Fear, fear everywhere

Security has been stepped up, thousands of police have been deployed, reserved forces have been called out...It seems that the terrorists have instilled fear in the minds of the people.

One wonders if publishing information about how "secure" we have made the important places would help. One of the key things in security, one would imagine, is to not alert the "enemy" at all and simple prepare as quitely as one can. One would think that publishing openly what security measures are in place would cause the enemy to backoff only to attack at a time when it is least
expected.

On the other hand, there is another angle for doing that. There are some guys who when provoked would like to "show off" how they can attack the toughest secuirty rings. That way, we would catch the enemy red-handed. This is the mind-game or pyschology angle.

It doesn't seem that our authorities are so bright as to be doing the second thing. They seem to be doing it to want to show people that they are acting on the threats perceived and doing something about it. Lest something happen and people then blame them for sitting on the "input".

India was never perceived as an "Islam enemy" by its non-neighbors until recently. Two incidents that changed this come to mind: the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots. It seems plain as water to me that these incidents may have changed India's image in the terrorists' viewpoint. India has now been caught in the middle of the gunfire.

I remember my conversations more than a decade ago with a Bangladeshi Muslim I had met with in the United States. He seemed to have some misunderstanding about how bad Indians treat Muslims. I am sure biased media reports in their country would have played a role in making them believe that India was the "terrorist" country. Of course, at the same time, there were reports of hundreds of Hindus being harassed and burnt in Bangladesh. One could read reports of these on the websites. But I did not hear any outcry or anything of that sort in India.

Why? We've taken down things lying down for too long. That's why.

Feels like "jail"

The first semester of the MTech course having begun, it seems unlikely to be able to be doing anything else other than studies. We are made to believe that the first semester is a "killer" one. From the experience in the past 2 weeks, it certainly seems to be so.

Let's hope there is some relief in the second semester.

Although I haven't started staying in the hostel room, it is on "stand-by"...so that I can use it at any day or night that I may have to spend there. That means that all things like bucket, mug, table lamp, spare clothes, mattress, etc. are in place.

The joy of bicycling

I had always considered bicycling to be a pleasure. I used to use a bicycle to commute for the most part of my junior college days. Bicycling was also a favorite past time / exercise for many evenings during those days. Due to an incredible increase in traffic and decrease in traffic manners and tempers, I had to sell off the bicycle.

The joy returned again. The first few days at IITB seemed to be a pleasure bicycling around the campus on the new bicycle. Gone are the days of the past when running from one building to another or to / from the gate was a big tiring and boring task.

The joy, however, got reduced over the week as I took possession of a room in Hostel 6 (yes, I am now a "Hexalite" as the Hostel 6 residents are called).

Away from the main gate, deep into the campus, almost the end of the main road inside the IITB campus, lies Hostel 6. Only 2 hostels exist beyond it - the newer hostels 12 and 13 - that are very close to the Rennaisance Hotel. But, the problem is that the road from the main gate to the hostel (especially from my school to the hostel) is full of ups and downs (slopes). This resulted in quite a stressful activity just going and coming to / from the hostel. Hopefully I will get used to it as the time goes by and it won't be such a big problem. One got the feeling that having a bicycle with gears would have made it much more easier.

Of course, that does not take away the fear of panthers...gosh, the logo of Hostel 6 has got what looks like a panther on it. Maybe its better to stay in the school than to venture out to go to the hostel beyond 9 p.m.

"The bicycle has been bought"

After days of dilly-dallying, I've finally bought (well, almost) an used Avon bicyle from the "Red and White" bicycle shop inside IITB. It will cost me Rs. 1350 better than a new bicycle for about Rs. 2100 or above. This also signals the decision to join the MTech programme at IITB. The orientation programme starts tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll also get a hostel that I can stay at if it gets too late.

I had to spend a lot of energy just deciding whether to join or not. It was quite surprising that my entire family wanted me to join the programme. It seemed evident that my mother was quite sure that my high score at the GATE (examination) was just an accident and could not be obtained again.

Many others at my workplace stood by me and helped me take the decision. A few others felt that I should pursue my MBA and not MTech. Time alone will tell if my decision is right or wrong.

Meanwhile, wish me all the best.

