26.2 miles of pain, sweat and perseverance ...

... or how I ran the LA marathon.

As mentioned in my previous post, I ran the LA marathon last sunday, and this post is a [somewhat] detailed account of the same.

Lets revisit some of those moments: [link to route, for reference]

Saturday, Mar 18, 6pm: The team got together for a carbo-load potluck dinner. The atmosphere was charged and the coaches each gave a small motivational speech. Also, everyone appreciated my chawal-ki-kheer [or Indian rice pudding :-)].

Saturday, Mar 18, 9pm: I was busy copying songs into my mp3 player so that I keep going. I had gotten somewhat bored with my current playlist and there was more space remaining, so I figured I should load up. Rang De Basanti, Paathshaala and Raahe Raahe remix by Rishi Rich are among my favorites.

Saturday, Mar 18, 11pm: Two hours in bed, but
no sleep -- too much adrenaline I guess. Somehow I got some sleep.

Sunday, Mar 19, 6:30am: I was waiting at the assigned spot. The rest of the team came and we biked to the Marathon starting line in downtown. For those of you who are wondering why we thought biking back 2 miles after running 26.2 would be a nice idea, the answer is towards the end of the post.

We all got together, took some pictures, and squished together near the starting line. With 25,000+ people running, it takes quite some time if you are not in the front of the bunch. The atmosphere was electric, with choppers above us, music around us, and tonz of adrenaline inside us! We all were together, wearing our USC Marathon Team T-Shirts, and did a couple of battle cries! You had to be there to feel it!

8:17am: The crowd started moving and we knew that it had begun - the first marathon of my life. Heather Hydzik and I started together, and the plan was to run together, as we had done in the practice runs. It was cool, us running together, sharing headphones, with Daler Menhdi going "Rang De Basanti" - very cool.

Mile 2: As I had expected, my IT band started to complain. I knew it was not long before the pain would make me walk.

Mile 5: I told Heather that she can go ahead after mile 6, since my knee was going from bad to worse.

Mile 7: I stumbled strangely, the right knee giving way. I told her to go on, and started walking. Her final words were, "resume running soon". I walked for some time, my right leg straight. Tried running but too much pain. Then I saw written on the T-shirt of the guy ahead of me "This is my first Marathon, and I am 50!". That was motivation enough for me to take some 20 steps running, crossing mile 8 in the process.

My aim was to somehow cross the halfway mark, since after that, I knew I would be able to push myself - running, walking, crawling, whatever!

The people on the sides of the streets, cheering every runner, gave me energy, and so did the oranges handed out by them.

Mile 10: I was happy to be in double digits, 1/5th running, 4/5th walking. That is where I met Ashiya, from the USC marathon team. She was also sore, but going on. More inspiration.

Mile 13.1: The halfway mark! I stopped at a medical station, and got painkiller spray on both my knees, and got an ice-pack tied to my right knee.

I thought, I have finished the half marathon, now even if I don't complete, it is ok. But then Adrian's words came in my mind - "They are going to give medals to all those who finish, and what a medal it is!" - I definitely wanted that medal, and 13.1 miles stood between me and it. Needless to say, I kept on.

Mile 18: I met Adrian, who was having his own problems with the IT band. Since his left knee was busted, we walked symmetrically for some time - his left leg straight, my right leg straight - funny :-).

Mile 19: I randomly met Sumun, who had come with her husband to cheer one of her friends. It is amazing how good I felt to see another known face cheering me on!

Mile 20: 6 more to go! I took a stretching break. Then resumed. There was loads of downhill stretches and I used them, since you can run downhill in long strides without bending your knees :-).

Mile 22: 4 more to go, and the stretch on Olympic Blvd. started. Thanks to the training runs on this route, I knew exactly what was coming from this point on. I knew I could do it, it was just a matter of time now.

Mile 24: I saw Heather O'Shea [different from the Heather I started with], sore all over but fighting on, just like everybody else! She proposed that we cross the finish line together, but our speeds were different. I sped ahead, hoping to finish the run before I collapse.

Mile 25: I feel tears in my eyes - I cannot quite explain why this spontaneous crying thing happened. I see that I have 15 more minutes until 6 hours, and decide to finish before that. Time for running!

Final half mile or so: So, I turned left from Olympic on Flower, and could see the finish line, I put on "Rahe Rahe" for the n^th time and kept running. I could see the clock ticking to 5:56:59 as I crossed!

On the other side: After I finished, I was like "give me that medal!", and "I want to crash", and "water", and many other feelings, but most of all, I was surprised to see Heather O'Shea standing next to me! It seems that she sprinted the last part and we finished exactly at the same second! Her idea came true after all :-).

Zack was there, as he has always been, waiting for hours for the slow ones to finish [he took 3.5 hours, the fastest from USC]. He took my snap [and one with Heather also, who was all smiles].

Zack and I then biked back to campus. It was interesting to see how biking was not tough at all, partly due to the downward slope, and partly due to the fact that it uses a completely different group of muscles.

Epilgoue: All through the marathon, there was one question in my mind -WHY? - Why do these people stand on the side of the track and cheer complete strangers, give them high-5s, give out oranges and water [even beer at one place!]. What makes them spend their money and time on this day. And yet, who knows how many people like me would have dropped out mid way if it had not been for those who were cheering me. People would go "hey USC, Fight on!" when they would see my Jersey. Some even shouted my name, reading it off my race bib. I wonder what makes them do this?

And then I thought, what made me do this. Why am I paying money and training and then running 26.2 miles, when I am sure to not get the prize? And I guess there I had my answer - it is a great feeling to be part of a marathon, running or otherwise.

So people, make sure you run at least one marathon in your lifetime - no one can be explained what the experience is like, much like the matrix.

Still a bit sore, and still in love with the whole world,
-A

Done!

5 hours, 50 minutes, 10 seconds -- that is how long my 26.2 mile trip to hell and back took.

For those who are wondering, I successfully completed the LA marathon today. Thanks to all those who supported me during the training and the race.

That's all for now, I am now going to tend to my sore body, and also prepare for the first show of our Improv Group - Vidushak.

Off to the freezer now, to get some frozen spinach to tie to my right IT band.

in love with the whole world,
-A

No Danish PM for us Indians please, we are crazy fanatics!

Many sources are reporting that the visit of the Danish PM to India has been postponed because of "fears that the trip could provoke fresh protests by Muslims against cartoons of Prophet Mohammad."

Shameful. utterly shameful. The Indian govt should be able to assure that there will be no violent protest as a result. And peaceful protests should not scare a PM away.
The image of India has taken a beating. I think the drunk guy is winning [ref to my comment]. Sad.

It will be interesting to see someone come forward and "assure" the Danish PM of no untoward incident at his trip.

Fanatics 1, Moderates 0. Who are you cheering for?

-A

Victory for the Moderate Muslims in Varanasi

Update: Remember to read the comments, they add to the article. Thanks for them, folks!

Some weeks ago, I was sent this article [free reg required, you can use bugmenot]. The point the article made was that Islam is suffering because somehow the moderate section of the community is not coming out strongly, thus letting the fanatics rule the roost and dictate the policies. Some very valid points and a nice read.

I have been engaged in a strong debate, both on the web and off it, regarding my pro "do not call Varanasi bombing a religious attack since it was not, and this might cause riots" stand. You may want to see my comments at the bottom of the post linked above. More about that issue some other day.

On to the latest news, I just saw that the Varanasi muslim moderates got a fatwa issued by the religious officials there against terrorism. Pretty cool, I say.

From the article:

Quoting references from the holy Quran, the mufti said Islam strongly condemned and restricted the 'fitn-o-fasad' (violence).

"Islam is synonymous with peace and protection of humanity," he said, adding that Allah has expressed unhappiness on all those acts that breach peace.

Allah says: "Slaying an individual without any reason is a heinous crime and sin; if one kills an innocent person, it is the killing of entire humanity, and if one saves an innocent person it is an act of protecting the entire humanity." (Quran; Sooreh Maida, Ayaat 32).

The fatwa against terrorism came in response to the written queries put before the Mufti by Qamar Jehan, former head of the department of Urdu, Banaras Hindu University, and Muniza Rafiqu Khan, registrar of Gandhian Institute of Studies, to know whether terrorism had any place in Islam.

...

The three-page fatwa said all human beings of the world were members of the family of Allah. The safety of each individual is essential and there is no barrier of religion or geographical boundary.

The holy Quran strictly denounces the act of violence through its different 'ayaats' including 'Sooreh Bakara - 60 and 205', 'Sooreh Araf - 56' and 'Sooreh Qasas - 83'.

