- Enigma

 The truth of the above statements is quite unimportant. Yet, it sparks silent questions in our minds. And the answer we get, is silence again. Science may have taught us “how” the earth revolves around the sun, or “how” sun rises and sets everyday. But our search must not end there. The real question is “Why?”. Why should the earth revolve around the sun? More feasibly, what makes the earth revolve around the sun?

Gravity? Their mass difference? The distance? Ultimately, Big Bang?

Well, why should the Big Bang have occurred? “Who made the matter, the elements, defining perfect roles for each of them? The complex symmetry in nature is not yet understood completely. As much as Charles Darwin might have explained the theory of evolution, the question “why” still remains unanswered. Why was the evolution necessary at all? We could have ‘happily’ remained amoebae!

Coming back to the idea of creation of the universe, we will, sooner or later, have to accept the role of a ‘supernatural power’ or a driving force that sustains all the happenings of the universe. Call it anything – For me, it’s God.

My understanding of God is far from being religious. For me, God is gravity. God is light. God is the unwritten law that makes fire burn, water flow and perhaps the spark that triggered the universe. God is the human intellect, that conjures so many wonderful things each and every day. I believe God is in every act of man that benefits another and hurts no one. And God is the conscience that guides, the intellect that inspires, and the heart that helps.

In today’s scenario, God is largely related to religion, festivities, and to a never-ending myth of existence. God is often spoken of, when debating upon topics like life, death and sometimes even life-after-death. Yet, why do we think of God during times of distress, disaster and impending danger? God is hope; the light at the end of the tunnel; the maker of the universal law of life and more than anything, God is the eternal faith that burns in each and every one of us. If it is a form of faith that builds harmony among people, why not? But if that faith is to kill and plunder; it is misguided.

Someday, I wish we will have enough knowledge and ‘science’ to understand my God.

#1 Calvin and Hobbes

Probably the most liked comic on earth! The adventures of Calvin and his (toy) tiger Hobbes and his take on the mysteries of life. Highly recommended read for all ages!
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#2 The miserable world of Prometheus

Based on the mythological story, the comic is mostly a dialog between Prometheus and the Eagle that eats his liver every day. Though the comic has been discontinued, you can read through all the comics in one page here.

#3 Spud Comics

Spud Comics isn’t theme based. It is a comic about random stuff put together. It is one of the longest running comics starting in 2008!

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#4 Doghouse

Doghouse is a web-comic conjured by three friends which is also random musings about every day life. Many of their comics are very witty!

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#5 XKCD

XKCD is a very popular, geeky web comic. Comics generally trend on Science, Internet, Geography etc. etc.

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#6 Abstruse Goose

Abstruse Goose is also a comic that does not delve on a theme. Does lean towards the geeky side a little, but not always. Generally a fun read for all.

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#7 Dilbert

Dilbert is a very popular comic among us IT folks. Though whatever described in the comic (about the hazards of working in the IT industry) is mostly superlative, we can relate to it!

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#8 Piled Higher and Deeper

PHD is similar to XKCD in its tendency to be geeky most of the time. But is a great fun nevertheless.

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#9 Sunday Morning Breakfast Cereal

SMBC is updates on theology, science, history including everything in between and many times is not-safe-for-work (NSFW). So, some discretion may be advised.

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#10 Urban Jungle

Urban Jungle is about the main character’s work hazards. Something unique to Urban Jungle is that it uses animals as civilized co-characters.

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#11 Questionable Content

Questionable Content is a web-comic series revealing the lives of Marten, Dora, Raven, Faye and Hannelore. And not to forget, the awesome robots!

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Phew..!

There you have it. Those are all the comics I follow regularly. Got any more suggestions?

Sometimes I feel emotions play with your mind to make you more creative. Thereby hangs a tale is once such instance.

*Picture courtesy of Lel4nd.

The song itself describes a nonchalant yet graceful person who takes life as it comes, with no regrets. He believes in what he does and does everything with a sense of austerity to it. He is always in pursuit of the unknown. He is a simple man with nothing to hide. The song paints the portrait of a person who is in complete control of his senses having an air of detachment with the world, to an extent which almost borders the line of objective indifference. Also portrays a feeling of guilt which he has to bear, for he feels responsible for a lost love, a failed relationship.

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn’t play for the money he wins
He doesn’t play for respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance

I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades

I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart

And if I told you that I loved you
You’d maybe think there’s something wrong
I’m not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who fear are lost

I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart

In the early days of Facebook (the last days of MySpace), Google became aware of what was happening and tried remodeling Orkut… and failed miserably. Anything Google tried doing with Orkut seemed like it was trying to create a Facebook clone – a bad one at that. Orkut had never taken off outside of Brazil and India. With the advent of Facebook, began the decline of Orkut there too.

