Interesting Videos

Here is some information on a few videos I watched recently.

Shaolin Wheel of Life (2001) - It is a great martial arts show (it's not a movie). I would say, a must see. I was fascinated to see this wonderful demonstration of mind over matter.

The Breakfast Club (1985) - Movie for teens (I guess), good for watching once.

Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.
John Bender: Excuse me a sec. What are you babbling about?
Brian Johnson: Well, what I had said was I'm in the math club, uh, the latin, and the physics club... physics club.
John Bender: Hey, Cherry. Do you belong to the physics club?
Claire Standish: That's an academic club.
John Bender: So?
Claire Standish: So academic clubs aren't the same as other kinds of clubs.
John Bender: Ah... but to dorks like him, they are. What do you guys do in your club?
Brian Johnson: Well, in physics we... we talk about physics, properties of physics.
John Bender: So it's sorta social, demented and sad, but social. Right?

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2006)

To improve its relations with Muslim countries, the United States government sends comedian Albert Brooks to south Asia to write a report on what makes followers of Islam laugh.

Majeed: I was the funniest one in school... and the funniest one in explosives training.

Hilarious! Loved the background voices from the call center next to Al Brooks' office in New Delhi (like, "White House, may I help you?").

Double Indemnity (1944) - A drama involving insurance fraud. Fast moving, enjoyable, some funny dialogues. Enjoyed the movie a lot.

[Norton, Keyes's boss, has just tried, unsuccessfully, to convince a client that her husband's death was a suicide]

Barton Keyes: You know, you, uh, oughta take a look at the statistics on suicide some time. You might learn a little something about the insurance business.

Edward S. Norton: Mister Keyes, I was RAISED in the insurance business.

Barton Keyes: Yeah, in the front office. Come now, you've never read an actuarial table in your life, have you? Why they've got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poison, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by TYPES of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of horses, from STEAMBOATS. But, Mr. Norton: Of all the cases on record, there's not one single case of suicide by leap from the rear end of a moving train. And you know how fast that train was going at the point where the body was found? Fifteen miles an hour. Now how can anybody jump off a slow-moving train like that with any kind of expectation that he would kill himself? No, no soap, Mr. Norton. We're sunk, and we'll have to pay through the nose, and you know it.

Casino Royale (2006)- Enjoyed the running chase action scene.

James Bond: Vodka-martini.
Bartender: Shaken or stirred?
James Bond: Do I look like I give a damn?

Glad to note that they (probably) realized that predictability is not a virtue, and got out of that "shaken but not stirred" nonsense (at least for once).

Dec.06 - Jan.07 Vizag Visit

Though you are welcome to watch the following video clip, this probably will not mean anything to you if were not associated with A.U. Sea Sands quarters during 70s, 80s, and early 90s.

P.S. and Gopal made some time to meet me during their whirl wind visit to Vizag in Dec.'06. Shot a short video clip. Gopal is the same cool guy with good sense of humor. P.S. was full of animation, theatrics, and stories - he sure brightened the room and elevated our spirits. I am very happy that I had a chance to meet them after such a long time.

Amazing Physics

Capitol 10K 2007

Rama and I participated in the 30th Annual Capitol 10K race (10 kilometers = 6.2 miles) on March 25, 2007, along with about 16,000 others. Mr. Nicodemus Malakwen of Chapel Hill, NC won this race with a record time of 29 minutes and 42 seconds (World Record - 27:02 minutes). This is very impressive given that he finished a 10K in Mobile, AL just the day before! Rama and I clocked a little more time on our ChampionChips for the finish, but we did it!

The weather was great, live music at every mile mark (like in every year), lively cheering crowd, tons of free food and live music by Duck Soup at the finish line, couldn't ask for anything more. Here are some pics.

Aerial Photo of the participants on Congress Avenue
Rama and me, before starting for the race

At the starting point

Just after the race started

Water Station at Mile # 2. Participants wear some really creative costumes, caps, and hats in this race.

Close to Mile # 3

A marriage proposal near mile # 4!

Close to mile #5

At the finish line - liked this guy with "Austin Rocks" guitar made of cardboard. He said that he ran in all thirty 10Ks in Austin.

Checkout Austin American Statesman for more photographs

The Art of Breathing

About four years ago, Rama and I went to a presentation (an ad campaign, to be precise) on Art of Living (AoL) at UT. An informal introduction was given by a desi graduate student who passed out of IIT B. He spoke very briefly to a curious audience of about 20 (except for Rama and me, all were students). He started by giving all of us a challenge. He asked us to close our eyes for a couple of minutes, and visualize anything EXCEPT an image of a monkey eating a banana. Obviously, we all failed.