It is the duty of each and every Muslim to have good relations with all individuals, irrespective of their religion. The fatwa further stated that a person of any country or religion involved in act of terrorism goes against the teaching of Islam.

Such persons could not be termed as religious-minded, as terrorists have no religion. Islam not only restricts a person from doing wrong, but also commands not to support evil as it is a sin.

I know some of you will brush it off as mere lip service, but honestly, isn't this a pleasant surprise, coming from a community where we were thinking that the moderate voice is not loud enough.

I wish for more such pleasant surprises in the future.

-A
P.S. I got new shoes [unevenly worn out, thus playing a part in my ITB injury] and Zack, my officemate who is one of the coaches in the Marathon team, corrected my running style. Lets see.

So, just because it is tough, you won't do it?

A lot of you would have seen this quote in my signature, and I guess it is time to put it to practice.

The LA Marathon is here, this coming Sunday!

Here is the route. [switch off the elevations and unzoom a couple of levels to get a complete picture]. The mile markers are a bit off due to not considering elevation, but you get the idea.

Yes, my Ilio-Tibial band is not in the best shape, but I am still hoping to cross the finish line, a little late, a little limping, but crossing it for sure.


So wish me luck! [and be at Vermont and Expo at marathon day if you are in the USC area!]

-A

Holi Cow! No punishment to stung MPs!

Happy Holi to all! Hope your life is colorful and you make up with your enemies :-).

And now to the main issue, I was shocked to read this article in TOI today telling how all the MPs in the MPLADS scam have gotten the benefit of doubt.[link to one-page version, cancel the print option when it comes]

Let us look at some snippets of this superb article.

While maintaining that the conduct of none of the four members "was above board and they need to be handed out appropriate punishment", it gave the benefit of doubt to the four lawmakers saying the "improper conduct" on their part "did not, strictly speaking, relate to their parliamentary duties and none of the said members was actually shown accepting the money".
"Alemao Churchill (Cong), Paras Nath Yadav (SP), Faggan Singh Kulaste and Ramswaroop Koli (both BJP) may be reprimanded. They may also be suspended from the membership of the House till 22 March 2006," recommended the Committee in its 51-page unanimous report tabled in the House today.

And how is this punishment "appropriate" ? Agreed, they did not accept the money on camera, but they did write those absolutely bogus letters! What about that?

The Committee recommended that the Government suitably revise guidelines governing MPLADs with a view to plugging various loopholes and lacunae.

A suggestion made by the Committee to the Government on implementation of the MPLADS scheme was that NGOs and private institutions be barred from getting any funds under the scheme.
This was because most of such NGOs are "merely facades for unscrupulous organisations formed to usurp funds" from MPLADS, which are meant for community development works.

Under the scheme, each MP is entitled to sanction developmental projects in their respective parliamentary constituency to the tune of Rs two crore annually.

So, what the committee is saying is that the money should not be given to NGOs, then who will do the work? The government organizations? I wonder how much it is going to affect the "good" MPs who want to use these funds to support actual projects. [or maybe there aren't any left]

It asked the Government to initiate steps for laying guidelines and norms for sting operators.

The Committee expressed concern that the media has been indulging in "sensationalism on a competitive basis" in a race to achieve viewership.

It noted that in this case, a television channel had implied that all MPs were susceptible to corruption.

"Carrying out such operations in an unregulated manner, which cast aspersions on MPs, erodes the credibility of our democratic institutions," the Committee said noting that "such motivated trial by the media needs to be regulated".

This surely takes the cake... instead of lauding the efforts of the media, the committee is busy reprimanding them. While agree that tainting a MP by sending a girl to her place and assailing his character may be below the belt [since it has no relation to his work as a parliamentarian], why should the media not find out their corrupt dealings?

And what would these norms look like -- please submit in tripilicate the names/addresses of your sting operatives and the target MP three months in advance, so that we[govt] can go after you[media]!

Funny how this is called operation "Duryodhana", and I was reading the "gambling scene" in the Mahabharata yesterday. It is said that when Dushasana finally got to disrobing Draupadi and fabric appeared magically to cover her, Dhritarashtra and others realised how everything was so wrong and that the end of the dynasty is near. Somehow, with the recent Jessica Lal case and now this, I see the proverbial cup of corruption running over in India.

Reminds me of..

"Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya. Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,.
Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya. Tadatmanam Srijami Aham'.
Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7) [ref]

I think it's time -- so where art thou?

outraged,
Animesh

India Shining: A video is worth a thousand pics

Harshit sent me this video, which ties in to my post a few days ago.

Watch it [7 mins] if you can, if you don't have the time, watch the last 40 seconds, where they discuss as to "what is it that makes Indians study"

Suddenly, I feel a little happy to see these non-Indians in awe of my culture :-).

But all the same, we must remember that a lot needs to be done before we reach what we deserve... I just hope the huge legions of youth in India get proper guidence as they grow and mature.

Amen to that.
-A
P.S. The marathon is in 7 days, and my knee is busted! Going to the doc tomorrow.

How to react to a bomb blast if you are a politician

I was checking out desipundit and saw a link to this post by Sonia Falerio -- absolutely great!

No more from me, visit the link above... sums up my opinions. Also, read the comments, they add to the article.

The Banarasi Spirit Lives!

My Siddharth bhaiya pointed me to this news, and what a news item it is!

TOI [and others] are reporting about a candle light procession taken out by shopkeepers in Varanasi to protest against the bomb blasts. The article also talks about how the vigilance of a vendor saved people from the third bomb!

I must confess that my eyes welled with tears seeing people from all communities in the pictures above. I am so relieved to see the show of solidarity from all communities. This is a clear signal to all the disruptive forces that this attack is clearly a "terrorist" activity, and not a communal one.

I hope the students of ITBHU also organize a procession of this sort to show solidarity with the people of the great city of Varanasi.

This reminds me of:

"Kuch baat hai ki hasti mit-ti nahin hamaari
Sadiyon raha hai dushman, daure zamaan hamaara!"

Long live the spirit of the people.

a little overwhelmed with emotion,
Animesh
Update: Arvind points me to this NDTV article about BHU students and secularism.

Varanasi is us

Mukul sent this today -- wonderful article.

I am not saying much about this since the article so aptly captures what I had to say -

Of all the soundbites that emanated from the mouths of leaders after the Varanasi blasts, it was surprisingly Uma Bharati — the “daughter of BJP cast out in the darkness” — who spoke with the most wisdom. The burden of her words was this: these attacks are not about religion, they are about crime. The nation needs to remain united now more than ever. True, many others expressed similar sentiments, but when the woman who had once celebrated the fall of Babri Masjid expressed them, they assumed importance; and when her words were compared with the statements of her former colleagues in the BJP — including of course those of the inimitable Pravin Togadia, anxious to convert the blasts into bankable political capital — they assume even greater importance. Because these, precisely, are the two ideas that need to guide political and popular response to the grave and wanton aggression on Varanasi. One, do not communalise these attacks — criminalise them; two, come together in resistance against them, don’t fall prey to the larger design of their perpetrators.

My prayers go out to maintaining calmness in the people.
-A

Mayhem in Shiva's City

All of you know it by now, about the varanasi blasts. Abhishek Khanna from ITBHU talks about it here. Looking forward to more blog entries from the city itself.

A sad occurance, and a time for calmness and restraint. Everyone in the city is now apprehensive about riots, with the RAF deployed everywhere. I hope that people remember that the reason the terrorists chose to target Varanasi was to cause communal tensions - and if communal violence flares up, they have achieved exactly that.

I wonder what all it takes to prevent such occurances, a sense of responsibility in the powers-that-be to heed to intelligence reports as and when they come in, maturity in the population of the city to make sure that noone provides a safe-house to such criminals ... I wonder.

Sad, and a little worried,
-A
Update: The explosive used, the no-good-causing bandh, and the proposed "yatra". [Everyone knows what happened after his last yatra!]

25 done... onwards now...

So, last friday was my birthday. And no normal one, it was my 25th birthday!

This means a lot to me, being half as old as my advisor [he is turning 50 this year], not having to pay extra when renting cars, paying less for my car insurance ... and not being picked on by my "older" friends [they know I am talking about them :-) ].

And I got a bunch of gifts too -

• Numerous wishes on facebook and orkut. Thanks to all who sent me those lovely messages. And add to that the number of calls/IMs/emails/SMSs .. I am touched!


• The gang got two cakes at midnight and applied part of it [add some beaten eggs] on my face/head, then gave me the customary "birthday bumps" [oww.. it still hurts!]


• Zack made a carrot cake and we had a cake-cutting ceremony in the group in office.