Cheats at the photocopier

Today was the second time I saw some cheats at the photocopier's. I was at a typical big photocopier's shop that offers all kinds of printing services, photocopying and also lamination. I was there to laminate all my important documents (one less thing to worry about when the water level in the house rises for whatever reasons). As the lamination was in progress, 2 guys (quite rough from their looks) disembarked from a motorcycle and demanded from one of the boys at the counter to colour photocopy what looked like a laminated government-issued document. Their idea, which they foolishly expressed, was to change the number (id) at the top of the document in the photocopy. The boy at the counter cooly replied that it was not possible for them to do that...if they wanted a photocopy, it would come laminated and no change of id would be permitted. I tried to see what document it was that they wanted to forge. It turned out to be a "Zopadpatti Rahivashi Olakhpatra" (translation: a "Slum Resident Identity Card"). Later, those guys went away a bit disappointed. The boy at the counter said they could not take the risk of forging such documents as it may land them in a jail.

That reminded me of another incident in the month of March 2006. This time I was at a smaller photocopier's shop. It was about 09:00 in the morning and I wanted to get photocopies of some documents. A girl came in and she had a chemistry text book in hand. She wanted to make small (reduction to about 25%) of some important pages. The boy at the counter readily obliged. When the photocopies were given to her, she folded them into small chits. It was then that I realised what purpose she was doing that for. It was the month of March and the 12th standard board examinations were in progress. She wanted to use those chits to hide somewhere so that she could copy from them!

A close encounter with a WDP4

It was Saturday morning about 09:30 - an off from work. I was at TNA (Thane station) waiting for a fast local to TLA (Titwala). The TLA visit was for praying at the popular Ganesha temple there and also at the Vitthal temple close to the Ganesha temple. An announcement on the station public address system made me aware that the 0103 Mumbai-Madgaon (MAO) Mandovi express was to arrive shortly on platform 7. It would be running quite late since its usual departure from CSTM is at 06:55. Now, being a regular browser of the IRFCA site and also by personal observation, I knew that the train to MAO would be most probably hauled by the mighty 4000 hp WDP4. A few minutes later the train arrived and as I was just a platform away from the train, I realised that I was face to face with the DLW (Varanasi Diesel Loco Works) manufactured SHF (Short Hood Forward) KJM (Krishnarajapuram) WDP4 # 21022. I could not help admire the beauty...it also seemed to be a mighty powerful loco. One could see the huge 6000 litre fuel tank underneath.

The pilot and his assistant were busy with their checks in the cab of the loco...a few minutes later, the cab was empty. I could see that the cab looked much more sophisticated than the WDM2s - also, very cleaner and probably more ergonomic.

The pilots returned and I could see that they had brought with them what looked like something packed in silver foils - either a late morning breakfast or their lunches. They kept these somewhere in the cab. A moment later, the pilot clicked some switches and pulled some levers; the sound that the loco started making gave one a feeling that it was an aircraft ready for lift-off. A short horn and an exchange of the green flag later, the loco started rolling and soon disappeared from sight.

The WDP4 is a loco that can effortlessly haul large trains and the original models were from GM (General Motors), USA. It is also the loco that is being run at 150 kmph in some sections of the Konkan Railway.

The "spirit" will evaporate

Every one outside Mumbai and the media keep harping about the so-called "spirit of Mumbai". Actually, it is a bit sickening to hear that term being used again and again and again. Whenever any calamity strikes Mumbai, the media is quick point out how the "spirit" brings back Mumbai back to normalcy. We had the rains floor us, then the riots in Bhiwandi, then the strike on Sunday and the serial blasts on Tuesday.

If they don't do something about the calamities, the spirit is soon going to evaporate.

The biggest thing is that other people (in Delhi and other places) are making merry at the expense of Mumbai's hapless junta. Someone must teach those thugs a lesson and bring them to their senses.

Die Another Day

Monsoon is here and Mumbai is already feeling jittery about waterlogging at many places. Some idiots (road contractors) raised the height of another road leading to the lane to our apartment complex. The result is that 100 mm of rainfall in a day is now enough to cause waterlogging on the lane on which we reside; to cause alarm bells to ring in our minds and to start the drill - to keep valuables high enough (hopeful that the water won't reach them there) and to start packing and move on the 1st floor (or higher). But, that was not to be...we die another day, not the Tuesday and not the Wednesday that went by.

Luckily, the gods had other plans...and there was still a couple of feet left before the rain water could enter our ground floor apartments. Others I know were not so lucky...several areas and homes were flooded once again.

