The Bridge over River Kwai..
Its 200 times now, approximately!

Thats how many times I have received this mail about that bridge between Rameswaram and Lanka. Yes, NASA has supposedly given some photographs that indicate that there was some stone structure connecting the two regions! And the mail claims that this is the bridge that those guys - Nala, Neela along with the help of an over-ambitious squirrel, built sometime during Ramayana!!

I dont know whether NASA - which is probably capable of doing such crap - actually did this or not! For the odds of 1000 - 1, I can take a bet that NASA didnt.. And win..

But the point is, I dont care!!

I am amazed at this unique ability of such mails to reinvent themselves! This particular mail that I am talking about came over some 2 years ago to me(200 times may be).. and now that I have forgotten about it completely, it strikes back!!

Hmph!

I wish - every mail client has the capability to scan through mail content that is being forwarded and swear really badly at the person forwarding - precisely at the moment when he clicks that forward button.. It just needs to scan the message for the following combination of words..

NASA-Moon-Russia-Pencil,
NASA-Armstrong-Never-Landed-Moon,
Taj Mahal-Hindus-Shiva,
--God--,
7-other-people-you-know,
Coca-cola-teeth-tender-coconut,
Coke-Pepsi,
Girl-Hospitalised-5 People you know-1 cent for one mail..

And ofcourse, not to miss out

Rameswaram - NASA - Lanka - Bridge!

I also wish - after swearing at him/her to hearts content, the machine reboot immediately..

I know I wont escape from spams even then.. But I guess, I can give it a try anyway.. Just for revenge's sake!! :(

Anyone with such technology please contact me so that I can provide you a list of choicest vocabulary that you can use for the first step described above! :-/

Plan..
Some people are so good at planning things.. And I am so bad at it.. :`(

CNN..
I am amazed that local 'events' like girl getting kidnapped for ransom and mother beating a kid make repeated headlines on CNN.. I remember they used to be corner news in Tamil newspapers..

I used to read it and make fun telling my brother what kind of things make news! Now - this is CNN! :-/

Another regular frontpage feature is Israel and its daily fightings.. If they dont have any GWB speeches that day, this will make the headline!

Just cant understand these guys.. They choose what they want as important news..

Stupid!

Sachin as God..
During one of the many arguments about why Sachin is God when it comes to cricket, someone suddenly remarked, "If Sachin is so great he should have atleast one great fourth innings score, that would have romped India to victory in a test match"..

Valid point! A blemish indeed in the record of a great.. Not even a victory innings, but as far as I can remember, Sachin has not even forced a draw from his batting in the final innings of a test match..

It has mostly been meek surrender or extravagant shotmaking disasters! How I wished he scored a 50 when 120 was required.. How I wished he scored a 100 and more when 300 odd were required.. (so many times)

I remember Sachin accepting to this complaint in a recent interview..

I only remember the likes of Steve Waugh, Mike Atherton, Brian Lara and recently Adam Gilchrist who have waged single handed wars in the last innings to get their team to victory.. Against very high quality bowling - in each case!

Sachin - at that time - was busy stamping his authority on meek bowlers in supportive conditions (probable exception being Shane Warne)..

As Wasim Akram remarked the other day, probably I have to be satisfied with the fact that Sachin is a very good one-day player..

I dont want to agree to this, but I dont seem to have a choice! :(

Funny!
------------ News from CNN ------------------------------------
"One guy said, 'Do you think that will bring it down?' I looked at my son and we were just looking at each other and he said, 'If that doesn't bring it down, I have contacts. I'll get enough to bring it down.' And to me, that meant, they were planning to blow up something."

The students told CNN they were talking about bringing down a car for school transportation -- nothing more.

"I was the only one of us three that didn't buy a car before the semester started in Miami," said Choudhary, a third-year medical student. "So my plan was that once we get to Miami I would buy a car before classes started, and I said that in case I don't find one in Miami, I could have one shipped down from Kansas City."
----------------------------------------------------------------

And for knowing why this is news, link to this. The US police authorities, reportedly, have appreciated what the lady did by reporting whatever bits and pieces that she heard!