• Rosine, our division coordinator took me out to lunch to the parkside cafe, the best food place on campus! The Oreo pie was awesome!


• Diane [from our main deptt office] told me that my quals passing papers have finally reached her! Maa, main pass ho gaya! Say hello to PhD. Candidate Animesh Pathak!


• Lots of my friends came for the party in the evening. I made ghughni, which is like chholey, except made with black chana, which is smaller. Traditional bihari dish. Wish mom was here in LA to taste it :-)


• We went to see second nature perform after the party, and after the show, Eddie, their leader said - Today is the birthday of our biggest fan - Animesh!. They also gave me a T-shirt.. how sweet :-).

A lot has happened in the past 25 years, maybe I will blog about the milestones some other time, but a lot is going to happen in the next year - especially in research... I am going into my paper publishing mode, and that will mean less time for blogging.. but all for a good reason.

Thanks to all who have shaped my life till now,
-A

P.S. I was told this morning about the Varanasi bomb blasts! I pray for calmness in the people of Varanasi and elsewhere in India.

India Shining.. or not?

I was interviewed today by the university television channel for my views on USA and India as an Indian student ... nice to see the motherland getting importance.

This was aptly followed by an article link sent to me by Rishi.. so here it is.

India, Asia's other Superpower Breaks Out - article in Newsweek. It is a little long, but worth the read. This issue of Newsweek is dedicated to India!

However, I should also point out a couple of other articles that bring us back to the ground and show how there is much more to be done, and India's prosperity will come in spite of its politicians/bureaucrats, as opposed to due to them.

Here is Rabri Devi, the leader of the Bihar opposition, showing a chappal to someone in the state assembly, and there are reports about how a dalit woman who was going to represent India in a UN forum was given her passport one day after the convention started in New York! That is why I say we need to progress despite the system.

Here's to Mera Bharat Mahan [? maybe not yet.. but in some time]

-A

Outsourcing Medicinal Testing?

Hi all,
I am super busy nowadays... hence the lull in posting... but could not resist to post on this news item about how a hostpital in Sevagram [yes, where Gandhiji had his ashram] is letting its subjects be used as guinea pigs to medicinal testing.

From the article "A Nation of Guinea Pigs":

The drug regimen, known as Aggrenox, was being tested for its ability to forestall a second stroke. S. P. Kalantri, the doctor tapped to lead the trial in Sevagram, quickly grasped the offer's appeal. Patients in Sevagram are poor enough that the benefits of taking part in the study would amount to a health care windfall; among other things, Boehringer Ingelheim guaranteed participants two physicals during each of the three years that the trial would run. For each person enrolled, moreover, the hospital would receive 30,000 rupees (about $665) - no small amount, given the puny budget of the center's stroke ward, a single room of eight pallet beds. Kalantri talked the matter over with the chair of the hospital's ethics committee, and the two concluded that the trial drug itself, with its possible side effects and limited efficacy, would provide little benefit to their patients. Then they went ahead and signed up.
...
Little by little, however, Kalantri began to see the problematic side of outsourced trials. "When I try to explain that a drug is experimental, that it might not work, the understanding is not there," he observes. "One woman said to me, 'What do you mean, the drug might not work? All drugs work!'"

Interesting.... I recommend reading the whole article..

I _so_ look forward to going back my motherland... it will be an interesting phase of my life.
-A

Next step in Manjunath's battle

Posting an appeal I got today in email. Please help out. Previously discussed here and here
-A

---

All,

Feb 23rd is the birthday of Manjunath Shanmugam - an IIM L (2003) alumnus who lost his life for his fight against corruption. He died on November 19th, 2005.

As a Sales Manager with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Manju turned down bribes and ignored threats, to do his job – check rampant adulteration of petrol. He was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri by a petrol pump owner and his gang.

To most of us, though we never met him, Manju is extremely familiar and is, in part, within every one of us. This is one cause we CANNOT turn away from. We have no excuse. We must ensure that his death does not go in vain.

The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust is now a legal entity with 2 trustees - Anjali Mullatti (IIML '93) and H. Jaishankar (IIMB '91).

The immediate and urgent focus of the trust is to take up the legal battle and ensure quick justice for the murder case. The murderers must not go free.

The broader objectives of the trust are

a . To establish and maintain an award for individuals/institutions working to uphold the values of truth and honesty in the face of danger to themselves.

b. To provide aid to individuals fighting a legal battle to uphold the values of truth, honesty or justice in the Indian corporate, government or public matters.

For updates on what we have done to date and our next steps, please visit the trust website:
www.manjunathshanmugamtrust.org

How can you help?

Firstly – funds are needed to pay lawyers' fees, case costs, build an award corpus.. this will be a long and tedious battle. Please donate just one day's salary for the cause.
Our first donors: Rs. 44,500 ($ 1000) from Sanjay Khanduri, Wharton Class of 2006, and Rs. 30,000 from Akhil Krishna, IIML 2003.

Secondly, if you can commit time and effort, please write in and be part of the team.

Thirdly, if you have close contacts in media, police, legal, judiciary who can help, please let us know.

It is heartwarming that so many people have already reacted immediately and generously – across the spectrum of media, legal, police and the IIM fraternity. Be part of that group.

How do you donate?

1. Write a cheque favouring 'The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust' , and courier it to:
2909/1, Raghavapriya, 3rd Main, V.V. Mohalla, Mysore 570 002, India

2. Write a cheque favouring 'The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust' , and deposit it in any HDFC bank drop box, with a deposit slip, account number 0651000091870.

3. Do an online money transfer , to the HDFC Bank a/c , from your ICICI /HDFC/Citibank a/c. Account number 0651000091870.

Currently FCRA regulations prohibit us from accepting foreign remittances - we're working on getting special permission. For now, please route all overseas donations via your regular Indian rupee accounts.

We have also applied for income tax exemption for donors under Section 80 (G).

Please contact me for any further clarifications - anjali@corporateacademy.com.

Regards,

Anjali Mullatti - IIML class of '93
Catalyst Consulting
Dir: +91.821.4288688
Cell: +91.98801 91323
www.corporateacademy.com

Engineering Auction Videos

This is super cool..

Check out the videos here!

This is a sample of what coolness happens when you allow an open mindset for your engineering students.... wish we had things like this in ITBHU :-).

And now to look for the female who will find a engineering PhD student attractive (now _that_ will be a surprise :-) ) ...

-A
P.S. yeah, posting after a long time, super busy in work.. but great videos!

P.P.S. Thanks to Kimish for the link

Idea #5 online - What should Google videos do next!

Yes, I finally posted my new idea.
Go here to find out my views on improving google videos.. and the life of the rest of us :D.


As usual, comments welcome.


And now, back to work!
-A

What would Muhammad do?

Hi all,
I have been super busy writing that addendum to my proposal.. so I shall keep it short..

Go and read this article in the LA times about the recent protests by muslims over the "offensive" cartoon of prophet Mohd. It is written by a muslim gentleman who is a professor at Cal State LA.

From the article:

The khateeb (the person delivering the sermon) stated that it was not right that Islam was the target of abuse. He said some will go out of their way to disrespect Islam. He said the Muslim community demands an apology, and (thankfully) he called on Muslims to be peaceful and forgiving.

...

Some Muslims may say that public opinion does not matter when it comes to Islam. Yet if one examines the life of the prophet Muhammad, one would conclude that he carefully considered public opinion. When he negotiated a treaty with Arabs who were at war with him, he did not insist that his title as "prophet" be placed in the document (this act horrified his companions, to the point where they thought it was sacrilege). Instead, he had his name written as simply Muhammad, the son of Abdulla. This placated his enemy and was essential to successfully concluding the treaty, which gave the Muslims an extended period of peace that allowed them to publicize Islam. In fact, the opportunity the treaty created may be responsible for Islam's existence.

Interesting.. read the whole article for more... I would specially love some of my muslim readers to comment.

Love and Luck,
-A

Appeal to Support the cause of new IITs

Dear Readers,
Some of you are from ITBHU, some from the IITs, some from the 7 institutes that are in the new-IIT race, and some from others. It is my strong request to all of you to read through the following, for my sake, and support the new IIT petition.

The petition is here, for those who want to open it in a new window/tab while reading the following.

The story so far...
As we all know, some months ago, the Indian government decided to create some new IITs. Since then, a lot of deliberation has gone in this and a committee consisting of leading academicians shortlisted 7 institutes for possible conversion to IITs.