While all of this may sound like an excellent advertisement for Facebook, it is not. Facebook has affected productivity and many studies have shown that employers have seen a decline in productivity compared to time before Facebook. Facebook is a black hole of time – I cannot think of one useful thing that I do on Facebook! Facebook reminds me of my friends’ birthdays; so I don’t take that extra effort to remember. It has somehow become acceptable to wish someone on their birthday on their “Wall”, as opposed to a call – telecom companies suffer meanwhile.

If you haven’t noticed, the right sidebar of your Facebook page is now filled with advertisements. If you are a business owner, you would do well if you published your ad on Facebook. Why? Because Facebook knows when I bought my last motorcycle (from my status), it knows my computer, it knows I’m a tech freak (because I link to a lot of Tech websites). It knows what exactly to sell me – well, mostly. Individual ad targeting is what a company would want. I never see an ad about a lipstick or a mascara – why? Because Facebook knows that I’m less likely to click on an ad of Lakme or Maybelline! So, every hour you spend on Facebook, some body makes money – no points for realizing that it is not YOU!

Another very sad thing about what Facebook has done is, that it has generated a false sense of action. I have seen many requests to “support a cause” – “Save the Tiger”, “Help Earth”, “Feed the poor” – so on and so forth. While the intention is noble, I quote my good friend who runs an NGO called Vanamitra (meaning, Friend of the Forest), recently posted on Facebook (ironically) – “Facebook has sadly resulted in a prolific increase in Armchair Activists”. Clicking “Support Cause” on Facebook does very little to help, but people I think, are experiencing a false satisfaction having been led to believe that they have helped in some way – NO – clicking on a button on a website does not count as helping!

Here’s an idea for Facebook – Why not verify these causes and donate an amount towards that cause each time a person supports it? Then maybe clicking “Support” makes sense!

All said, will this stop me from using Facebook? Maybe not, but I hope to audit how much time I spend on it and cut down to bare minimum. Like I have said before, Facebook is definitely bringing the world closer and at the same time, distancing relationships further.

Flash-back <<

Let me first begin by correcting some of my earlier statements:

1. “This form of piracy is acceptable to a certain degree; more like compassion shown upon a man who steals to save himself from dying of hunger.”
   

   No form of piracy/stealing is acceptable/pardonable.

2. “…so heavily priced, is unreachable by us; and isn’t it like curbing our creativity if good software like that are not available to us for free (or a reasonable price…”
   

   Maybe when I wrote the article, there were not (or I wasn’t aware of) many cheaper or free alternatives to match the features of Photoshop – but now since there are so many; Curbing our creativity? – Seems silly to myself! (Besides, Photoshop still costs $999 )

3. “Sometimes, movie piracy is justifiable…”
   

   ‘Justified’ may not be the word – but I share my views with this Oatmeal comic.

4. “Ban websites primarily targeting to provide downloads of pirated content…”
   

   I cannot believe I suggested this! Of course, I had not forethought how we go about determining what websites to ban and what not. I hope my earlier post was not an inspiration to PIPA/SOPA! I would dread that!

Fast-forward >>

Piracy = Stealing!

The problem with piracy is in stark contrast with the real-world stealing. Consider this scenario: You cannot afford a fancy cellphone. Do you go steal your friend’s phone? Any self-respecting person would say ‘No’.

Consider another scenario: Your friend bought the DVD of the Godfather movie. You love the movie – who does not? – and you borrow the DVD and watch it. The movie is so awesome you decide you want to watch it again sometime, so you make a COPY of it. Then you return the DVD. Tomorrow, one of your friends wants the movie and you oblige him another COPY. And thus it began..

At the end of the day (or a year), number of people who would have paid for the DVD would be exponentially out-numbered by the number of COPIES around.

Coming back to the discussion on the contrast between real-world theft and ‘virtual’ theft, if a person stole your cellphone, you’d ‘lose’ it. However, if a person COPIES your DVD, you wouldn’t lose anything right? That’s the problem with piracy, the people involved in the real act of stealing are not the ones suffering. Therefore there is lack of moral judgement (unfortunately) and sometimes people are honestly ignorant of the fact that downloading movies off P2P is illegal. It has become so rampant (considered normal) that it just seems OK.

In fact, there are some people who are convinced that piracy is not stealing, but ‘only’ copyright infringement and they can live with it. Only that they do not realize that copyright infringement is also theft! As long as there are weak minds which believe something like that, piracy will thrive.

That said, piracy can be eliminated (to a great, great extent) if means of acquiring something legally was as easy as pirating it. Big companies, instead of pouring time and money into never-ending legal disputes, must try to create a user-friendly, easy way for people to obtain something that many a time, they are ready to pay for, yet find themselves pirating because of the medium of obtaining it, is so tedious (so subtly depicted in the comic by Oatmeal).