Then he told us a few good things about Sudarshan Kriya and assured us that with practice, we can pass the banana/monkey test, and get other great benefits. Finally, talking about fee for the course, he quickly and causally said "the deposit is two fifty". One of the guys from the back row asked "you mean two dollars and fifty cents?" He said "No, it is two hundred and fifty dollars" very casually. There was an awkward silence in the room with disbelief, and there were no further questions. All except us walked out of the room silently, thanking him for the presentation on their way out.

I think expecting $250 from students for an introduction (annual fee is extra) is a bit too much. I asked the presenter later why that course was so expensive. He basically said that Sri Sri travels to about 100 countries every year and that costs money! He also indicated that if it (the AoL) is accepted in the IITs, it must be good!

In later part of that year, Rama I went to see Sri Sri Ravi Shankar when he came to Austin. He was treated like the God. He was sitting high up, on a seat that looked like a throne. He could have refused all that pomp, as he kept saying that he was a regular Joe like us. Anyway, I thought of this experience on reading John Kelso's article on the AoL- here are some excerpts.

I'm getting a little worn out by these money freebies the City of Austin is giving out to just about anybody who staggers up and sticks his hand out. My favorite stunt so far is the $20,000 grant the city gave out to teach people how to breathe. What's next? A $50,000 program on how to nap?

I'm not sure it's a proper use of the city's money to teach people how to breathe. Talk about letting all the water out of the gene pool. If you can't figure out how to breathe without a PowerPoint presentation, I'm not sure you should be encouraged to continue. Seriously, the city gave the nonprofit Art of Living Foundation $20,000 to teach people how to breathe better. The claim is that the breathing exercises taught by this group in yoga classes help folks relax.

The Art of Living Foundation is a spiritual group that began in India, so naturally it has a Web page showing a photo of some bearded swami-lookin' dude in a white robe. The story I read about this said a Dell engineer credited the program with helping him quit smoking. Of course it did. The swami kept taking the cigarette out of his mouth....

I know what. I'll start a foundation and ask the city for $200,000 to fund John Kelso's Institute of Higher Sustenance. Under this program, we would teach Austinites how to eat lunch. This is your lucky day. I'll give you some free breathing instructions: Suck in air. Hold it. Now let it out. If your face turns blue, you're holding it in too long. Repeat five times and send a check for $19.95 to His Holiness the guru John Kelso . . .

When they believe that Sudarshan Kriya is so beneficial, I wonder why didn't they make it affordable for everyone? At least, they could offer a free trial for a few days. I felt like they were running their organization like a regular business. I must say that I did hear great things about AoL and I believe that it is very beneficial.

Closeup Magic With Jean Pierre Vallarino

This guy is amazing!

Not Too Shabby, For Now

The tournament is in the Elite Eight Stage now. Been on the top for the past one week. Though it doesn't mean anything (as final rounds are the deciders + just picked the higher seeds), at least, I didn't have any complaints so far!

Grandmaster of Memory

Recently I was watching a TV show on US Memory Championships. I was curious about what it takes to be a Grandmaster of Memory.

There are now new Grandmaster norms which have come into force after the 2003 World Memory Championships.

1) 1000 digits in one hour

2) Ten decks of cards in one hour

3) Two minutes to memorise one deck of cards

I will sign-up online for the local chapter for memory contests, as soon as I find my misplaced wallet!

Memory quote (source unknown):

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

Awareness

Here is an excerpt that I liked from the book Reflections on a Mountain Lake.

This talk is about areas which pose difficulties for some Westerners when they first come to the Dharma, and which may continue to be problematic for them further along in their practice. I would like to begin by talking about doubt. Perhaps because of our Judeo-Christian background, we have a tendency to regard doubt as something shameful, almost as an enemy.

We feel that if we have doubts it means that we are denying the teachings and that we should really have unquestioning faith. Now in certain religions, unquestioning faith is considered a desirable quality. But in the Buddhadharma, this is not necessarily so. The Buddha described the Dharma as ehi passiko, which means “come and see,” or “come and investigate,” not “come and believe.”

An open, questioning mind is not regarded as a drawback to followers of the Buddhadharma. However, a mind which says, “This is not part of my mental framework, therefore I don’t believe it,” is a closed mind, and such an attitude is a great disadvantage for those who aspire to follow any spiritual path. But an open mind, which questions and doesn’t accept things simply because they are said, is no problem at all.

There is a famous sutra which tells of a group of villagers who came to visit the Buddha. They said to him, “Many teachers come through here. Each has his own doctrine. Each claims that his particular philosophy and practice is the truth, but they all contradict each other. Now we’re totally confused. What do we do?” Doesn’t this story sound modern?

Yet this was 2,500 years ago. Same problems. The Buddha replied, “You have a right to be confused. This is a confusing situation. Do not take anything on trust merely because it has passed down through tradition, or because your teachers say it, or because your elders have taught you, or because it’s written in some famous scripture. When you have seen it and experienced it for yourself to be right and true, then you can accept it.”