The committee then visited all the institutes and has prepared a report-card of all the institues and will be submitting it to the MHRD soon. The idea is NOT to convert ALL institutes to IIT (if that was so, then this process of evaluation was not necessary!). Instead, depending on the worthiness of the institute, it will be either be converted to an IIT or be put on an IIT-track whereby its progress will be evaluated after some more time to re-evaluate its worthiness of being an IIT.


Why is it important to sign?
Well, there are various reasons.
1. We need more IITians. Read the paragraph in the petition where the Chinese premier talks about how China will have 100 IIT-like institutions in the next few years.
2. Only the institutes that pass the test should be converted, and they should be converted for sure. This will encourage the others to come up to speed and improve their infrastructure with the grants given.
3. Many deserving institutes that were not considered in this round will see the open-ness of the government to convert deserving institutes as an opportunity to strengthen their case and fight their case strongly, thus giving us better engineering colleges.
4. Last but not the least, the decision will be taken by the goverment in the coming week, and this is the time to act!

So dear friends, thanks for reading till here. I strongly suggest you to sign the petition, and ask all your friends to do so.

I am open to discussion, and can be reached at animesh.pathak@cse03.ITBHU.org

Love and Luck,
Animesh

Disclaimer: I am an alumnus of ITBHU, one of the 7 institues proposed to be converted to IIT.

Interesting reads:
http://www.dqindia.com/content/top_stories/2005/105052101.asp (Dataquest Ranking of Engg Schools)
http://www.ias.ac.in/j_archive/currsci/68/9/869/viewpage.html (IAS Assessment of Research Output)
http://us.rediff.com/money/2005/may/25iit.htm (The New IIT Process)
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/may/23iit1.htm (IT-BHU's Turn?)

Saraswati Puja

Today is Vasant Panchami, the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Magha. It is important to me in many ways.

Firstly, it is Saraswati Puja, when Hindus pray to the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. More about that here and here.

Interesting facts:

However, the most significant aspect of this day is that children are taught their first words on this day, for it is considered an auspicious day to begin how to read and write.

I still remember writing the first character on the thaali full of rice grains :-).

Also:

Surprisingly, Vasant Panchami is the second most important festival in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Despite being a Hindu festival, it is still celebrated in Lahore with the same enthusiasm that was evident in the pre-partition times.

Interesting, very interesting... can someone confirm this?

Secondly, this is the day when Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya laid the foundation of my beloved Banaras Hindu University, home of ITBHU.

I wish you all a very wisdom-filled Vasant Panchami/Saraswati Puja.

And now, back to work...
Love and Luck,
-A

[Nearly] There

The quals presentation went fine, but there is more to be done.
The professors were not very clear about the details of my work... so I have one week to prepare a 5-page document explaining in details my assumptions, inputs, outputs and problem statement, and formally describe my early results... and that is when I will be done completely.

That's it for now.. back to work.

And yes, thanks for all the good wishes.
-A

Quals on Wednesday!

My PhD Qualifier Exam is on Feb 1, that is the coming Wednesday!!!!!

For those who do not know what it is, this is the day I face 5 professors who are experts in their fields and present to them what I want to do in the next 2 years which will give me my PhD. 1 hour for the presentation, one for the questions. Somehow I can feel my knees going weak....

So dear friends, I am gonna lay low for some time, no more blogging.. only PPT making and practicing for me...

Wish me luck,
-A

Shubh Ganatantra Divas 2006!!

Hi all,
Today [Jan 26, 2006] we Indians are celebrating 56 years of being a republic. I strongly encourage you to read through the address to the nation by our dear president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. [Thanks to Abhijit for the link]

We hoisted the tricolor at USC this morning at 7:30 and it was interesting to see that at least 15 out of the 1500 Indians at the university were there braving the cold and having woken up on time.

The sweetest thing happened after we had taken down the flag. A girl [sorry I could not make out her face since I was not wearing my glasses] came up and asked why the flag was not up. We said that we had taken it down since we cannot leave it up all day. Upon that, she said, "Please at least show me the flag. I am feeling so homesick". Sweet.. very sweet.

The I-day and the R-day both evoke mixed feelings in me. Since I never saw the country in times of explicit peril [wars, pre-independence, etc.], I feel that sometimes I undervalue the importance of these occasions. So my dear readers, I pose this question to you:

What does the Republic Day of our great nation mean to you?

It will be interesting to see your responses. Hopefully it will answer some questions I have been struggling with.

My answer will be in the comments.. see you there!

Jai Hind!

IITians make a political party

Yes yes, I know many of you have read it already, but here goes:

Many sources reported today that a bunch of IIT graduates have formed a political party, having left their lucrative jobs.

Nice to know about that, lets see how far this goes. It will be interesting to see how they can maintain "quality" while growing in size.

From the article:

“People think we are crazy so much so that our families have also failed to understand our motto, but we won’t give up,’’ he added.
The core team of “Paritrana’ ’ comprises Rajpurohit , Shukla, Amit Beesen, also the vice president and a B Tech (Mechanical) from IIT Bombay and a LLB graduate, Chandrashekhar (national treasurer), B Tech (computer science) from IIT Kanpur, Bharat Sundaram, the PRO of the party and B Tech from IIT Kanpur and PhD in electronics from Melbourne.
“Paritrana means complete relief from the various causes of distress, and that is what we want to do for our people,’’ added Chandrashekhar. Low funds have not discouraged them in their efforts of holding door-to-door campaigns in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and parts of Maharashtra.

Kudos to you all people... maybe I shall volunteer for this party once I am back :-).

-A

His Eye is Safe!

Various sources are reporting that the eye-gouging sentence to be meted out to the Indian guy who injured a Saudi person's eye [mentioned on this blog first here and then here] is not going to happen!

A really happy news indeed. Best wishes to his family and congratulations to all those involved in saving him!

From the HT article:

"The victim has pardoned Naushad. This has been authenticated by a Saudi court," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told reporters in New Delhi on Monday.

The decision to pardon Naushad, currently held in a Saudi jail, was officially conveyed to Ahamed by Saudi Ambassador Saleh Mohammed Al-Ghamdi on Monday evening.

"We are very grateful to the Saudi government for this generous act," Ahamed said. "This is just the right gesture that will boost goodwill between the two countries."

Notice how the "victim" has pardoned him, leading to his freedom. Interesting.

That's it for now folks.... back to work now.
-A
P.S. And yes, I ran 14 miles on sunday... took 3 hours... but it is not hurting so much, so all is good :-).

If you wanna marry her, rape her!

A couple of interesting articles, all deserving your attention, dear readers.. so read on...

First, there is the news that gives this post its title : about how a rapist has offered to marry his deaf, mute and mentally challenged victim. Article here [make sure u read thru all 3 pages]

From the article:

The victim, who worked as a domestic help at Dilip's residence, was raped by Dilip and his accomplice, Vinod Chauhan. Meena's mother had abandoned her at the Ahmedabad Mental Hospital, near Dilli Darwaza on August 18, 2004, promising to return with some biscuits for her.

and

The MoU, according to defence counsel, was made after Dilip and Meena gave their consent for marriage. According to public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt, "the consent of the victim, who according to medical reports is equivalent to a 10-year old child, cannot undermine the case."

Fair or not? What do you say? I strongly recommend you to read the article to form a proper opinion.

Second news is that the family of the person who is facing the eye-for-eye verdict in Saudi Arabia [talked about earlier here] is planning to meet the Saudi King. Lets hope something nice comes out of it.

Finally, here is a nice interview with the Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar. I am really looking forward to some development happening in this state.

That's all for now folks... back to work now!
Love and Luck,
-A

Amul does it Again!

IndiaFM has an article about the latest ad of Amul Butter, based on the hit movie, bluffmaster!

These guys are so creative! Simply love them!

... off to the Indian store to buy some Amul butter...

-A

Arz kiya hai...

Okay.. so the busy phase continues, and I am postponing my "India trip report" .. sorry for that!

But, to feed your minds, dear readers, here is a nice link to Varun's blog, where he has recently posted a bunch of his new creations. Amazing stuff!

For those who don't know him, Varun Grover graduated from ITBHU with a B.Tech in Civil Engineering in 2003 and now works as a writer in the Mumbai showbiz industry. The name Rahul-Varun that you see in the credits of "The Great Indian Comedy Show" is Varun Grover, my friend. I had the honor of working with him when we ran GAP Productions back in ITBHU [GAP = Grover, Arya, Pathak, for Varun, Pranay and Yours truly].

Keep em coming Grover!
-A

Local Indian computing and a movie to watch out for

My "India developing" post that is long overdue... but I shall keep it due for now.

Got some time, so felt like telling you all abt two interesting items I came across today.