Newspaper space is easy.. Isnt it?

For me that woman should rather take up interpreting somebody like Nostradamus. For if she is able to make a terrorist threat out of a car deal, she should be capable of deciphering Nostradamus' cryptic, poetic astrology too!

That might be the first step towards pre-crime investigation science - which as of now happens only in Hollywood! :)

Gandhi..
I have to put down what happened this Saturday night.

There is a channel called the History Channel over here. Saturday night, they screened Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. It has been quite a while since I watched the english version last. Not long ago DD screened the Hindi version every year on Oct. 2, I guess. I am not sure if the practice continues even now!

The 'Fast unto death' scene, just after partition was on. I have never been a big patriot - in any sense - anytime. But when you watch quality stuff that shows what was great about your nation not so long ago, you tend to get a bit emotional.

Om Puri comes to Gandhi and confesses that he killed a muslim kid. He did it because they killed his son. It is a critical scene of the movie. Gandhi tells him "I can find a way out for you . When a muslim kills your son, and you are not able to bear the loss, adopt a child of the same age. Give him all the care that you would give your own son. And make sure the child you adopt is a muslim".

The scene brought tears to my eyes. I dont know what feeling it was. I have never been part of any such riot/tragedy. But I somehow could not control my emotions at that single moment!

For me this scene defined Gandhi. And I announced it to the friends around in my room. One of my senior colleagues asked me not to get too emotional and said Gandhi was the precise reason for whatever happened during and after Partition.

That was around 11.00 PM. I went to sleep at 4.00 AM, Sunday. A heated, nasty argument - quoting literature from 'My Experiments with Truth' to La Pierre's 'Freedom at Midnight' - was what happened inbetween.

Nobody agreed to nothing at the end of it all. We left to each of our rooms feeling charged and drained at the same time - atleast I did!

Now it sounds a wee bit silly. But it was'nt when I was arguing! :)

The Magic Pill..
I am proud of myself.. am doing quality work, of late..

A user of our application called up... Ms. Husky Voice wanted to know "what the heck" went wrong with our system that it does not allow her to do one of her regular everyday activity of running and downloading an audit report..

I went over to meet her.. and got to know that she aint just Husky Voice but is actually - Husky Voice + Pretty Face..

I dorked around a bit on her machine.. And then asked her a few extremely meaningless and irrelevant questions (..learnt from my family doctor..) as in "Has it happened before?".. "How many times did this happen?".. "Was it okay any time at all?".. "Isnt it a nice view from up here?"..

A small crowd of ill-informed users gathered around us.. "Amazing isnt it? It has been working all along and now suddenly today!! " ..

Husky Voice did get me an audience there!

I resisted as long as I could and finally, when it was almost hopeless, I suggested the magic pill...

And it worked.. Again.. This is one phenomenon that is beyond the reach of Murphy's laws.. I have never seen it fail.. The quintessential cure-all!

Log off and log on!!

The user group was amazed at my diagnostic skills.. Husky Voice was enthralled.. As I was just walking back, I heard Husky Voice screaming.. "You are the maaan!"..

Oh yeah, I know.. I am.. don't I?

Consecutive primes..
Now this one, I liked!!

Majoooooriteeeeeeeeeee wins!
Always..

The whole world is controlled by the unassailable rule of the majority.. All decisions - each and every one of them - is made based on what the majority opinion would be..

Nothing else matters..

There is nothing called "true" or "fair" outside the purview of the majority.. Majority, roughly, is power.. And power is the one which calls whats fair and whats not!

I dont know whether this is a sad situation.. I dont know whether this isnt the right direction for the world.. But all I know is that this is how it is.. And it seems okay to me!

And so.. as we go in our childhood games.. we keep going.. Majooooooriteeeeeee wins!!

This man said it then..
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?

- Gandhi

Art!
The guy next to me showed me some nice pictures of tulips and daffodills that he had captured during last year's tulip festival (an annual fest in this part of the world).. He looked at me with an air of authority and said "Photography is art, isnt it?"..