A new template

I've just put in a new template from one (Powell Street) of the designs over at Blogger Templates. Hopefully, this is more pleasing than the earlier one.

Funny messages on the IMS...

Somewhere towards the end of 2005, I took a trip to the IMS (Indian Museum Ship) Vikrant (the erstwhile INS Vikrant). It was docked just beside the high profile and heavily guarded still in-use INS Viraat. The rules for photography were very clear...no photography from the outside and no photography on the deck. That meant photographing only the inside. There were still a lot of things to be photographed and I clicked away to glory.

There were some photographs of particular interest. These are from that collection...

Vikrant's bell and shipmaker's board...the year mentioned on the bell is 1961
Be a bright spark
No Is and Us in a team
No Shortcuts...

The better natural ice cream

India thinks Natural is the best ice-cream. Versova does not think so. Its true. After the spat the co-owners had and parted their ways, Versova enjoys a much better natural ice cream. L&G, please welcome...Sancha, the natural ice-cream of Versova. Sancha, founded by one of the original co-owners of the original "Natural Ice Cream of the Juhu Scheme", is much better than the original Natural ice-cream. This is located on the J. P. Road - the road parallel to the beach - and on the right side while travelling towards Versova - just after the bend at the 7B garden.

The cups are priced at Rs. 27, whereas shakes are priced at Rs. 60.

"Balle Balle"

"Balle Balle Urban Tadka" is what you hear when you call this restaurant almost always booked to capacity - hell, I have seen people waiting outside (for a seat) even at 11 p.m. After recommendations from an acquaintance, I decided I should try it out.

Since I avoid non-veg stuff, half of the items on the menu were off for me. I tried "Sabji Kheema" - nothing non-veg about it - just minced vegetables. Also, the "Chole Te Alu De Biryani". Both were very tasty and not at all oily (unlike at the Udipi restaurants). In fact, the biryani comes packed in a small pot with a cover sealed with "atta". And its quite yummy.

The same owners also own "Pop Tate's" as well as some of the other popular restaurants.

Idli House

The other day I had the opportunity (rather excuse) to visit this new eatery at B. N. Maheshwari Udyaan (aka King's Circle or L&T circle) near Matunga. This is located almost opposite to the "Anand Bhavan" restaurant and is from the stable of "A. Rama Nayak" (the same flock that runs the Cafe Mysore and other Rama Nayak* eateries in Matunga).

I found it to be a surprisingly small eatery - only 3 tables. The other point is that you only get idlis - no other snacks. The coffee (filter) is almost similar to the Cafe Mysore's, though I did not think much of the idlis or the sambar (my personal choice is Cafe Mysore's or Anand Bhavan's). Here is scan of the flyer for the restaurant - one can get a good idea of what is in store.

However, the restaurant also sells the accompaniments (chutneys, etc.) as well as filter coffee powder (I think its the same coffee powder they use - aah their secret powder). The coffee powder is Rs. 50 for 250 gms - slightly higher than the Rs. 180 / kg powder from Quality (near Matunga station).

So most of my mornings are now powered by the new found coffee powder (2 cups) - alas, we do not use buffalo milk at home, but the taste is quite close to the one we get in the restaurant.

Update: I could find no review of Idli House on the SigFood site, but here's a detailed review by a Gujju that appeared in Mumbai Mirror.

What a thriller...

Our media has found a brand new subject to focus on these days. With Rahul Mahajan's case becoming more complicated, it seems to have all the trappings of a super thriller. Of course, it won't be long before it fades out of the media, but in the meantime, the readers can thrive on the daily dose of mystery from the newspapers.

It won't be long before someone takes up to make a film on the subject...its sure to be a hit, if directed properly. It seems that the story has all the ingredients as in a Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle or a Poe story.

Many would know that Christie's Poirot was said to have been influenced by Doyle's Holmes, but few would know that Holmes itself was influenced from Poe's Dupin. Dupin was a strange character and there seem to be only 3 stories by Poe that involved Dupin. Such was the problem-solving skill of Dupin that he could simply read various newspapers reports and solve mysteries. Personally, though I have read all the stories of Holmes, Dupin remains a favorite maybe because of Poe's language or simply because Dupin was one of the first detective characters.

Quite like this current-day mystery, Poe himself was a drug addict whose cause of death remained uncertain ( alcohol, drugs, rabid cat bites, etc.).