Godse is often a misunderstood character. He is referred to as a Hindu fanatic. It is often hard to understand Godse because the Government of India had suppressed information about him. His court statements, letters etc. were all banned from the public until recently. Judging from his writings one thing becomes very clear – He was no fanatic. His court statements are very well read out and indicate a calm and collected mental disposition. He never even once speaks ill about Gandhi as a person, but only attacks Gandhi’s policies which caused ruin and untold misery to Hindus. Another interesting point to note is that Godse had been working with the Hindu refugees fleeing from Pakistan. He had seen the horrible atrocities committed on them. Many women had their hands cut off, nose cut off, even little girls had been raped mercilessly. Despite this Godse did not harm even single Muslim in India which he could easily have. So it would be a grave mistake to call him a Hindu fanatic.

Let us start by studying the motive behind Godse’s act. By seeing the nature of the assassination in public space and Godse’s act of turning himself over to the Police, we can see that Godse did not do this for personal reasons. He very well knew that he would be hanged and his name would be disgraced as Gandhi was considered a saint. And again Godse could have ran away and escaped punishment. But he did the reverse. He called a police officer and courted arrest. Before we proceed it would be wise to understand the backdrop of the assassination.

The central government had taken a decision — Pakistan will not be given Rs 55 crores. On January 13 Gandhi started a fast unto death that Pakistan must be given the money. On January 13, the central government changed its earlier decision and announced that Pakistan would be given the amount. On January 13, Nathuram decided to assassinate Gandhi.

Nathuram Godse was a learned man, very sharp and intelligent – editor of “Agrani” (one of the most famous newspaper of that time – with Nana Aapte). In his last editorial of “Agrani” which he changed overnight – he said “Gandhi must be stopped – at any cost” and he justified why Gandhiji’s assassination was not only inevitable but also a delayed action, sth tht shud’ve happened LONG AGO.

In Nathuram’s words – ” I don’t refute Gandhi’s theory of non-violence. He may be a saint but he is not a politician. His theory of non-violence denies self-defence and self-interest. The non-violence that defines the fight for survival as violence is a theory not of non-violence but of self-destruction.The division of the nation was an unnecessary decision. What was the percentage of the Muslim population as compared to the population of the nation? There was no need for a separate nation. Had it been a just demand, Maulana Azad would not have stayed back in India. But because Jinnah insisted and because Gandhi took his side, India was divided, in spite of opposition from the nation, the Cabinet. An individual is never greater than a nation.

In a democracy you cannot put forward your demands at knife-point. Jinnah did it and Gandhi stabbed the nation with the same knife. He dissected the land and gave a piece to Pakistan. We did picket that time but in vain. The Father of our Nation went to perform his paternal duties for Pakistan! Gandhi blackmailed the cabinet with his fast unto death. His body, his threats to die are causing the destruction — geographical as well as economical — of the nation. Today, Muslims have taken a part of the nation, tomorrow Sikhs may ask for Punjab. The religions are again dividend into castes, they will demand sub-divisions of the divisions. What remains of the concept of one nation, national integration? Why did we fight the British in unison for independence? Why not separately? Bhagat Singh did not ask only for an independent Punjab or Subhash Chandra Bose for an independent Bengal?

I am going to assassinate him in the open, before the public, because I am going to do it as my duty. If I do it surreptitiously, it becomes a crime in my own eyes. I will not try to escape, I will surrender and naturally I will be hanged. One assassination, one hanging. I don’t want two executions for one assassination and I don’t want your involvement, participation or company. (This was for Nana-Apte and Veer Savarkar as they were against ghandhi’s policies too, Godse wanted to assassinate gandhi all by himself and took promise from Nana Apte that he will continue helping Veer Savarkar in rebuilding India as a strong free nation.)

On January 30, I reached Birla Bhavan at 12 pm. Gandhi was sitting outside on a cot enjoying the sunshine. Vallabhbhai Patel’s granddaughter was sitting at his feet. I had the revolver with me. I could have assassinated him easily then, but I was convinced that his assassination was to be a punishment and a sentence against him, and I would execute him. I wanted witnesses for the execution but there were none. I did not want to escape after the execution as there was not an iota of guilt in my mind. I wanted to surrender, but surrender to whom? There was a good crowd to collect for the evening prayers. I decided on the evening of January 30 as the date for Gandhi’s execution.