1. The trailer of Darna Zaroori Hai is online now. Go here to read a review of the trailer and a download. Look at the list at the bottom! I for one am looking forward to it, but first I would like to watch the first one :-).

2. There are two articles today about how local customizations of things common in the western world are coming up in India. After all, if you can get 1/6th of the world to buy your service, that translates into LOTS of money! The articles I am talking about are about launch of a tamil browser and a much bigger news about Microsoft Research working on an interactive, multilingual map of India.

From the article:

The research prototype enables the addition of information such as the location of polling booths and other data, that helps citizens create and maintain maps that are uniquely relevant to their communities. Microsoft Research India and the Department of Science and Technology plan to leverage experiences from this prototype, to develop effective country-wide mechanisms for spatial data creation, collection and dissemination that can be useful in a number of ways, such as for disaster management.

Interesting things happenning in that country... lets see how this proceeds.
-A

Indian Pride, and Indian Shame

The busy phase continues.. but I thought you all might be interested in the following.

1. India develops its own SCRAMJet [here].
From the Article:

ISRO considered this achievement as a major technology breakthrough in air-breathing propulsion. Other than the United States, which had recently carried out in-flight demonstration of supersonic combustion for a short duration, work related to supersonic combustor designs in other countries like Japan, China, Australia, Russia and Europe were either in their initial or ground testing phase.

At the same time, we have Neeraj posting on this very interesting topic of Prithviraj Chauhan's death and the current state of his tomb. Makes me wonder... who is going to have time for launching a mission to get the remains of the great Indian ruler back from there if the political parties are busy preventing guys and girls from meeting [remember operation Majnu!].

That's it for now folks.. now back to work!
-A
P.S. I saw Owen Wilson [wedding crashers] yesterday in his limo when I was runnin near campus!!! Boy, now I feel like I live in LA!

A Tale [tail?] of Three Kitties [200th Post!]

I am super swamped currently, hence a lull in posting, but hey, this is the 200th post on this blog! Never knew it would reach this milestone when I started this blog a year and half ago.. thanks for the encouragement.

So, coming to the point, since time is less, I felt I should post about the three felines I came across in the past month. Here they are:



Cat #1:
Name: Daisy [or Desi, as I call her ;-)]
Location: Varanasi, with my cousin
Special: Rescued kitten, now lives inside my uncle's house and has amazing concentration when it comes to stalking mice [as in the pic]



Cat #2:
Name: "Billi" [cat in Hindi], that's what mom calls her
Location: Mankapur, with my mom
Special: Lives around the house, with mom giving it some milk occasionally. Has learnt how to catch mice so is sufficiently self-sufficient. Dad does not like her, or so he tells us :-). Sneaks in every once in a while to steal some milk.




Cat #3:
Name: Cucho or Cuchito [Shweta, his owner, says this means cat in Spanish, but Babelfish does not agree]
Location: Los Angeles, with us!! Soon to move to the east coast
Special: We are cat sitting for Shweta till she takes Cucho in two weeks time. He is very gentle, and likes to sleep on Karthiks's legs, but also licks his mouth when he is sleeping... no wonder Karthik has been a little drowsy in the day of late :-)


That's it for this time folks... back to work! Once again, thanks for supporting me till the 200th post!

Love and Luck,
-A

in HKG.. again!

Wohi Hong Kong airport.. wahi free net waali machines... aur wohi main.... waiting for my next flight to LA....

14 hours more...

Interesting journey so far, met an ITBHU MECH-85 alumnus who is a patent attorney in LA, and a 12th grader Canadian girl who was in India for 3 weeks [her first time in India] meeting her sister who goes to school here!! Also, there was a "is there a doctor" announcement in the plane, too bad I do not have my PhD yet :D.

Saw xXx and "The Skeleton Key"[minus the last 5 minutes, because the plane landed!! .. wonder what happens in the end]

Lets see what else happens in this journey... on to LA!! [home sweet home?]
-A

I am back... almost

Hey people,

Wish you all a very happy 2006!!

I missed you, and hope you missed me too :-).
I shall be back and posting starting 3rd Jan evening, LA time.

Abhi posting from a Reliance cyber cafe in Delhi, sitting with my cousin, who also has started blogging.. more abt that later.

The India trip has been nice, I gave talks at my high school, and several at my college.. hopefully the kids will learn from the mistakes I made. It was heartwarming to see them at the point where I was some years ago. Still cannot believe I passed high school 6 and a half years ago!

ITBHU now has online access to all journals, IEEE, ACM, Springer.. you name it... we are going for wireless access in hostels soon.. things are looking up.

I have some interesting pics too, will upload when I get back.

And now, back to shopping and meeting people... see you all when I get back!

Love and Luck,
Animesh

On my way... @HKG

Hong Kong airport is a pretty place... u can see the runway with the planes, with ships in the water behind... with mountains still behind.. all in one view!

Net access is free on the terminals they have provided, but wireless had to be paid for, a far cry from singapore airport.

Anyways.. I am sleep deprived [thanks to the economy class leg space] and busy working on my quals proposal which I have to show to Prof. in Goa.

Back to work now... keep smiling :-).

Luv and Luck,
-A

Yaar main India Chala!

Okay folks.. it is time for a small break.. I shall see how frequently I can blog from India, but internet access will be limited.

As promised, here is my itinerary:

Dec 15, 16 : Bombay
Dec 17, 18, 19 : Goa
Dec 20 : Air
Dec 21 - 26 : Mankapur [where my parents are, a place near Lucknow]
Dec 27 - 29 : Varanasi, where my alma mater is :-)
Dec 30 - Jan 1: Mankapur again
Jan 2 : Delhi
Jan 3 : taking off back to LA!

As I said, I would love to meet you folks when I am in India. If you are going to share the same city with me at the same time, please email me and we can meet.

Yeh thi khabrein aaj tak, intezaar kijiye kuch din baad tak!

Love and Luck,
-A

Today's run.. and today's style

Ran 12 miles today... too tiring... finished my Gatorade in the first 3 miles... must remember to carry bigger bottle next time. As usual, here is the link.

In other news, I decided to get a new look after a long time. So here it is, my new beard style. Zack was kind enough to do a photo-shoot [those are his glasses :-)]






So.. whaddaya say?

I shall be landing in Bombay on 15th Dec evening and taking off from Delhi on 3rd Jan Afternoon. I shall soon post a detailed schedule, so that I can meet some of you when I am in India.

Already thinking of the samosas ..mmmmm..

-A

The new.. and the old

Short post, since I am busy typing my wrist off on a paper due soon.

Go and see this video about the new meeting the old on the Indian-American scene. Hilarious. A really good job.

Thanks to Salim for the link.

back to typing...
-A

An eye for an eye!

[Info: The religious facts were initially told to be during a USC rapport group meeting by a Rabbi from the USC hillel center.]

Today I read this article [and many others] about the guy from Kerala who is stuck in Saudi Arabia and is sentenced to have his eye gouged out because he had a fight with a Saudi youth which resulted in the latter's eye getting hurt.

From the article:

Naushad, 33, hailing from Anchal in Kollam district, had been asked by a Shariat court in Saudi Arabia to give one eye to the person whose eye was damaged during a scuffle with him.

Now on to some discussion.

- On the surface, this seems barbaric, but this is the law in that country, isn't it? I mean we can say that death is too barbaric to someone smuggling drugs [as in Thailand], but then that is the law of the land.

- But then, one wonders, where does this law in Saudi Arabia come from? The answer is also simple, since we all have heard the oft-repeated phrase "an eye for an eye"

- And this is where it takes an interesting turn, when we read the details of the phrase.

The oral law of Judaism holds that this verse cannot be interpreted as mandating exact physical retribution. The rabbis of the Talmud ask, "How can any person be certain that the punishment they inflict is definitely no worse than the initial injury?" They answer that this is one indication that the Bible, when stating "an eye for an eye," does not refer to physical retribution. They proceed to cite several more indicators for this thesis.

The Oral Law explains, based upon the biblical verses, that the Bible mandates a sophisticated five-part monetary form of compensation, consisting of payment for "Damages, Pain, Medical Expenses, Incapacitation, and Mental Anguish" - which underlie many modern legal codes. Some rabbinic literature explains, moreover, that the expression, "An eye for an eye, etc." suggests that the perpetrator deserves to lose his own eye, but that biblical law treats him leniently. - (Paraphrased from Union of Orthodox Congregations website [1])

It should be noted that Judaism, while not allowing physical retribution for torts, does contain provisions for corporeal and capital punishment to be carried out for certain crimes under rare circumstances.

- So you see, the Jews interpret it differently, and say that God did not mean to literally remove the eye, but to provide compensation for it.