Back from LNL

I am back after a refreshing break (holiday) at LNL (Lonavala). It was raining in LNL so there was not much of a sight-seeing done (most of LNL has anyways been already seen)...just lazing around and doing nothing...not even thinking of work. Rainy season (or just there after) is the best season to visit LNL and because of the rains, LNL wore a fresh green and unpolluted look. The clouds (and mist) had engulfed KAD (Khandala)...even in the afternoon, traveling on the roads of KAD was proving to be quite difficult due to poor visibility beyond a few metres. Its always been like that and this time too it was not different.

A trip to LNL would not have been complete without a visit to the railway station. So, there we were at the LNL station checking out how delayed the trains were to / from Mumbai (since TV channels were busy broadcasting all day how life in Mumbai was paralysed from the first rains of the season). It was quite interesting to note that most trains were hauled by KYN WCGs...only CR knows what happened to the KYN WCAMs, although I did spot one train with a KYN WCAM3. All trains coming into LNL on their way to PUNE had at least 2 or 3 WCG bankers (pushing the trains from behind up the ghats). These were detached at LNL and sent back (light) to KJT (Karjat) from where they were attached in the first place.

Of course, LNL and chikki go hand-in-hand. It is not clear to me how LNL got itself entangled into this chikki business...neither peanut plantations nor jaggery or sugarcane grow anywhere near LNL. Still, chikkis had to be bought and one had to choose from Maganlal, Rupam, Navratna, and many others.

We decided it would be better if we returned by road (instead of the 1008) since trains were reportedly being halted at CLA because of waterlogging. While returning, at SNPD (Sanpada), we had a flat tyre and apart from that, there were no major incidents. It was clear that the new expressway was making travel faster...much faster. For example, it took us only 0.5 hour from LNL to Khopoli and another 20 minutes later, we were at Panvel. So, in about an hour's time we had reached Vashi from LNL...that is a real improvement over the past, when journeys through the ghats were cumbersome and slow (not to mention the traffic jams because of broken axles of trucks and other heavy vehicles).

And, while at LNL, we stayed at Swiss Resorts. It is supposed to part of the chain that owns the famous Rajdhani group of restaurants. Though the rooms were comparatively cleaner, the food was quite standard and nothing great about it. One gets a feeling that maybe the hotel may be on its wane now...

Apart from that, nothing much in LNL...now that its started to rain, more Mumbaikars will head to their favorite monsoon weekend location...LNL.

Off to LNL

Looks like the trip to UBL (Hubli) will have to wait. I am proceeding today for a short holiday to LNL (Lonavala). While going, I'll be going by the Cool Cab service (from DDR) and while returning, it would be through the 1008 Deccan Express.

I'll be staying at some hotel that I've never stayed before...hopefully, it is good. Reviews after I get back to Mumbai.

Reserved for life

Oh this is getting too much to just sit quiet and not enjoy. The current HRD minister is trying to create more chaos than the previous one. While the previous one succumbed to people's pressure, this one is in a tight spot...only the Supreme can intervene now.

Some chaps (those retired guys get pension as well as money for doling out such crap reports) in some "Commission" came out with some report that recommended some such reservation based on the "caste" that one is born into. Whereas multitudes of people thought we were moving away from the "caste system", it seems these guys want to re-introduce it.

So, it seems, upto 50% seats would be reserved for the "lower castes" (SC, ST, OBC and any other minorities) in education (also professional courses). Someone is also recommending that these reservations be carried over to the jobs in the private sector. While the private sector (especially the IT industry which is supposed to be "knowledge-intensive" - doing VB is supposedly "knowledge-intensive") is crying hoarse that this would adversely impact their competitiveness, I propose that the reservations should be for life:

• Naturally, if people have landed a job not based on merit and competition, they would find the going to be tough indeed - that might work in a governmental setup, but in a private sector, these guys would most likely be sidelined (because many of them may not perform to the same level). As a result, I propose that promotions should also be reserved.
• Taking it further, everything should have reservations - power supply, rations, seats in buses (already some seats are reserved - no harm in reserving more seats - as it is, we commute by standing)
• Very logically, this is going to anger the majority (who should by then be the minority). As a result, one may try to append to their qualifications the "category" to indicate that they are from the general category. For example, Mr. A. B. C., B.E. (General).
  
