not angry at him. I was angry at his parents and God. This guy was becoming a threat to himself. yet I thought that good sense will prevail over him and he might not go to such extremes. So I decided to wait a tad bit more before I could tell his parents.

And then it happened.

He met Abhilasha. A tomboy. He fell in love with her instantly. Met her at his tuition center which he had just joined to fulfill his parent's ambition to see him an IITian. She was equally poor with Physics and Math and had same background as his parents. She was harassed at every moment to be an IITian. And they ended up in each others arms, in literal sense. Well almost. She had a steady boy friend and he had no girl friend. yet Jeet was so attached to Abhilasha that he decided to postpone his suicide. He decided to study Physics and Math seriously so that he can help her.

Even today whenever I go to his house we have a hearty laugh about his stupidity and what all he did to commit suicide and how he ended up killing a poor dog just to test his "invention". He and his wife both are teachers, he an assistant professor of Mathematics and she of Physics. And trust me I have never seen a happier couple. A few days back only I went to his home when I came to Delhi. The three of us (me, he and his wife) had a great time chatting at his home. Specially as Abhilasha is really a great cook.


Did I forget to tell you that Jeet and Abhilasha got married to each other???

Now don;t ask me how did that happen. That is another story and I will tell you some other time.

A Statistical Study into the existence of Predictive techniques

For a long time now astrologers and astronomers (read science guys) have been locked over a battle that doesn't seem to be headed anywhere. While astrologers say that they can predict a man's life through the study of his stars astronomers say it is impossible as there is no link between a man's life and the stars which are millions of light years away. Logic seems to be with science because it defies logic as to how a star millions of light years from here can effect us!!! But there are numerous examples of people who predict and predict correctly about a man's life with uncanny precision just by the study of stars. So this is a fight between two strong forces; Logic and Reality.

I  have been always interested in numerology (a branch of predictive science like astrology) and studied it in great details. But while on many occassions I predicted correctly on many ocassions I was wrong too. Moreover since i am a student of Physics I am always doubtful about everything. So I decided a good 11 years back in the summer of 2001 that I will figure out how the life of a human being is connected to so called stars. And for that I took shelter of statistics. I need data from people of all walks of life and i will statistically correlate the data with what numerology has to say and see if there is really any correlation or not.

It is my appeal to all those who might be reading this blog that please come forward and participate in this survey of mine. This may end up being the largest statistical study to understand a non-science object with the help of science. Be a part of it.

The link is given below.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dE9DTnRnMF85TUJvXy1oNmFJMlpvdVE6MQ

The Hermit and the story of the Lucky Pigeons !!!

There lived in a Kingdom a King who ruled with much Love and care for his citizens. He was fond of astrology and predictive sciences and believed a lot about omens. Omens are the signs of nature which bring good luck or bad luck to people. The King was particularly in awe of an omen which stated, "If anyone sees three pairs of male and female white pigeons at one place, he/she will become wise, healthy and abundantly rich within a short span of life." 

So one day he sent out his trusted employees in search for such coupled pigeons. They were instructed that the moment they find one they should inform the King and the King will go himself and see the Omen.

So all the employees started searching around the huge palatial garden for such a Omen. One of the employees Ramu was looking for such a Omen when he came across a palatial wall on which three pairs of male and female white pigeons were sitting. He immediately went back and informed the King about the Location of the Omen.

The King set out immediately. When the king and Ramu reached the wall Ramu excitedly cried out loud and pointed towards the pigeons. As he did so the pigeons flew away.  The King got infuriated and marched back. He caught of hold of Ramu and told him that  he wasted the King's time and energy and because of him the king couldn't see the Omen hence he will be punished. Ramu pleaded innocence but the king won't listen. The King finally announced that Ramu will be hanged to death publicly for speaking a lie to the King.

Hearing this announcement and the entire story of Ramu a wise Hermit decided to meet the king. The hermit told the king, "O King. Why do you punish the poor man?"  The King replied, "Because he wasted my time and disturbed the Omen due to which the pigeons flew away."
The Hermit said, "O King you are a learned person and yet you can't see your folly? It was Ramu who saw the Omen and look he is facing death for it. Don;t you see that the Omen is actually bad as it is on the verge of killing the poor man?? Had you seen the Omen yourself don't you think you would have also ended up like this??? So hasn't Ramu actually saved you??? Think over it whether the Omen was actually good or bad??"

The king understood his folly and not only released Ramu but also rewarded him.


In general life too we tend to listen a lot to hearsay and believe in so called Omens and urban legends without verifying the truth of the claims.

