Memories of a great trip to Sikkim. Will write more some other time :)
And Then We Could Go No Further
Pure Genius!
Its a joy to see pure genius at work. I always wondered how it would have felt when Einstein's Theory of Relativity was first published, or when the news of the Wright brothers' first flight got around. How it must've felt to have witnessed history in the making.
I guess it wouldn't have been different from what I felt during the recently held Wimbledon Finals between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It was an epic struggle lasting for 4 hours and 50 minutes!!
Well that's beside the point. All I want to say is that it feels really good to have grown up in a time which has seen its own share of geniuses( a fairly large share at that ! ) and feels even better watching them create history. Like watching Federer make a sublime backhand return, or Sachin hitting a boundary with a cover drive, or Amitabh delivering a dialogue in his trademark baritone or Rahman dishing out fresh songs with even fresher sounds!!
Buffalo Buffalo Had Had Had Had
1. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
2. James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
The two sentences you see above are grammatically correct ( except for missing punctuation marks ! ).
Surprised??Unbelievable??
Check out the Wikipedia links then
The Buffalo One The Had Had One
So much for lexical ambiguity !!
P.S: It took a while before I could comprehend the wiki entries :D
The Magical World Of Hayao Miyazaki
Advanced graphics and animation, with 3d figures and great motion physics can be awe inspiring. But then, what is animation? why should we use animation?
Profound questions. No I won't even attempt to answer them. Its too much effort and every answer I can think of would be too trivial. So thats it.
But then I have to share with you relatively unknown but so creatively refreshing animation style of a Japanese animator - Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki follows the clear animation style, much like the style used by Herge in Tintin. Clear and simple lines, and simple colours. And like his animation the plots are equally uncomplicated.
There are no villains in his stories. And the hereos aren't invincible either. They are plain simple folk, like us, often enmeshed in a magical world. Like Chihiro in Spirited Away, whose parents are trapped as pigs by the witch of a bath house( meant for spirits), or the two kids ( Satsuki and Mei ) who find a magical creature as they explore their new home in the country side in My Neighbour Totoro .
Each movie is a treat to watch and it is impossible to be untouched by the magical world of Hayao Miyazaki !
Of Democracy & Intelligence
Just came across today's (1st July, 08 ) news article on CNN-IBN regarding the nuclear deal with the US and the UP chief minister, Mayawati's reaction ,titled : Maya lashes out at UPA, calls N-deal anti-Muslim
Her logic , as the article states .... ‘‘the deal is being made at the cost of cheaper gas from Iran and the Muslims are vehemently opposed to it.” ...
She took a stand on the n-deal, and is now giving reasons far more worse than what a 5 year old kid might give. I mean, the only Muslims who "might" be affected in an adverse way would be the ones in Iran.
Take two hot issues ( in this case, the n-deal , and the Muslim vote bank ), use them in a sentence and you've got a nice press statement. Way to go !
Of Suicide Squads & Leadership
Thackeray calls for Hindu suicide squads
As the title suggests, Bal Thackeray wants a Hindu suicide squad to counter Islamic terrorism in India.
My only question - will he volunteer to be a member of such a suicide squad? will he give up his life for the "cause" and blow himself up ?
Me, Myself and The Elevator
I believe that the most embarrassing and wasteful moments of my life have been spent either waiting for an elevator or being inside it.
Imagine all those wasteful moments ,doing nothing, waiting for the elevator to arrive. If you sum them up they might even add up to a day.
It often happens that I reach the elevator, and finding it unavailable I pace around, walking and moving in circles until the elevator arrives. I mean, how unfair is it to first walk briskly to reach the elevator then suddenly having to stop. Its like Newton and his laws of inertia being put to test. And in case the elevator arrives early, I walk around inside it (only if its empty, mind you :D). Must be a bizarre thing to even imagine for most , but for me it happens all the time!
The trouble doesn't end with the arrival of the elevator. Then starts the embarrassing/boring phase of getting into the elevator and looking blankly around waiting for your floor to arrive. It becomes even more difficult if you have some really beautiful girls sharing elevator space . So microscopically close yet all you end up doing is either looking up the ceiling or looking at the watch ( with an astounded look suggesting that it has stopped working all of a sudden ). But in case the elevator is crowded,wriggling your way in and excusing your way out can be quite an ordeal.