- But then, why should the Muslims in SA follow it?

- Actually, the verse comes from the Torah, which is held holy by the muslims also.

- So why is the punishment for this guy not a fine "equal in amount to the fee needed for a surgery to correct the injured youth's eye"

I wonder.. I wonder.., a nation which can boast of the highest scholars in the religion.. follows the trivial interpretation of a law written in hebrew and translated in english. [The literal translation from Hebrew means "an eye under an eye", with the word "under" interpreted in different ways]

Note that this is not a post against islam or shariyat laws, but the interpretation of this one particular law.

I would appreciate if people can shed more light on this topic.

here's hoping that things work out for the better for Naushad.
-A

Don't even think of touching my basmati !

Slashdot has a nice reference to this article on BBC about how India is developing a database of ancient medicines to prevent stupid patents like the one on the healing powers of turmeric.

Lets hope this helps stop bio-piracy. Make sure to read the related articles mentioned on the BBC page.

-A
P.S. Ran 7.8 miles today morning. Here is the route

The X people are coming!

Yipee... if the trailor is anything to go by, X-III is going to be awesome.. I shall wait for it!

Here are links to the official movie site, the teaser trailor and the wikipedia entry.

Cheers,
-A

P.S. Also check out hoodwinked .. a nice cute story.

Half a Marathon, and Indian Highways

Today we were supposed to run 10 miles, but thanks to Zack not realizing that the baseball field which we were supposed to see just before turning back was obscured by bushes, we ended up going a "little" over and the entire run was finally 13.1 miles! Here is a link to the path.

Now since a marathon is 26.2 miles, I think I can say that I just finished my first hald marathon! The time taken was 3 hours and 15 minutes, and I hope to improve it in time for the real marathon, but boy... it was fun! The run was along the Los Angeles river and it provided a nice atmosphere, although a bit stinky sometimes. Sad to see a river reduced to a drain.

Huge thanks to Mary Ann, who kept pushing me to keep running, and waited for me in the many times when I stopped to catch a breath. Thanks buddy!

In other news, I came across a nice article in the New York times yesterday [or today super-early morning] in the New York Times about the recent construction of the highway system in India. Read it here. If it asks for registration, use bugmenot.com :-).

From the article

The highway itself brings change. For a nation inured to inefficiency, the improved interstate saves time - for Kailash Pandey, a milk-seller, one-third off a 90-minute commute to market; for Imtiaz Ali, 15, half off the bike ride to school; and half off the travel time for Sarjeet Singh, a trucker.

These micro gains make for macro benefit: some $1.5 billion a year in savings, by one World Bank estimate, on everything from fuel costs to faster freight delivery. More intangibly, the highway may turn India into a society in a hurry, enslaving it to the Western notion that time equals money.

Also, make sure u click on the "interactive feature" link ... nice audio commentry.

As usual, comments appreciated :-).
-A

Postcard from Varanasi

[Info: Ran 7 miles yesterday morning. Here is the route.]

Gaurav sent me this link to a nice video about Varanasi.

Makes me nostalgic about all those years spent in ITBHU, and also about India.

Also it was interesting to see how westerners react to the Hindu way of cremation, since it is something new to them. I wonder when he will show a clip about the excellent food available in Varanasi :-).

Well, I shall be there in December.... yipee!!

-A

Failing ocean current raises fears of mini ice age

[submitted on slashdot just now]
New Scientist is reporting here that the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream are "stuttering", causing fears of an mini Ice Age style temperature reduction.

From the article:

Nobody is clear on what has gone wrong. Suggestions for blame include the melting of sea ice or increased flow from Siberian rivers into the Arctic. Both would load fresh water into the surface ocean, making it less dense and so preventing it from sinking, which in turn would slow the flow of tropical water from the south. And either could be triggered by man-made climate change. Some climate models predict that global warming could lead to such a shutdown later this century.

Time to get that fur coat out?

-A

Guest Post: Why does it happen?

Sanjay Dani, the founder of ITBHU.org [and a friend, philosopher, guide to me*] recently sent me his comments about a recent article in the Indian Express on the IOCL incident. This post is a reproduction of his mail [with permission]. Read on for an interesting take on the root cause of the existance of such a mafia.
-A
* [update] The above statement has lost its validity as of Dec 2006, when he and I had a split [he choosing to call me names because I stood up to his autocracy]. The article is still good, and I ask you to read on.

---

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=82819

Flawed policies and incentives to make billions through
illegal arbitrage and quality compromise in more civilized
countries rarely make their mafia/cartels justify murder risk.

1. Floating, i.e. unsubsidising, kerosene can't fully
insure _all_ adulteratives like pentane, benzene, heptane, etc.
(http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1557027,000900010004.htm)
will be priced at par with diesel and petrol. It may reduce
the financial incentive, not eliminate fully.

2. The author should consider rephrasing her statements (double
quotes are suggested additions) in order to not give undeserved
policy cover to the oil mafia in state/central govts:

a) The profits "and a non-enforceable criminal justice
system, as evident how the CBI/state policy let the
murderers and conspirators behind Satyendra Dubey's killing
get away" make murder an acceptable risk.

b) The responsibility of the murder lies with economic
policy "and the non-functional criminal justice system
that doesn't allow honest officers and prosecutors to
convict not just the murderers of Manjunath but the entire
conspirating mafia behind, even if leading to the CM's or
PM's office".

3. Market forces can deal with adulteration, i.e. the
recent decriminalizion after the anti-adulteration
CBI cells themselves were found to be corrupt, can work
only if the oil company management starts taking explicit
responsibility to shut off supplies to offenders based
on a mandatory sampling policies instead of leaving the
honest lone rangers like Manjunath to enforce the
raids/shutdowns physically on the site.

4. Market forces can deal with quality control only if
shareholders feel the heat from customer rejection and
are incentivized to make their management enforce quality.
When the shareholder is the government, i.e. no realtime
accountability that market forces depend on, the rakshaks
have more incentive being bhakshaks. So public sector
management can have it both ways: be on the payroll of
the adulteration mafia, as is surmised based on the fact
Manjunath was a rare exception, blame the lone rangers
for not enforcing quality control, and "the govt".
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=82644

Despite all the flak (am sure much deserved) given to
private oil companies like Reliance it might be worth
reflecting customers are flocking to their petrol pumps.
Guess the Ambanis have more incentive to make money
from larger market share away from competition with
better service and product quality (unfortunately
monopolizing the supply side and abusing import policies,
irrelevant here) than splitting profits with the adulteration
mafia. That is how market forces have to be made to work.

We can't continue to have the bastardized systems: a
democracy with a sold-out justice system, market
forces with unaccountable shareholders like govts, and
"pro-poor" subsidy policies made by elected decision
makers on the take from the mafia that abuses subsidies.
-
Sanjay Dani
San Francisco

PS. It is okay to redistribute this message as long as
attributed to the author.

Another One Bites the Dust

I guess a lot of you know by now about the basic news about the IOCL guy who was shot for standing up to the truth... but read on for some recent developments. If you are not aware of this, make sure you read on!

It started when Ram and Karthik, my roommates, told me about their school and college friend who was gunned down recently. The story took some time to sink in, and it was evident that these types of incidents are what brings shame to mera bharat mahan. Makes one wonder if it is worth to choose to not take a dollar-paying MNC job after an IIML MBA and instead work for a PSU like IOCL in a place like U.P.

Well.. enough of my talk, here is what I would like you, the reader to do :

1. Visit the site that his friends have set up in his memory. Leave a comment to show your support.

2. Sign the petition that has been created for this effort. I know it may not have a concrete result, but trust me, a show of solidarity never goes waste. The higher-ups know that there are people who care. So sign it.

3. Spread the link of the website [http://manjunathshanmugam.blogspot.com/] to all you know. It matters.. it really does.

4. If you have a blog/website, please post about it. If you have already talked about it, re-talk about it and post the link to their website. The more people visit it, the better.

Here's to you, Machan!
-A

8 miles.... many more to go

Ran 8 miles [12.88km] on Sunday morning with the USC marathon team.

Here is a link to the route.

It was fun... especially since my quads were still hurting from the cross training at the swimming pool on Friday evening. I could barely walk on Saturday... and seriously doubted by prospects for the 8 mile sunday run, especially since I had run only 4 miles in the whole week.

However, thanks to the support from Pankaj, Zack and the others... [thanks to Mary Ann and Cleo too, who constantly motivated me to run more.... I just envy their ability to be able to run slowly and steadily].. I finally made it.

I cannot quite experience the feeling you get after such a run... you just have to do it for yourself.