Gandhi climbed the steps and came forward. He had kept his hands on the shoulders of the two girls. I wanted just three seconds more. I moved two steps forward and faced Gandhi. Now I wanted to take out the revolver and salute him for whatever sacrifice and service he had made for the nation. One of the two girls was dangerously close to Gandhi and I was afraid that she might be injured in the course of firing. As a precautionary measure I went one more step ahead, bowed before him and gently pushed the girl away from the firing line. The next moment I fired at Gandhi. Gandhi was very weak, there was a feeble sound like ‘aah’ (There are proof that Gandhi did NOT say “Hey Raam” at that time – it’s just made up stuff ) from him and he fell down.

After the firing I raised my hand holding the revolver and shouted, ‘Police, police’. For 30 seconds nobody came forward and I scanned the crowd. I saw a police officer. I signalled to him to come forward and arrest me. He came and caught my wrist, then a second man came and touched the revolver… I let it go…”

I remember when we were kids, we celebrated days like the Vanamahotsava, the Environment day with real enthusiasm. It was more of a moral responsibility for us at that time. I wonder where all that enthusiasm has gone. Have we grown so indifferent to celebrate those little things in life? Have we become so busy that we cannot take time off to thank Mother Earth?

I very recently completed reading a book – “The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow – which talks about how the universe was created and how extremely conducive the Earth is to harbour life. The book says that if the orbital eccentricity of Earth’s revolution around the sun was off even as little as 1%, life would not have existed on earth. Further, if Earth was even a few thousand kilometres away from sun, the temperature difference would be so large that in summer all the water would evaporate and in winter it would all get frozen! Earth is such a carefully crafted jewel that bears life – so called intelligent life. We are in fact, lucky to exist let alone survive and thrive at this magnitude.

Every day, we see trees felled in the name of modernization; forests cleared out to satisfy the needs of the ever-growing population; fertile land consumed by large manufacturing units! And everybody is torn apart trying to choose between nature and technology. Is there really a need to choose between the two? Cannot preservation of nature and technological advancements happen hand-in-hand?

Technology should evolve to protect nature; not exploit it. It is up to us – the intelligent life forms – to innovate and invent not only user-friendly technology but also technology which is nature-friendly.

P.S.: The title “Save some for us” was a slogan for a model-making competition which I had taken part in my school days. The theme of the competition was preserving the natural habitat for the wild and endangered animals and stop over use and over exploitation by man.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,100 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

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A fall is usually a two-step process – the loss of balance and a misplaced center of gravity.

The loss of balance usually occurs when in movement, we encounter an interruption to the controlled motion. When at rest, it is usually due to external factors – like a stool cracking under your weight.

A misplaced center of gravity is more an internal loss of bearings. As soon as the loss of balance occurs, our brain tries to correct it by altering our body’s center of gravity. If we are lucky, we manage to avoid the fall when our brain is successful. Many times though, our brain gives up after trying a bit and the body gives into the fall. This is when the mind goes into damage-control – trying to take the impact in a certain position or angle so as to avoid serious damage.

The coolest part of a fall (that I have experienced) is the time-shift that happens during the fall – everything slows down! Read on to know what happened!

That day, on my way back to office after a lunch outing, I was riding at about 60Kmph (~40Mph) while descending under a fly-over. I was riding behind (specifically a little towards the left) of an auto-rickshaw. The driver of the auto took a sharp right (as if to avoid something on his left). Once the auto shifted its line of motion, I saw what he tried to avoid – an ambulance parked right under the fly-over! Reacting, I applied my brakes, only to realize that there was sand on the road which I skid over. Thus began my fall. As soon as I realized I was losing my balance, time slowed down. My mind shifted to damage-control mode.

The first command my mind gave was to let go of the bike – which I did. The bike slid off and I got separated from the machine.

I was still sliding forward towards the parked ambulance. I thought it was probably due to the sand again – what can I do about that?

Next, I wondered what an irony it would be if I had hit the ambulance – would I be taken in the same ambulance to the hospital?

My thoughts were still racing – wow! This is cool!

I had recently bought a new mobile phone. I suddenly wondered if it could be damaged. I then realized I was falling onto my right side and my mobile was in my left pocket – so it should be safe!

By this time, I came to a sliding halt just a few inches shy of the hind tires of the ambulance. I stayed still for a few seconds. Time returned to its original speed. Though all this happened in a matter of about three seconds, it seemed a lot longer than that! Then, I slowly got up trying not to aggravate any injuries that I may have incurred. Thankfully, there weren’t any serious ones – except for a few bruises and torn clothes!

I got up and assessed the damage to my bike – it looked alright. By then, some passersby stopped and inquired if I was alright. One of them cursed the ambulance driver for such erratic parking and the BBMP for the sand on the road, then offered me some water, which I gladly accepted.

Soon after, I started my bike, went to a cloth store nearby, purchased new clothes and returned to office!