  

All this fine, but one can see how this has clearly stirred up a division amongst the students (and people). In this article, one can clearly see the animosity that has been generated. My favorite part in the article is how the reserved guys make fun of the others

Look at us, we don'’t have to work hard at all. Our post graduation seats are assured no matter how badly we fare in our exams

There's also the part where the teachers have allegedly threatened the anti-reservation students with "dire consequences" and "appropriate marks" in the examinations.

Knuth tidbits

A few posts ago (this one) I had dropped a reference to Donald Knuth and what he considers as the work of his lifetime, "The Art of Computer Programming", a planned 6-volume series of books on algorithms and related applications. He has been able to complete 4 of those 6 volumes, so 2 more volumes remain to be done.

I was surprised to learn from many of the readers of this blog that they did not know who Knuth is and that they had never heard of him. After a quick confirmation with my (ex)classmate, we concluded that it was indeed very surprising that today's "youngsters" haven't heard of him - during "our" days (13 years ago), there was hardly anyone using the Internet in India - and when the Internet usage is so prevalent now, this should not have been the case. I guess "youngsters" these days are busy browsing other things. (Ah I get it...its the "generation gap"...for us, Knuth, Kernighan, Ritchie and Stroustrup were god...for the current generation, it must be Johny Abraham, Rakhey Sawant, and *Khan...I can see wallpapers of these people on youngster's desktops...that's true).

Anyways, I thought I'll put together some tidbits about Knuth from the various sources now available on the Internet.

• Knuth is a computer scientist (yes, that's a new word for a "discrete" mathematics person) and now a "Professor Emeritus" at the Stanford University.
  
• He did his B.S. (in mathematics) with "summa cum laude" (the highest honors) from the Case Institute of Technology
• His work was found to be so wonderful that by a special vote of faculty, the institute decided to confer the M.S. on him simultaneously along with the B.S.
• He later went on the write 3 volumes of "The Art of Computer Programming" series. These books (in 1999) were named among the best twelve physical-science monographs by the American Scientist in the same league as "Dirac on quantum mechanics, Einstein on relativity, and Einstein's collected papers".
• On the comment's to these books, Bill Gates had announced that if one truly read the books completely and understood them, then the reader should him a resume (to be entitled for a job at Microsoft).
• Knuth has a peculiar style of rewarding readers who point out mistakes in his books: he offers them a reward of $2.56 per mistake found. The 2.56 figure is because 256 pennies make a hexadecimal dollar.
• Version numbers of his TeX software approach the number π, that is versions increment in the style 3, 3.1, 3.14 and so on. Version numbers of Metafont (another system developed by him) approach the number mathematical constant e similarly.
• He has stopped using email since 1990; he claims it helps him to concentrate better. In his own words,
  

"Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things."

• Besides all this, he is an accomplished Pipe Organ player; he has a custom-built pipe organ in his home (with some pipes of the organ being more than 8 feet tall).
  

For more on him or his achievements and the numerous awards that he has won, one could refer to his 35-page CV here.

Masters of Rhythm

When it comes to rhythm, few can match the caliber (and *sound* understanding) of the complexities of rhythm music than Indian classical musicians. (The one that comes a close second would be the African rhythm players.)

Everyone (every "commoner") acknowledges the mastery of Ustad Zakir Hussain (and his late father, the great Ustad Alla Rakha). But, few know that Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was a tabla player prior to taking up santoor as the chief instrument. Because of his background, Sharma can play very complex structures - very few Indian instrumental musicians and singers understand the rhythm aspect - their forte is tone and tune. It is well know that Sharma and Hussain play "nested talas" - that is, a tala within a tala (e.g., a 7-beat tala within a 10-beat tala framework).

That was until I read about Palghat Mani Iyer (now late). Palghat (Palakkad) Mani Iyer had such a mastery of the mridangam (South Indian drum) that it seems he would choose the artiste whom he would accompany, rather than the other way around. Such was his mastery that he could play separate talas simultaneously one with each hand (as mentioned toward the end of this this article). Now that is something...

Truly, masters of rhythm.

End-sem exams over

The end-sem exams for this semester are now over. I can now move over to other things that I've been long postponing...like reading some books, learning some (computer) languages like TeX, visiting the UBL (Hubli) diesel loco shed (he, he...UBL has a stock of WDP4s - this is the currently the fastest running loco in India). Or buying that bicycle...:)

Many posts are languishing in the "draft" stage on this blog...maybe I'll find the time and interest to post some of them too.