Looking forward to more such experiences... well.. we are training to run a whole 26.2 miles finally!

Gatorade is the friend... running is the dharma!

Love and Luck,
-A
P.S. My quads still hurt... but I still managed to attend the first practice of "Vidushak", our Indian improv comedy group :-).

Colored Bubbles

Saw this on slashdot today. An inventor [and his Indian PhD friend] have invented a technique to make bubbles with color. See here for cool pictures, but if you want to read the whole article at once, go here.

From the article:

Tim Kehoe has stained the whites of his eyes deep blue. He's also stained his face, his car, several bathtubs and a few dozen children. He's had to evacuate his family because he filled the house with noxious fumes. He's ruined every kitchen he's ever had.

In other news, IT workers have been dubbed the worst dressed corporate employees.

That's it for now folks... I am going to order by color bubbles now :D.

Love and Luck,
-A

Meditation Builds up the Brain

New Scientist is reporting about a study conducted recently that clearly shows the benefits of meditation. Read it here.

From the article:

They found that meditating actually increases the thickness of the cortex in areas involved in attention and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula.

“You are exercising it while you meditate, and it gets bigger,” she says. The finding is in line with studies showing that accomplished musicians, athletes and linguists all have thickening in relevant areas of the cortex. It is further evidence, says Lazar, that yogis “aren’t just sitting there doing nothing".

I myself have felt a difference in attitude, if nothing else, after starting meditation. The natural path group at USC is really a nice opportunity for students to enjoy the benefits of this great technique.

Enough typing... going off to the group meditation now!

Love and Luck
-A

Israel Chooses Indian PSLV To Launch New Spy Satellite

Space.com is reporting that Israel is going to
use the PSLV for its new satellite.

From the article:

In a controversial break from a longstanding military space policy of strategic self-reliance, Israel has decided to launch its next spy satellite aboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rather than its own indigenous Shavit rocket.

Great news I say... hurrah to Antrix Corp.!

-A

Heated Eco-Friendly Bras to save the world

Just submitted this on slashdot, lets see if this gets accepted.

According to this story at the BBC, Triumph has announced a bra with in-built gel pads that can be easily heated in a microwave or a hot water bottle.


They say this will reduce air conditioning costs, thus saving the environment.


From the article:

The bra comes with matching shorts, but is not being offered for general sale. Instead the set is being viewed as a prototype product, the first step towards mass-producing eco-friendly clothing.

I for one welcome our hot-bra'd overladies :-).

Picture Time

Okay all,
Here are two of my latest snaps.



Snap 1: My snap from the 100 year celebration of the Viterbi School of Engg. I was among the 10 odd students among a huge number of faculty and administrators. The stand-up comic was an engineer before, and he uses a powerpoint presentation :-).

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Snap 2: This is from the 4 mile run during the marathon practice on Tuesday. Thanks to Zack for the snap. We run short runs thrice in the week and do a long run on Sundays. The aim is to finish the 26.2 mile run on March 19, 2006.

That's it for now folks.. back to work now!
Luv and Luck,
-A

Worst Software Bugs Ever

Sorry people for not posting for a while now, but things have become too hectic, with my quals proposal taking shape.

Anyways, here goes:

Wired news has a nice article about the worst software bugs in history [here].

Here is the link to the top rated posts on slashdot.

Love and Luck,
Animesh
P.S. Read this article about how two women were arrested for going topless during a protest in Sacramento, while their male friend, who was also topless, was spared. A case of inequality of the sexes?

Updates on the Baby Dumping Case

The Daily trojan has a bunch of articles today about the Holly Ashcroft case, which was covered on this blog here and here before.

- Ashcraft case affects 2-9 cafe

- Sex ed may have impacted Ashcraft

- Media use of Facebook profile sparks discussion

The lawyers claim that the baby was stillborn, and the police report says that the baby was 30-32 weeks in gestation only. I wonder why they cannot just check for inflated lungs and verify once and for all about the stillbirth, since the baby's lungs swell only when she takes her first breath, outside the mother's body.

The last two articles raise a couple of interesting questions - can a newspaper get sued for breaching copyright [of the facebook, in this case]? Does teaching an abstinence-only sex-ed really help?

Interesting are the days we live in... so much changing... so fast...

-A

Speaker of the House has a blog now!

From this Slashdot post, the speaker of the house of representatives of the US has a blog now! Go read it!

This is interesting ... I wonder how much time it will take our very own Lok Sabha Speaker to have his own blog, and what will he write about? [silence silence.. please shaant ho jaaiye :-)]

Luv and Luck,
Animesh
P.S. I have been busy with my quals proposal... hence the lull in blogging... but don't worry... the storm will return!

BNT : Doorways

Brooke is from Illinois, brought up by a single mother, and she came to California to study on a scholarship.

She has only 2 friends, her roommate Carrie, a typical LA girl, and Alex, a smart student who is 2 years senior to her and whom she loves.

BNT's Doorways is Brooke's story, told to the audience sometimes through a monologue, sometime through enacted scenes. Told on a very special occasion [see the play to find out more :-)].

It is the story of how the big city college life affects a simple, small city freshman girl for whom this is the first time among strangers. It is the story of how misunderstandings can spoil relationships. It is a love story that begins with a kiss, rather than end at it, as Brooke says in the opening act.

And I am one bowled-over audience member!

From 8 to 10pm today, Danielle Faitelson kept on speaking, sometimes alone, facing a spotlight, sometimes with others enacting a scene. The story was composed of so many flashbacks and present day things, one would expect it to crumble in front of a friday-night audience. However, Daniel Frey's writing stood up to all these tests, at times predictable, at times shocking.

When it was over, the performers were given a standing ovation [I must say I was one of the first ones to stand], and a standing ovation they deserved, for a play well executed!

The range of emotions shown by Danielle was amazing, especially considering that she did not have breaks in between, and was present in all the scenes, facing the audience in a spotlight frontstage for nearly 40% of the play. I mean how many people can come back with a straight face just after a superbly executed sentimental scene? And that too for multiple times in a 2 hours, no breaks play!

Credit is also due to Nicholas Rutherford, Amanda Klein, Winthrop Ellsworth and Jessica Perlman for their powerful performances, Daniel Frey and Natalie Miston for their wonderful direction, and Griffin Behm, Chelsea Bardellini and Andre Rosa for handling the lights and the playbill.

Great job! If you are around USC, I recommend going to this play. It is playing on saturday and sunday also. [Sunday 2pm I am told.]. Entry is FREE, although you should help these bright students out with your donations!

That's all for tonight... sleep well people!

Luv and Luck,
-A

Touchy-Feely Engineers, Skid Row and Hunger

Abhishek sent this amazing article [alt link, alt PDF link] about an engineer's account and how apparently girls think we can be too "you know, very logical and everything... not very touchy feely".

A nice article, I would recommend all you engineers and engineer's friends ;-) to go read this.

Well, speaking of myself, I have been feeling very moved recently reading this chain of articles about the people on skid row here in LA, the dark underbelly of Los Angeles, less than 4 miles from where I live. The author talks about how people die everyday in this area from drug overdoses, and prostitution occurs in portable toilets... the list goes on and on. Remember to read from part 1 onwards. It is really worth the time.

There is also this moving article about this musician who lives there because he is ill, but gets a chance to visit the Disney Concert Hall.

Very touchy.... and people label us engineers as non-touchy!

Luv and Luck,
Animesh
P.S. I and a bunch of friend are participating in the fast-a-thon today. No food or water since sunrise. I have deep respect for all muslims who fast for the whole month!

Railways allege that Bangalore Techie was at fault!

Note: Please read till the bottom and if possible, send a protest email to stir the conscience of the officials responsible. Email address after the article.

Apparently, the railways officials are alleging that Nimish, whose case was reported here earlier, was drunk while taking to the Ticket Collector and did NOT furnish his ticket!!! They say that Nimish withdrew his complaint was because he realized his mistake. The news was in TOI page 3 of Bangalore edition. [Can someone please post a link to it?] [update: here is the link, thanks to a friend who emailed it to me.]

However, according to this post on Nimish's blog, he had withdrawn his complaint after a request from DCM Anwar Hussain, so that the people responsible, who were then apologetic, did not have to suffer more.

So a decent man takes his complaint back and what does he get? Allegations that his story was false??? Not fair I say.

We all are with you Nimish. You did a good job and I am sure the next time something like this happens, the victim will not stop after listening to a verbal apology, but will take then culprits to court. Thanks for showing us all how to fight for justice and how low these guys can go.

I was chatting with Nimish some time ago and he gave me the email ID of the DCM, who should be ashamed of himself for saving his people while killing justice!