Now that was quite a revolutionary statement, because the Buddha was certainly saying that about his own doctrine too. In fact, all through the ages it has been understood that the doctrine is there to be investigated and experienced,“each man for himself.” So one should not be afraid to doubt. Stephen Batchelor wrote a Dharma book entitled The Faith to Doubt. It is right for us to question. But we need to question with an open heart and an open mind, not with the idea that everything that fits our preconceived notions is right, and anything which does not is automatically wrong. The latter attitude is like the bed of Procrustes.

You have a set pattern in place and everything you come across must either be stretched out or cut down to fit it. This just distorts everything and prevents learning. If we come across certain things that we find difficult to accept even after careful investigation, that doesn’t mean the whole Dharma has to be thrown overboard.

Even now, after all these years, I still find certain things in the Tibetan Dharma which I’m not sure about at all. I used to go to my Lama and ask him about some of these things, and he would say, “That’s fine. Obviously you don’t really have a connection with that particular doctrine. It doesn’t matter. Just put it aside. Don’t say, ‘No, it’s not true. ’ Just say, ‘At this point, my mind does not embrace this. ’ Maybe later you’ll appreciate it, or maybe you won’t. It’s not important.”

NCAA Basketball Round # 2 Results

The make of the Sweet 16 is known now. Here are my brackets. Twelve from my first bracket and nine from my second bracket made it into Sweet 16. There are 97 participants in this pool. In my earlier blog post, I wrongly mentioned that there are only 50 participants. I realized recently (from the pool administrator) that many did not register on the CBS.

Position of bracket # 1: Between 3 and 7
Position of bracket # 2: Between 65 and 72
Total number of participants: 97

Ugadi 2007

Ugaadi is the name commonly used for the Hindu New Year. This year it comes on March 20th, (Tuesday). According to the lunar calendar it comes on the first day (Paadyami) in the month Chaitra. There are 60 years in the calendar cycle and the names are repeated again after 60 years. This year is called the Sarvajit Naama Ugaadi. "Sarva" means all, "Jit" means victory. Let us pray that we become victorious in everything from individual to the entire universe in all endeavors.

Names of the Years
Naarada was a brahmachaari. Through Vishnu Maaya he becomes a woman and falls in love with a sage and conceives 60 girls. As a mother Naarada develops attachment to all these 60 girls and he loses them all in a war. Disheartened Naarada takes a dip in the Ganges River after the death of the girls and attains his original state. He seeks a boon from Vishnu that the girls’ names should be immortal. Therefore all the years were named after them, and all the names are feminine. The first name starts with "Prabhava" and the last name ends with "Akshaya". The current year Sarva Jit is the 21st among the 60 names.

Significance
The story that is associated with the festival is "Manmadha Dahanam". Manmadha (God of Love) tries to spoil the penance of Shiva with his arrows of love and to help Uma (Girija) win Shiva. Manmadha was proud of his works of instilling amorous feelings by his very presence in nature as the beauty and scents or fragrance enhances bonding. Instead, angry Shiva gets up disturbed from his penance and burns Manmadha to ashes. His wife Rati, an ardent devotee prays to Shiva and gets a boon from Shiva that at the time of Girija and Shiva Kalyaanam, Manmadha (cupid) would come back to life. Therefore Ugadi is also a "Vasanta Navaraatri" a happy celebration of the return of Manmadha, who spreads his beauty in the Nature and helps replicate the creation.

The flowers that we adore and smell, decorate and garland are the boons of God through Manmadha. The 9 days function concludes with Sri Rama Navami, the celebration of Sri Rama’s birthday, Pattabhishekam and the Kalyanam. Both the legends show how the pride destroys the self, righteousness wins the evil and reinstates peace, happiness and prosperity. Intense devotion of Rati brought Manmadha back, but for the bigger cause of preserving the beauty in Nature. Thus the spiritual meaning of all festivals is Victory over evil through good nature and righteous conduct. Faith and Devotion are behind the success.

Spiritual Significance
We acknowledge the presence of God in the Individual and the Universe. We revere that the time is GOD as we recite "Yugaavad yugakritya" (Vishnu Sahasram) and adore him as Kalaaya Namaha, Kaala-Kaalaaya namha, Kaaldarpa Damanaaya Namaha, and Vishnu is Alankaara Priya. "Ahameva Akshaya Kaalaha" (I am the eternal Time). Vishnu also means that energy that pervades everything, the minutest subatomic particle to the mightiest mountain.

