The job is…It is 5 months old now. The excitement has died down. I can see that the lights that are shining are not very bright now. So what is next??
MBA or no MBA, that is the question. The trouble is that the answer is as ambiguous as it can be. I want prosperity. Who does not? But I don’t know how to get to there! I want knowledge but I don’t know where to find the time and the resources.
It is a non nice situation. It is like a jungle where there are animals who will eat me. Some small ones are hollowing me already and yet I don’t know which way to run to get out of it.
An inspiration occurs and it dies down. It occurs again in another format and it dies down again.
The Noble prizes have been declared for this year in Physics, Chemistry and Literature.
I remember that when I was a kid, hearing of Nobel Prize winners gave me heejeebies. I truly thought that these people lived in a wonderland where they would come up with a path breaking idea, romantically. And that world was fascinating. But then I grew up and found that it is not so rosy. Yes, people still come up with wonderful ideas but the way is not so wonderland-ish.
The amazing thing about these prizes is that they continue to inspire so many open eyed and curious kids who someday want to earn it. And why only kids?? I have seen professors at the end of their careers obsessed with it. It is good to have a Nobel Prize as a goal.
Although there is no doubt that the world is a better place with these Nobel Laureates. I would like to see Jagdish Bhagwati’s name in this year’s pseudo Nobel prize for economics.
It creates extraordinary representation of anything by floding just a single sheet of paper in most of the cases.
For the prison break fans-that swan which Micahel Scofield folds is a piece of origami.
For the fans of mathematics, origami is challenging. A lot of concepts of mathematics are used which mainly aim at drawing the pattern designs on the original unfolded sheet.
There are 4 mathematical rules for origami crease patterns:
crease patterns are two colorable
at any vertex the number of valley and mountain folds always differ by two in either direction
at any vertex, the sum of all the odd angles adds up to 180 degrees, as do the even.
a sheet can never penetrate a fold.
Significantly, paper exhibits zero Gaussian curvature at all points on its surface, and only folds naturally along lines of zero curvature.
A very interesting lecture has been given by Robert Lang on the mathematics of Origami, its current and potential uses. Do have a look.
What a marvellous creation. Stupendous satire. High quality entertainment and most superior wit. Perhaps one of the best television programmes ever made. What makes it more praiseworthy is the topic which this series has chosen to deal with – government and the bureaucracy.
Having seen some of that bureaucratic mumbo jumbo from close quarters, I can appreciate the humour tremendously. As it has been reported, even Margaret Thatcher saw it and found it highly amusing.
As witty as the writing is, equally superior is the acting. Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker portrays the minister who is confused and essentially led by the civil servants in an immaculate manner. Nigel Hawthorne as the machiavellian bureaucrat, Sir Humphrey Appleby, and the true incharge of the government business, is terrific. Nothing to say of his long winding, ever confusing, never clear terribly long speeches given to the clueless minister. Then, there is Bernard Wolley played by Derek Fowlds as the smiling middle man, generally quiet , who jokes at the most imopportune moments and quibbles about things like actual physical impossibility of a said act, does his part with perfection.
This series has been a pure joy to watch. It is high quality entertainment. It is the genius satire, sarcasm and wit which is often attributed to the British. It is a must watch!!
Could someone explain this to me?? That why, Indian stockmarket is plunging by 11%?? I know about the global meltdown etc but what I cannot comprehend is that why is there such a large panic in Indian markets? As far as I have read and understood, the liquidity is OK, banks are lending easily, government is injecting liquidity, and that Indian markets are not that exposed to the foreign markets. Then, why is this happening? Is it just overrated perception and stupidity of shareholders and stock brokers or is there something really dangerous out there?
Its delicious. Scott Adams did good to create it. It is the ultimate corporate comic. It is stingy, biting, sarcastic and very very good. It is humorous on many levels. One is laughing at the stupidity of people, other is laughing at the fact that it is true in real life too.
In India, there is no national religion except CRICKET. Yeah, we worship cricket here. And, there is a reason for that. Make that two, if you will. First, we are mad about cricket and second, it is only in Cricket where Indians dominate the world, more often than not, as splendidly as they did in Mohali Test against Australia. Our men in Blue wearing white though, made us extremely proud this last week. What a display of magnificence. Every one just shined and shined on and the Aussies got some bashing alright.
Sachin became the highest run scorer in the whole wide world ( Beat that!! ), Dada showed us why we love him and why he is so formidable, the Captain Cool was cool as usual and wielded his bat marvelously. Zaheer Khan came back with a vengeance, Ishant Sharma stood tall ( literally and figuratively ) and Amit Sharma made himself visible with a bang!! And I should not forget Gautam Gambhir and Bhajji .Super Performance and a knockout for Australia. Wonder what Symonds must be thinking?? Ponting is naturally disappointed. This was Australia’s heaviest Test defeat since April 1991, when West Indies had beaten them by 343 runs in Barbados. It was also only the tenth time in 96 matches since 2000 that Australia were bowled out for less than 200. [ source: cricinfo ]
It is only Team India which can get beaten in worst manner and yet turn around and beat the hell out of others. It was simply world class play at display and the fact that it was against Australia is the cherry on th cake or lets say the cake for the cherry. Oh, that is what makes us mad about cricket. It is the single most phenomena which can transport us Indians to the top of the world and above in a matter of days. Indian cricket makes us taste victory. It makes us feel proud. It makes us raise our heads after defeating the best, arguably.
Dhoni said he has never seen Australia being outplayed so much and he is damn right!! What with all the guns from our squad firing, and theirs a little rusted, Indian team did it. Now we have a lead of 1-0 in the series. Only if this could be maintained and India win the series to wash the stain of being defeated on the home ground by Australia after 20 something years, I would be max happy. But that is another thing with Team India, they are very very unexpected. The next thing we know, they could be miserably beaten in the next match.
However, the men in Blue have won some million more of admirers to the already billion numbered fan club.
Hoo Haa India, Jeetega India.
I love cricket!!
I love Sachin, Dhoni and Dada and others too but not so much. I want to write on them too but later.
So, I initiated myself to Doctor Who, the BBC Science fiction series, today with a couple of episodes and I am not surprised that it looked very promising and that I may start watching it after all. The best thing is that its fast moving, every episode there is a different story, it is racy, adventurous and humorous, all at the same time. I had heard a lot but now I have experienced, the thing called the dry British wit. It is fantastic. First, Douglas Adams and now Doctor Who. So much humor in science fiction, that is a thing very rarely seen.
I like Doctor Who more because I like the character who plays it- David Tennant. He is good. I am just sorry that I got to know about it so late. But better late than never.
One thing I rue is that we, in India, have not been able to create something really humorous along with great quality. All things in the end here turn to sleaze comedy. In domain of comics too, none of our central characters or superheroes are funny or a little wayward or light headed. All of them have to be the perfect good guys with a brooding soul who never think of anything other than saving the world. Sigh! The only salvation is Bankelal. He is funny alright. But, then he is too frivolous and miles away from any seriousness at all. I think we could do with an indigenous Doctor Who like character.
ORIGAMI – The japanese art of paper folding.
Ponting is naturally disappointed. This was Australia’s heaviest Test defeat since April 1991, when West Indies had beaten them by 