Sometimes I just feel like pressing the red alarm button or the emergency stop button just to see what happens if I do that. One day I gotta try that.
Elevators are one of those places cursed with deadly silence. Even the most boisterous and loud-mouthed ones get tamed once they step inside. People just get lost and seem clueless. They look around trying to read/observe ( things which they might've read/observed a hundred times ) every damn thing that's there on the walls. Random ads, phone numbers, scratches on the steel doors, the dust on the fan, the do's and don'ts, the manufacturer's note. Effect of the closed spaces I guess.
Too much of cribbing in a single post. So here's how I sometimes have fun inside the elevator. Whenever its empty, that is. I walk across from one side of the elevator to the other just when the elevator starts. So when its going down, you can feel lighter and when its going up, you can feel heavier. Now that, relatively speaking, is a lot of fun:)
Deft Hands & European Pickpockets - Part Two
For first time readers, just scroll down a few posts down and you can get the first part of the story.
For my other readers , Sorry for keeping you long :)
********
So, there we were in the middle of the night facing the predicament of spending the night at the Brussels railway station. We were tired after the long journey and badly wanted to sleep. But more importantly, we wanted a warm place. This was a problems as the station had no heating. It was closed yet it was so cold outside that even with your complete winter gear, you felt the chill.
To go out in search of bars, pubs was certainly out of question as we were in no mood for it after such an exhausting journey. We decided to spend our night in the station.
Unlike the Indian railway stations, the Belgian railway stations close at night from around 1 in the night to 4 in the morning and the station is cleared for this duration. This was another added tension.
Thus we waited, sitting on the ultra cold metallic chairs. The station was practically empty, hardly 10 people. A Moroccan guy, some blacks, some Europeans( looked east European ) a Chinese/mongoloid couple and we Indians. The cold was getting to me. I thought, its better to keep awake and warm by walking around the station. So I beckoned my friend ( Rahul ) for a stroll around.
We walked around, checked out the huge railway timetables pasted on the boards, discussed some vague things and lamented on our bad luck.
As we loitered around we saw a few north Africans ( Moroccans perhaps ) sitting in one corner with shabby bags. We looked at them, they looked back. And suddenly one of them started singing Ram Jaane,Ram Jaane ( the song from the SRK movie with the same name ) and asked us if we are from India. We said yes. I was not so enthusiastic about the guy. There was something sinister. Looked like a junkie you often encounter in games. After a little exchange of words, he stood up and came over.I backed off ( Had heard stories of mugging in railway stations ) while my friend was still continuing with them. After a while I turned back to see what was happening. I saw my friend surrounded by two other guys along with the first guy.
Thats all for tonight :D
Minutes Before The UFO Landing
I know, the title is absolutely rotten. But I ruminated for some time about how I should name this picture. Through the Mist, God's Word and what not.
But then, UFO draws attention.
Just like the Times of India newspaper headlines.
But then, UFO draws attention.
Just like the Times of India newspaper headlines.
Random Thoughts on Republic Day
I was watching 300, the adaptation of Frank Miller graphic novel yesterday and couldn't help reflecting on the way history has been taught to us, through books and other popular media.
The moot point - how did the small army of Spartans led by Leonidas lose against the mighty Persian army of Xerxes. It was a traitor who betrayed the secret of a goat's trail which helped Xerxes surround Leonidas's army from all sides.
Doesn't it sound similar to all that we have read about our Indian history? Be it Rani Lakshmi Bai, Siraj-Ud-Daula of Bengal, Tipu Sultan, Prithvi Raj Chauhan and countless. Why is it always that people lose because of a traitor. And I think , if there was no traitor could they have won the wars ? Why is the failure just attributed to the betrayal of some confidante? or will their bravery be lessened if we were told that they lost because the opposite army was just more powerful, more sophisticated and had better weapons ? I really don't know the answer.
But I feel happy that I could question that which is almost a given truth.
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