Ugaadi Chutney
The householders acknowledge that they are starting a whole new year with whole new aspirations. The houses are cleaned, adorned with festoons of greenery like Mango leaves, nice foods, sweets are made and feast is enjoyed with special chutney, "UGAADI PACHADI": It has 6 flavors "Shad Ruchulu"

Neem buds or flowers (bitter)
New Jaggery (sweet)
New Tamarind (tart)
New Raw Mango (sour)
Green Pepper (hot)
A little salt

What is Chaandra maana and Sauramaana?
When the years are calculated as per the lunar movement, it is called Chaandra maana (or lunar) calendar. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kashmir follow Chaandra maana calendar. Whereas solar movement (Saura maana) is used in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and they start their new year at a later day. In Kerala the New Year is called "Vishu". Maharashtrians call New Year as "Gudi Padwa". The Gudi, Brahma’s flag (Brahmadhwaj) is hoisted in every house as a symbolic representation of victory and happiness.

The name Ugaadi is derived from Yugam. The beginning of Yugam (Yugaaniki aadi) is Yugaadi. Overtime this has been used every year in the Yugam. According to the Hindu calendar there are four Yugas: Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvaapara Yuga and Kali Yuga.

1. Krita Yuga - dhyana (meditation) 1,728,000 years

2. Treta Yuga - yajna (sacrifice) 1,296,000 years

3. Dvaapara Yuga - archana (worship) 864,000 years

4. Kali Yuga - daana (alms) 432,000 years

In every day life we live in satwa, rajo and tamo gunas and also in different yugas. 4 AM -12 noon is Satwa Guna time and during this period we live in Krita Yugam; 12 noon – 6 PM is Rajo Guna time and during this time we live in Treta Yugam; 6 PM – 12 Midnight we live in Rajo Guna and during this time we live in Dvaapara Yugam and from 12 Midnight – 4 AM we live in Tamo Guna and Kali Yugam.

Source: E-mail from the Hindu Temple of San Antonio

Marathon in the Sky

I recently watched a fascinating news report on homing pigeons on CBS. A member of Staten Island Pigeon Club was interviewed about his preparation for a 340-mile race. He calls it a "poor man's horse racing". They basically release the pigeons about 340 miles away, and time their arrival back into their cages. These fanciers have some neat gadgets for electronically timing arrival of the pigeons without human presence. Here is an excerpt of an article from Racing Pigeon Digest.

It is often claimed that the first homing pigeon was the dove released by Noah, but the sport of racing homing pigeons is of more recent vintage. And no, the homing pigeon is not extinct -- that is the passenger pigeon! Pigeons have been used as message carriers for centuries, but in the 1800s a sport evolved, not over the issue of whether a bird could home, but how fast it could negotiate the distance. By the late 1800s there were races in regularly conducted competitions in the United States of America as in Belgium, Holland and Great Britain.

The homing pigeon is a specifically bred variety of pigeon, unlike the feral pigeons which plague most cities. Homing pigeons are pedigreed and range in cost from free to $250,000. They are free because many fanciers will assist new flyers.

The racing pigeon is reported to be the product of several crossings of different varieties of domesticated pigeons which were then subjected to training and racing. From these evolved pigeons capable of being released several hundred miles from their loft. They could return home with average speeds of 45 to 50 m.p.h., depending on wind conditions. It is very common today to have racing pigeons released shortly after daybreak, 500 air miles from home and the birds are able to orient, and fly all day, arriving at home before nightfall.

How do racing pigeons find their way home? No one knows for sure. Research at Cornell and the University of Pittsburgh indicate that pigeons may have multiple facilities allowing them to determine the correct direction of home. There is little doubt that the sun is the primary orientation clue used by homing pigeons, but there have been experiments which have developed night flying pigeons, thus showing that the sun is not the only available orientation reference. Some scientists believe that pigeons also perceive the earth's magnetic field and utilize it for finding their way home. Other scientists have opined that pigeons may orient through a sense of smell or even low frequency sound via their hearing. Research is still going on at several universities trying to learn the secret of this bird's ability to navigate distances of 1,000 miles or more to return to its owner's backyard loft. But as far as breeders are concerned, the only way to discover if a bird possesses the required homing instinct, as well as athletic ability to do so quickly, is to race them.

Two race seasons are usually conducted every year. Birds bred in any given year are raced in the late summer and fall of that year in a series of races called "young bird races." These races usually start from distances of 100 miles and extend out to 300 miles. There are clubs which regularly engage in 400 mile young bird races and one or two that have 500 mile young bird races. The other season is in the spring and early summer in which all birds hatched in preceding years are allowed to compete. These are the "old bird races" and some birds are raced until seven years of age. These races usually begin at 100 miles and may go out to 600 miles, or even farther. Very few 1000 mile races are flown today.

The rest of this article can be read on the Racing Pigeon Digest

Sea Sands Sollu Sangham Memorial

Though I have these on Flickr, felt like posting these pictures on the Blog to memorialize the great old times.