A string of events

As I sat looking at the cloud laden sky, I went down the memory lane. So many things have happened since childhood days. And as I was pondering over them a thought stuck me. Looking at things carefully everything makes sense. It is like a huge labyrinth of paths all connected to form a series of events which shape our lives. Let me start from my school days. I wanted to be a physicist and never took engineering seriously. Had I not gone for coaching class for the study of physics I would have got more marks and would have been at a better college in DU but scored poorly in Chemistry and Math and ended up at Deshbandhu. Then again i scored poorly at graduation level and somehow got into MSc at Jamia. There I made the worst mistake of my life (atleast that is what i think) by not joining Theoretical Physics. My teachers and class mates pleaded me to join but I didn't. So never really understood what I wanted to in Physics and hence got left out of the contention. Then I joined DPSGV instead of DPS Meerut Road as a Physics Teacher. Another decision which changed my course of life. Then I cracked PhD entrance to JNU but had to leave after 6 months. Another life changing decision. Then I joined S.Chand Publications and lo it changed my life completely. Met a girl there who after I left S.Chand introduced me to another girl who happens to be my wife now (Swagata). Now that is called a life changer. Then I joined and left two engineering colleges only to move back to publication from where I made some really cool friends and then I joined DPS Rajnagar. Had Piyush Chawla, the owner of Vikas Publications, not taken that ludicrous decision, neither would I have joined DPS Rajnagar nor would I have come across a very innovative person with whom I am working now at Amity, nor would I have gained my such good friends.

Strange, but true, life is nothing but a series of choices that we make and their consequences. Newton's third law at work. Or is it so???  

The day I understood the value of water

That night, of the month of June, started of as usual- no electricity and the inverter machine crying for its life. I went to sleep in the first floor room while mom and dad slept in the ground floor one. That night I had eaten a lot of chicken and hence, my stomach was not only full, it had started to crackle. Anyways, it was around 1:30 in the night when I woke up with my tongue stuck to my throat as they both had dried up. I reached for the bottle of water which is usually kept near my head only to find it almost empty. I emptied the rest.
But within minutes the throat dried up again, specially thanks to the stomach trouble that had started by then. I looked up the wall clock to find another 5 hours before morning.
I decided to sleep thirsty, only to wake up in ten minutes. The thirst was damning. I frantically searched for another bottle of water in the room only to find one tucked away somewhere below the sofa. I pulled it out. The dust on the outer surface suggested that it was there for a long time. Without giving a second thought I opened it  and found the water pretty much clear. As I poured it into my throat the taste, horrible one, forced me to throw up.
The bottle must have been there for over a month at least.

I abandoned it.

By 2:15 I had grown restless again. Water was the only thing I was looking out for. For once I prayed to God to send some shower to me ..... well the monsoon was a few weeks away and it was unreasonable to ask God for it at that point of time..... I gave up.

Then came the most brilliant idea of that night. Why not switch on the water pump and fill the bottle?? I excitedly run towards it and switched it on.....  then I realised that there was no electricity for me to switch on the pump.

I was flabbergasted.

As I turned back to come out of the bathroom, I noticed two buckets full of water lying there.
The same buckets from which I used to bath and wash god knows what..... but at that point of time it was nothing more than divine sent amrit for me.....

I didn't think again.... took the mug ..... dipped in the bucket and pulled one full mug of water ..... poured it into my throat and .... WOW !!!!! Water never tasted so good ......

I still look back at that incident which taught me one important lesson of life ......

To my dearest bro, Shuborno

I was dying to see him, was so excited that I shook off my dad's grip on my hand and ran straight into the maternity centre of Dr. Nilu Khaneja. As I ran into the ward I asked mom about him. She removed a small white cloth from around his face and for the first time I saw him-----My younger brother Shuborno. From that day he became my motive of life. Last 22 years he had been my constant companion, my best friend, my secret keeper, my buddy, my spiritual guide -----MY EVERYTHING.

I have grown with him. I have seen him take the first steps; when he used to point at his tongue to show us that he wanted an ice-cream;  when he used to pee in his pants the moment he would get angry at any of us; he would make faces like a mouse......... so many things.


Today he went to Kolkata to pursue his Master of Science in Theoretical Physics from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University. And to be frank I am as much happy as I am sad.
My happiness brews from the fact that my brother is embarking on a journey which will take him to the edge of the universe --- and may be beyond. he is going to do what I failed in my life. I am very happy.

But I am equally sad. My constant companion is going away. He is probably the only one to whom I could talk anything under the sun. I have never treated him as my brother, but as my son. I have tried my best to save him from those problems that I faced in my childhood days.

There is a sudden vacuum in my life created by his absence, which is impossible to be filled. In fact he is the only person to whom I am attached.


All said and done, I know I have to adjust myself and I will. I hope he fulfills the mission he is on. And my wishes will always be there for him.