So people, I request you to send emails to Mr. Anwar at anwarirts@yahoo.com letting him know that he has shamed all of his railway official community by taking the side of the wrong-doers.

Thanks all... and Thank you Nimish for being bold through all this!

Luv and Luck,
Animesh

School scores versus JEE ranks - interesting study

So apparently, students who did well in school topped classes better in the JEE schools [if they qualified JEE, that is] than the ones with just great JEE ranks and bad high school marks.

Read more here.

I guess this goes on to show the fact that learning over a long period of time is different from learning for a specific exam.

Or does it show that our education system makes the sharp-brained JEE high scorers bored with what they have to offer? I personally saw a couple people (with better JEE ranks that I) getting horrible grades in ITBHU with me, but excelling in what they liked at the same time.

I wonder ... I wonder... any gyan from you, dear reader?

In other news, I named my steed [my bike, thanks to Gaurav who donated it to me when he graduated and we ceased to be roommates].

His name is Rocinante, named after the horse of Don Quixote :-). Whaddaya say?

And for those of you who do not know, my car's name is Jean-Luc Accord, after him.

Anyways, enough for this post, now back to work!

Luv and Luck,
-A

USC Student had done it before also ?

Apparently, the USC student who I talked about in my previous post (the one who dumped her baby into a dumpster) was involved in something similar last year also.

I wonder what goes on in the mind of someone to do this. As I once read - "hate the behavior, not the person", but one cannot help but think about the cause of such behavior.

In other news, today was the 4th consecutive day of my daily noon swim, and I LOVE the water. I tried flippers on my feet today and it was a totally different experience - cannot believe how fast one goes with them! Lets hope I can continue doing it.

That's all for now folks.

Luv and Luck,
-A
P.S. I went to Jaimey's last 2nd nature show last night .. :-(.

Of birth and death... and right and wrong

Today M sent me this link to an article about a couple welcoming their 16th child into this world.

Sadly, last night I saw no less than 4 media vans near the 29th street cafe near my house. Upon asking one of the mediapersons, I was told that the cops had found the girl (a USC student) who had dumped her new-born baby in a dumpster. The baby was found dead some days ago.

Read the article about it here.

The saddest part is that the girl chose to abandon the baby, although by law one can abandon a baby at any fire station [there is one very close to where the baby was found], and no questions are asked. I wonder what made her choose to kill a newborn.

One can assume that she thought that the baby will survive, but lets be reasonable... how long can a baby that small [the umbilical chord was still attached] survive in a cardboard box in a dumpster?

What do you say, dear readers? I am sure you hold a variety of views on this.
-A

Curry and Rice girl

And now for some humor.... here is a hilarious video I came across.
Go see the curry and rice girl video!

-A

Happy Birthday Amitji

11th October is the birthday of Amitabh Bachhan, probably the greatest Bollywood star ever.

However, here is the take : he is not celebrating his birthday. Read this for more.

Now this is a true gentleman! Way to go Amitji!

-A
P.S. Happy Dusshera and VijayaDashami to all.

Bangalore Update and Durga Puja Prayers for Asylum inmates

Nimish Adani, the ITBHU guy who was man-handled in Bangalore railway station recently, has a blog now. Go check it out here.

In other news, the Times of India is running an article about the ladies in Ranchi Asylum who are cured now but have been deserted by their families.

From the article:

More than 30 women are still living in the campus despite being cured because their family members have deserted them.

"When any festival is celebrated we miss our family members. This year I will pray to the goddess for going back to my home," said Rajani (name changed), a patient from Bihar. Several women echoed her sentiments.

Read the article here.

I pray for these women, in addition to the thousands who were affected by the recent south asia earthquakes.

-A

Bangalore News, IgNoble Awards and my Detective Work

So, my blog got 650+ hits on day 1, followed by 1200+ hits the next day after posting about the incident that happened in Bangalore!!!

The comments indicate that some good things have happened, including coverage in the Times of India, the Deccan Herald and even NDTV. I have been told that an IPS officere who is an ITBHU alumnus has taken this up with his seniors. More details will be posted on this blog as I get them. Our best wises to Nimish.

Also, this incident lead to the creation of my latest crazy idea. Go read it!



In other news [from slashdot], the 2005 IgNoble awards have been announced. My favorite one is

LITERATURE: The Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria, for creating and then using e-mail to distribute a bold series of short stories, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters -- General Sani Abacha, Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha, Barrister Jon A Mbeki Esq., and others -- each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled and which they would like to share with the kind person who assists them.

If you are not getting what I am talking about, read this page.


If even other news, I was instrumental in the recovery of a duffle bag full of stolen stuff next to my house last night, not to mention the apprehension of the culprit. I shall soon be sent summons and will be a witness in court! Life gets exciting here in downtown Los Angeles! Wish me luck.. I intend to uphold the truth :-) !

That's all for today folks... now go and watch the first 9 minutes of Serenity for free here .. and then go watch the real movie :-).

Nexus between railways officials and fraudsters in Bangalore!!

Hi all,
A fellow ITBHU alumnus sent this today. I was extremely moved by what happened to him, and deeply respect him for the courage shown. Please read on and help him in his effort, by letting your friends know about this, if nothing more.

And yes.. this is NOT a hoax letter. I know this person.
-A

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Hi!

I would like to bring to notice a certain injustice that I have subjected to at the Bangalore Railway Station (Majestic). On September 30 (Friday), 2005, I had been to the station to see off my fiance and her mother. They took the Karnataka Express (Train #2627) to Jhansi at 6:30 pm.

On my way out I was asked to present my platform ticket by a railway official. On producing the same, the TT turned around and told me "What if I say that you haven't given me the ticket?" Before I could react, he along with his colleague pushed me into the adjacent enquiry cabin and physically manhandled me. I was slapped several times, my spectacles were grabbed and deliberately crushed by foot, and my phone was flung away from me. The RPF comprising of one RPF and four constables, appeared on the scene. The surrounding public was whisked away. None of the railway police officials cared to listen to me and they started hitting me indiscriminately with lathis. They dragged me out, and all the 4 constables continued hitting me with lathis from Platform 1 to Platform 3/5, till we reached the station master's cabin. Racist abuses and threats were made on the way. At the station master's cabin, I was told that I have been charged with a non-ba! ilable offence and would be behind bars for 15 days.

Not for a single moment was I allowed to speak. All of a sudden a stranger came to the scene and he claimed that he was there to help me. Having lost all my physical strength and mental senses, I was happy to see some sort of help. He, claiming to be V Srinivas from Infosys, talked to the officials and the railway police in Kannada. He told me that the only way I was to get out was if I was willing to pay my way through. Being in no state to make a rational choice, I gave him my ATM card and pin. He took one of the RPF chaps along with him and said he would clear the matter. He returned some time later saying that everything was okay now.

I was asked to sign a statement which said that I hit the police and TT in a drunken state. I refused. Finally, they pressurized me to write that I did not produce a platform ticket when asked. I wrote the same and then V Srinivas took me out of the station. He joined me in an auto and took me to the ICICI ATM at Anand Rao circle. He withdrew Rs. 15000 from my ATM and got back. he took the cash under the pretext that while helping me he had left his wallet in the train he had left behind and that he would return the same through his ICICI Internet account. Having broken down mentally I did not realise that I was being cheated. He then took me to a Samsung showroom and tried purchasing a cellphone worth Rs. 18500 with my card. It was only then that I realised what was happening. I grabbed my card back, caught him by the collar, snatched my cash that lay in his pocket, and got into a running auto.

I have now realized that all of this was a plan. There is a strong nexus between the railway officials, the railway police and the fraudster. The railway officials identify a victim who they think is well-to-do, the RPF beat that individual till he has no physical or mental well-being. Then this fraud chap comes on to the scene, takes advantage of the situation, and takes all your cash away. Also, this series of events generally occurs on the last day of the month as they know that the salary gets credited on this day. (This strikes me now because the self-proclaimed Infy employee, V Srinivas, clearly asked me whether I had received my salary. He said that he just wanted to find out if there was cash enough to tackle the case.)

Now three days hence, I have tried to run from pillar to post. I have been forced to miss office hours in my effort to get justice. But I don't want to give up the fight midway. If any of you are in the media, or have friends/relatives who are in the industry, I'd like to speak with them about this in greater detail. I can be reached on 09886179319 or 08030933067. I believe it would catalyze my efforts.

Also, please pass this email to all the people who reside in Bangalore, so that they don't fall into the same trap.

Regards,
Nimish V Adani
IIML Batch of 2003
ITBHU Batch of 2001