P.S., Sai, and I spent a couple of hours on the gattu in January 2007. It was painful to see all the changes and the loss of the past glory. The houses are run down, the road was in bad shape, playground was backfilled, wild plants everywhere. Sitting there in the dark with no street light didn't help either in boosting our spirits.

One thing was very obvious - gattu is a lot smaller than it used to be! See the second photo. Raja, P.S., and I sat pretty comfortably. Now, the space was barely enough for Sai and me. I wonder who shaved off a chunk of block so neatly:-)

I Have a Dream

One of the songs in my music collection is a techno-remix song "I have a dream" whose lyrics include, "...we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood...". I was listening to it recently and thought of posting this famous I have dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, delivered on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. This is considered as one of the greatest speeches ever delivered. I like this speech and the choice of words very much.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

BYOB

I have been thinking of start taking a tote bag to the grocery stores, to reduce the use of plastics bags. Starting today, the following article gives me some motivation. I think carrying a bag (or bags) to groceries would be beneficial in three ways (1) it reduces plastics (2) carrying weight, rather than pushing a cart would be an exercise, and (3) Given the limited space, we tend to buy only essentials and potentially reduce purchase of junk stuff. Even if this process is inconvenient and might increase the number of grocery trips, I think that it is worth doing it.

Apparently BYOB translates a little differently in Sweden. At least for IKEA, the privately held assemble-it-yourself furniture chain and Swedish-meatball purveyor, the acronym now means “bring your own bag.” Beginning March 15, all of its U.S. stores will start charging five cents for each plastic bag that customers take their purchases home in. The idea is to encourage the masses to bring their own bags with an eye toward reducing litter—an explicit reminder that what was once free to the customer did not necessarily come without a greater cost.

Read the rest of this article on News Week.

I hope giant stores like Walmart and HEB would also start discouraging the use of plastic bags.

A Critique on Sankara's School of Thought

Extracted this information from Messiah - understanding of the author, followed by his critique. Interesting questions (looks like Advaita is spelled incorrectly by the author).

Advaita

The Sankara school is often called Avaita (non-dualistic) Vedanta or simply Vedanta. As traditionally interpreted, the Sankara school claims that there is ultimately only one reality, Brahman, with which each of us is absolutely identical. Moreover, they claim that Brahman is pure consciousness, without any internal differentiation or characteristics whatsoever. (An analogy to their view of Brahman might be seen by considering what your own consciousness would be like if you were able to completely blank your mind of all internal differentiation and distinctions--that is, if through meditation you eliminated all sense impressions, feelings, and thoughts and simply experienced a state of pure awareness.)

Since Brahman comprises all of reality, and since there are no internal distinctions within Brahman, it follows that ultimately the world of separate entities, distinctions, and characteristics is an illusion. Followers of Sankara claim that this illusion, which they call maya, is produced by ignorance--that is, by our misapprehension of the true nature of Brahman. Salvation therefore consists of experientially realizing, through intense meditation, the Truth about ourselves--namely, that each of us is already identical with Brahman. Once we realize this, ignorance will vanish and we will hence escape from the cycle of rebirths.

An Excerpt from the critique

a. The View is Self-Contradictory: The first problem with the core of Sankara's philosophy is that it seems to be self-contradictory. As advocates of the other Hindu schools of thought have pointed out, if the only reality is Brahman, and Brahman is pure, distinctionless consciousness, then there cannot exist any real distinctions in reality. But the claim that this world is an illusion already presupposes that there is an actual distinction between illusion and reality, just as the claim that something is a dream already presupposes the distinction between waking consciousness and dream consciousness. Moreover, Sankara's idea of salvation--that is, enlightenment through recognition that all is Brahman--already presupposes a distinction between living in a state of unenlightenment (ignorance) and living in a state of enlightenment. So this view contradicts itself by, on the one hand, saying that reality (Brahman) is distinctionless, while on the other hand distinguishing between maya and the truth of Brahman, and by distinguishing between being enlightened and unenlightened.

b. The Impossibility of Maya: A second and related problem is that ignorance, which Sankara and his followers claim is the source of maya, could not exist. According to the Sankara school, Brahman is perfect, pure, and complete Knowledge, the opposite of ignorance. Hence, ignorance cannot exist in Brahman. But, since nothing exists apart from Brahman, ignorance cannot exist apart from Brahman either. Thus, it follows that ignorance could not exist, contrary to their assertion that our perception of a world of distinct things is a result of ignorance.

Oliver Twist

Rama and I went to Palace Theater in Georgetown and watched Charles Dickens' Oliver last Saturday. It was an excellent show with good musical scores. Stu, one of my colleagues who plays Trombone in the Orchestra for several shows at the Palace, has invited us to this show. The Theater was packed, and we ended up on the balcony as managed to reach there just 15 minutes before the show.