If photography is art, so is 'seeing'..

Next Generation?
Is the next generation in?

I guess so.

Its a new feeling.. I see many birthdates that are post-1978 now - in the society.. And by society I mean those that move close to me.. My "more than just an" acquaintances.. This has never happened.. Until now, I was used to being the younger among any lot.. atleast by a few days..

But now it is changing.. I hear voices alongside and I see they are younger.. And they arent kids, if you know what I mean..

I dont talk about college and hostel anymore.. They do.. I dont know the latest happenings in sport.. They do.. I run toward a bunch of sweets to pick the best of the lot and I trail behind a few guys.. Some even call me "neenga"!!!

So I guess that is it.. My times over.. Its now for the younger lot to take over..

Take over the burden of being "kings of the world"...

Folks of my age - come lets go sit in the patio and watch things go by.. and read newspapers from page 1 to page 22.. and talk about the times that were..

Long long ago..
Here are some quotes.. Guess who are the owners.. Names when specified have been marked out as x's.

1. People tell me I am a journalist by profession..
2. My new year present to you xxxx :)
3. It's a crazy Wednesday morning. I am late to get in at work. Like I have been most of this week.
4. Welcome to the random notes of xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx. I had been surfing through a lot of weblogs. Maintaining my own weblog sounds pretty exciting.
5. So? I've finally joined the blog brigade...feels good....
6. Hey, I need to thank Sundu first...Thank you Sundu!...

Sadly, I could not locate a few which I would have wanted here..

Life just goes on..
Friday evening -
Go home - play tennis till its pitch dark and cant see ball anymore - dinner - bowling - sleep..

Saturday just before noon -
Wake up(!) - US open on TV - Agassi blasts Hewitt - inspired now - go to tennis again and play till the sun gets to you - lunch - hunt whole of city for a carrom board - get it in India Store - back home - Something About Mary on TV - Play carrom - Time for dinner - Dinner - sleep..

Sunday Noon -
Wake up(!) - connect to check mails - try hand in cooking - eat whatever that got cooked - and blog away...

Life just goes on.. unnoticed..

I like this aimlessness sometimes.. reminds me of my college days.. the utter meaninglessness in daily activities... but sometimes it gets to you.. feel like I need to break the shackles and come out of this..

Maybe to go back into it, later..

Bookie, anyone?
Okay.. So it is 336/2 for England at the end of day 1 at the Oval.

Anyone betting on an Indian victory? :)

In Praise of Idleness..
If Bertrand Russell were alive, I would definitely go meet him and tell him how glad and satisfied I was with all his arguments here. If you have'nt read it before, spend some time and read it..

I dont dare to spread this in my workplace.. For I fear that the people here are just too practical for my liking.. They probably dont know of Russell, his brilliant mind, and what he thought of these guys! Or maybe they knew and but didnt care to bother and jump out of a system that does not easily allow them to see beyond..

In these situations, I just love the analogy given by The Matrix. Sometimes I feel we are parts of various overlapping systems that tend to restrict us and prevent us from jumping out of it. And the winner usually is the one who jumps out of it, somehow! It is not just one big Matrix.. But a whole bunch of them.. All intersecting circles that lock us.. And close out our vision beyond their boundaries..

I used to play with ants like this.. Just draw water circles around a ever moving trail of them and restrict them.. I used to enjoy the fact that they tried their best to get out of it and still could not.. I am probably worser, simply because, atleast so far, I believed that those circular areas comprised my whole world.. The ants were better..

And you know what? The more number of circles that you get locked into, the less freedom you are going to have.. One of the group of people who have got locked into the most number of such circles are the work-folk - the kind who sell their time and labour to help manage "others" daily activity.. Like I do.. "I help somebody sell planes better"! :(

If Russell was around, I would ask him to keep me with him to help him do his chores.. And will keep talking to him forever!!

That was enough "work"..

I just need such a mentor.. Am looking for one..