LOVE YOU BUDDY.....

Lord Buddha and the Snake

One day Lord Buddha was passing through a village when the villagers requested him to help them. They said, "O Lord, there lives a snake outside the village which is so poisonous that it keeps killing villagers and our cattle. Please help us by taming it."

So Lord Buddha went over to that snake and told it," O mighty snake, why waste your poison on the poor villagers and their cattle. Why give them suffereing and invite God's wrath for yourself. Be a humble servant of God and don't bite the people and their cattle or any other animal again."

The snake after being given the wisdom, bowed at the feet of Buddha and went back into its hole.

Weeks later when Lord Buddha was passing by the same village again, he suddenly had the curiosity to know about that snake. So he went to that hole again and called out for the snake.

After a long time a weak, brutally beaten and bruised and badly injured snake crawled out of the hole. Looking at it Lord Buddha couldn't understand why it was in such a bad condition. On being asked the snake replied, "O lord after you sermoned me I didn't bit or showed my anger to anyone. But the villagers and the kids started to trample over me. They beat me with sticks but I never bit them back, as you told me. So this condition of mine is the outcome of waht you taught me to do."

Hearing this Lord Buddha said, "I asked you not to bite someone, but you could have easily drove them away by showing your fangs. I never said, don't defend yourself. Biting is prohibited, not hissing."


Same is the case with me. I don't hit people, i don't get angray easily and I accept others views too. But people take this as my weakness and try to trample over me. I think I just had enough of it.

The Hermit and The King

There was a king who ruled a kingdom. He was a very learned man but had never understood the meaning of one thing; SACRIFICE. He once asked his ministers to fins out the true meaning of the word, sacrifice and announced that whosoever will answer him satisfactorily will be suitably rewarded. So went out all the ministers to find the answer to this question.

Not too long after this incident that they all came back and told the king their answers. The King listened to all their answers but was not amused. He was not satisfied. And he openly showed his dissatisfaction. Finally one minister garnered enough courage and told him that there lives a hermit outside his kingdom's forest cover who is learned and will be able to answer him.

Hearing this the King sent one of his minister to bring the hermit to his palace. When the minister reached the hermit the hermit refused to come to the palace. Instead he asked the minister to send the king to his cottage. So the king went to the hermit's cottage.

King: O learned man, do tell me the real meaning of sacrifice. Is it to kill animals and gift it to gods? Or is it to give up all that a man has and be a hermit like you?

Hermit: O king, I will answer your question but for that I need to go to your palace. Take me there and let me live there for some time and then I will answer your question.

So the king agreed and took the hermit to his palace. There the Hermit started to enjoy all the pleasures of the palace. Good food, good place to bath, beautiful orchards full of fruits and what not. Days went by and the hermit didn't say a word to the king. Days became weeks and weeks became months but the hermit didn't say a word to the king. On the other hand the king was becoming impatient. He started to wonder whether the hermit was really any learned person or was he making a fool of the king?

One day the king finally llost his patience and called upon the hermit. He said, "O learned hermit i have been watching you ever since you came here. You have been enjoying the food and comfort of the palace just like anyone else would do. It doesn't seem that you are a hermit,  a recluse a sannyasi. You neither told me the answer to my question nor you told me that you have had enough and also it seems that you don't want to leave this place. I am doubtful of all this."

On hearing all this the hermit smiled and spoke," O King, I have been waiting for this day when you will ask me this. Thanks for asking. It is time for me to go."

The King said," But what about the answer to my question?"
Hermit, " For that you will have to come with me to my cottage."

The King agreed and went with the Hermit to his cottage.

When they reached the cottage the hermit said. "O Dear King, for so many months I lived at your palace and enjoyed all the comforts. Now it is my turn to return the favor. So please give me the pleasure of serving you. Please stay at my cottage for the next three days."

On hearing this the king startled and said, "No it is not possible. I can't live here in this small cottage where you eat things that you get from charity of other people. I can't possibly sleep on the floor and surely can't bath in the nearby pond. I have lived in the palace and it is not possible for me to come and live here. Moreover I have an entire kingdom to look for so I can't come".

The hermit smiled and replied. " See king. I stayed all my life in this cottage and then I spent all these months in your palace. And now I am back to my cottage and I am feeling as good as I always was. I didn't get addicted to this cottage or your palace. Both are equal for me. But you couldn't possibly stay in this cottage for even one full day because you cannot give up the comforts of your palace. You are addicted to it. What I can do you can't!!!! This is sacrifice. I am not addicted to anything. My senses are well within my control. I have given up on the pair of good and bad. For me everything is same. This is the meaning of sacrifice."