Here is a clip from Oliver. This is not from the show we watched - the sets, the music, and the actors in Georgetown theater I think were better.

Homer Simpson in Bangalore

If we can manage to overlook stereotyping, the following clips have some good humor.





I loved the quote "I have never been less angry to receive a book"!

Intelligent Design - Part Deux

Read the article The Incredible Design of the Earth and Our Solar System from a link provided on Raama’s blog. Mr. Rich Deem (the author of this article) is basically arguing that a set of apparently well-orchestrated astronomical events that resulted in the formation of Earth, are an indication that we (the carbon-based life forms) were created by a Designer. To support his belief in intelligent design, he elaborated on twelve factors that contributed to the kind of climate we have now. I enjoyed reading his persuasive and informative argument.

Like many, I too believe in intelligent design. I believe in it not because it has a stamp of approval from the scientific community. I believe in it because it makes sense to me, and I don’t need a validation from anybody. I am yet to see a defensible scientific basis to support intelligent design.

Though the information gathered by Mr. Deem in the above-mentioned article is fascinating, I think that his conclusions are not sufficiently defensible. Mr. Deem's conclusions are basically dependent on our understanding of conditions on the Earth, Mars, and Venus. The crux of his argument is:

The Earth has favorable climate for life, and we see life on the Earth. Venus and Mars have harsh conditions, and we don't see any life there. Therefore, we can conclude that we need favorable conditions for sustenance of life.

This, I think is circular logic. I can argue that we are calling the conditions "favorable", merely because we managed to evolve under these conditions. How can we can rule out the possibility that life could also evolve under harsh conditions? "Favorable conditions" is a subjective term. If a creature managed to evolve at say at -200 degrees Centigrade, it would think that Siberia is hot as hell! So, on watching favorable climates supporting life, we can’t say that any other (vastly dissimilar) climates will not sustain life. We found life in extreme conditions (from our perspective) on the Earth itself, near volcanic vents in Mariana Trench and in the Arctic.

To make a defensible statement that our terrestrial climate is necessary for origin of life, we must conduct a scientific study – define a control volume, collect adequate number of representative samples from this volume, and see if the data indicates that life (if any) exists only in Earth-like climates. If we find life on one asteroid with a climate dissimilar to that of the Earth, the 12 factors that Mr. Deem specified will have no meaning.

We have a major hurdle for conducting this experiment (even if we manage to travel at the speed of light) – Our control volume is the universe, which is infinite to our knowledge. So, it is not possible to collect a set of samples and call it a representative of the universe. Ergo, we probably cannot (at least, based on what we know now) define boundaries for conditions conducive for life in rest of the universe.

All we know now, is that we did not find evidence of life on Venus and Mars, based on our very limited investigations. We must remember that these two planets are only a few light-minutes away from us. Even if we manage to prove conclusively that there is no life on Mars and Venus, Dr. Deem would only have two data points supporting his argument. With this extremely limited information, how can we talk about the possibility of life and climatic conditions say in Andromeda galaxy, the nearest major galaxy to our Milky Way, which is about 2,000,000 light years away, based on what we know now?! We have no clue on 99.9999...% of the universe.

Not finding life on Venus and saying that life is not possible on bodies that are unlike Earth, is like picking up a fist full of sand and declaring that “I don’t see any gold in this sand. Therefore, I conclude that there is no gold on planet Earth"!

In conclusion, I see the following shortfalls in Mr. Deem's argument.

(a) To begin with, we can’t say for sure that there is no life on Venus. Sure, we observed surface temperatures of around 457 degrees Centigrade, and about 96% CO2 in the atmosphere on Venus. So what? If there is life in these conditions, for that life, conditions on Earth would appear unbearable! They would come to the same kind of conclusion that Mr. Deem arrived at – “Nope, it is not possible for life to exist on Earth – there is too much nitrogen, too much oxygen, it is too cold, atmosphere is too thin, not enough green house effect, ...".

I agree that it appears unlikely for life forms to exist on Venus. But how can we be sure of that? If there were life, there is no guaranty that it would reflect light within the wave lengths visible to us. So, we can't say anything conclusively, at least until we study these planets a little bit more.

(b) Even if we manage to prove that there is no life on Venus, I think that it wouldn’t prove or disprove anything. As I mentioned above, our universe is so large that there may be planets out there with life forms evolved in extreme climatic conditions (again, according our standards). If they visit our planet, our conditions would be equally harsh to them!

(c) Mr. Deem mentioned how it was necessary for a set of events to happen to give us the climate we have now. The problem is, this kind of logic would apply to any grain of matter in this whole universe. After all, for creating any object, a set of events should occur in a precise fashion, as no two objects are identical.

(d) If God is Omni-present and He (She/It) is the epitome life, how can there be any inanimate object in this universe? I think that there is life every where. We (at least, many among us) just are not blessed with the capability of realizing it.

I wrote this predominantly based on my intuition. I will try to get Mr. Deem's input on this, and correct my thought process as necessary.

Howdy!

Remember old Telugu movies? - the actor puts on a small wig and that's it. No one recognizes him except the viewers. I used to think that it was silly. How can some one transform themselves (like in one minute), into a totally unrecognizable character? I proved myself wrong last week. Yes, it's me in picture* above.

I went to Greyhound Station with this get up to pickup Rambabu, when he visited us last weekend. It took me less than 5 seconds to put this on, and I did it in the bus station itself, a few minutes before his arrival. I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror. I put this on, and I waited by the gate for Rambabu. He got out of the bus, came through the gate, made eye contact briefly, and looked right through me as if I were a stranger.

He was going into the terminal and I followed him. I passed him and made eye contact again - no response or recognition still. As he was expecting me at the bus station, he stopped at a point to pull out his cell phone to call me. I went and stood in front of him and made eye contact again, while he was holding his cell phone. This time I said non-verbal "Howdy" by raising my eye brows. He stared at me for a second, but no acknowledgement.

He started calling me (I kept my phone on vibrate just to make sure that I don't get caught) on my cell phone, and my cell started vibrating. I couldn't hold it any longer and I had to come clean. A few bystanders looked at me like I was crazy; it didn't bother me as they got it right! All this happened very quickly and no living beings were harmed or terribly inconvenienced during this experiment! If some of our friends show up in this get up, I sure wouldn't be able to recognize them either. So, Rambabu and I had some fun in the bus station.

Rama and I enjoyed Rambabu's company very much. We are glad that he made time to visit us, in spite of his hectic schedule. We went for a refreshing long walk on the Town Lake last Saturday, and went to Barsana Dham on Sunday. I am very glad that he works so close to Austin, and I am looking forward to keep meeting him in the future.

*If my colleagues see this, I am afraid that they might insist that I keep this on, saying "you look a lot better this way"!

Get a Grant for a Buck!

An unknown number of new George Washington dollar coins were mistakenly struck without their edge inscriptions, including "In God We Trust," and made it past inspectors and into circulation, the U.S. Mint said today.

The properly struck dollar coins, bearing the likeness of George Washington, are inscribed along the edge with "In God We Trust," "E Pluribus Unum" and the year and mint mark. They went into circulation Feb. 15. The Mint struck 300 million of the coins, which are golden in color and slightly larger and thicker than a quarter.

About half were made in Philadelphia and the rest in Denver. So far the Mint has received reports of error coins coming from Philadelphia, Mint spokeswoman Becky Bailey said. She said it was unknown how many coins didn't have the inscriptions.

Ron Guth, president of Professional Coin Grading Service, one of the world's largest coin authentication companies, said he believes that at least 50,000 error coins were put in circulation. "The first one sold for $600 before everyone knew how common they actually were," he said. "They're going for around $40 to $60 on EBay now, and they'll probably settle in the $50 range."

Production of the presidential dollar entails a "new, complex, high-volume manufacturing system" that the Mint will adjust to eliminate any future defects, the Mint said. "We take this matter seriously. We also consider quality control a high priority. The agency is looking into the matter to determine a possible cause in the manufacturing process," the statement said.

The coin's design already has spurred e-mail conspiracy theories saying that the religious motto was purposely omitted from the Washington dollars. That rumor may have started because the edge lettering cannot be seen in head-on photographs of the coins. The Washington dollars are the first in a series of presidential coins slated to run until 2016.

After Washington, the presidents to be honored on dollar coins this year will be John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Ms. Bailey said the striking of the Adams coin, expected to roll out in mid-May, will proceed as planned. "We are adjusting the manufacturing process to try to eliminate the problems," she said.

Source: The Washington Times

Mysore Sandal

Having used the sandals to the fullest extent, Rama (my wife) could call it, Mysore Sandal!

In Sea Sands lingo, using anything to its limit is called "fullu kittu baatu"!

Are We Omnipresent?

In his recent article in Times of India, Dr. Deepak Chopra (DC) said that our location in space is a matter of perception, and the truth is that we are everywhere. Here is an excerpt from DC's article that I borrowed from Raama's blog.

An interesting insight that comes from both Vedic Science and Jewish Kabbalah is that the center of our awareness is the center of all space and time. It is at once everywhere and nowhere. But let’s assume for a moment that indeed your awareness is located where you are sitting. If this universe has infinite dimensions — and physicists assure us that it does — then infinity extends in all directions from where you are. You are in the center of the universe, but so am I, because infinity extends in all directions from where I am. Infinity also extends in all directions from a peasant in China, a dog in Siberia, and a tree in Africa. The truth is, I am here, but I am also everywhere else because here is there from every other point in space.

I am not sure if I understood DC's analogy correctly. Let us consider two points (1,1,1) and (2,2,2) in 3-D. Say that they are enclosed in a finite X,Y,Z space where X=Y=Z=5. Now, is DC saying that as X,Y, and Z tend to infinity, 1 tends to be equal to 2? Is he saying that a set of parallel railroad tracks would meet each other, if they both have infinite length? If so, wouldn't it mean that money in the bank is as good as money in our pockets? Is he saying that a cake in any bakery is as good as cake in our stomachs?

I am wondering as to how an awareness that all we see and feel is an illusion helps us in dealing with day-to-day issues of the world we live in? Even if we are able to convince ourselves that our world is nothing but our perception, I imagine that we would still need food to live and air to breathe. If we can't manage these, we might experience decay and death slowly. This would be painful (albeit pain and death are perceptions) and pain is not a desired stimulus, to say the least.

If we fully realize that in the grand scheme of things, we are nothing but a transient blip of energy absorption and radiation from a minuscule portion of the universe, we probably would be detached and happy. I guess this is the essence of DC's message. I would greatly appreciate if readers can share their insights on this matter. I have a feeling that I did not understand DC's message correctly.

A Glass of Water

A lecturer, explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranging from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home -- you can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

"So, my friends, why not take a while to just simply relax. Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Life is short. Enjoy it!"

Source: eRichards Consulting

Public Enemy No. 1

A news article today reminded me of Aryan, name of my childhood buddy Som's cute little son. It is unfortunate that some radical elements in the West managed to tag a negative connotation to this sweet name.

According to Wikipedia:

Aryan (/eərjən/ or /ɑːrjən/) is an English language word derived from the Sanskrit and Iranian terms ārya-, the extended form aryāna-, ari- and/or arya- (Sanskrit: आर्य, Persian: آریا). Beyond its use as the ethnic self-designation of the Proto-Indo-Iranians, the meaning "noble/spiritual one" has been attached to it in Sanskrit and Persian.

According to an article on Court TV, Public Enemy No. 1, a White supremacist gang, is gaining clout after forging alliance with Aryan Brotherhood. Here are some excerpts from this article.

The white supremacist gang Public Enemy No. 1 began two decades ago as a group of teenage punk-rock fans from upper-middle class bedroom communities in Southern California. Now, the violent gang that deals in drugs, guns and identity theft is gaining clout across the West after forging an alliance with the notorious Aryan Brotherhood, authorities say.

Law enforcement officials trace the gang's rise to shifts in the power structure inside prisons. The Aryan Brotherhood has long been the dominant white supremacist gang behind bars, with the Nazi Low Riders acting as its foot soldiers on the outside for drug dealing and identity theft. In 2000, officials reclassified the Low Riders as a prison-based gang and began sending its members to solitary confinement as soon as they were imprisoned.

In the past three years, its ranks have doubled to at least 400, but authorities suspect there could be hundreds of other members operating under the radar. They said heavy recruiting is taking place throughout California and Arizona, and members have been picked up by police in Nevada and Idaho. "They move around. We find them everywhere," said Lowell Smith of the Orange County Probation Department.

Public Enemy is now involved in identity theft. Booth said the gang has gone from swiping personal information from mailboxes and trash to stealing entire credit profiles with the help of girlfriends and wives who take jobs at banks, mortgage companies and even state motor vehicle departments. Money from those operations is used to fuel its methamphetamine business, he said.

Happiness

Each day is the first day of the rest of our lives and offers us the opportunity for a new start. We must learn to live each day to the fullest, and we can do that only if we learn to live in the present. Too many of us consider individual days as little more than stepping stones towards goals in the distant future. We think of them as rungs on a ladder that will move us a little closer to the top. That is no way to live our lives. What if we reach the top of the ladder only to realize that the ladder is against the wrong wall?

Happiness and success are journeys--not destinations--and we can never find happiness or success at the end of any road. Instead, we must travel a road where these conditions exist along the route every step of the way. If we can't find happiness and success in the present, we will never find them in the future. Those who find true happiness pursue the goal of achieving as much success, and finding as much happiness, as possible each and every day of their lives.

One of the great paradoxes of our time is that so many people seem to believe that the surest routes to happiness are the accumulation of material wealth and the attainment of social status. "If I can just become rich and famous, I will be truly happy," so many of us think. But life just doesn't work that way. Since the hunger for fame and fortune is never satisfied, the more fame or fortune a person attains, the more he or she craves.

We must find happiness within ourselves--not in the external world. For many people, happiness comes from the simple things in life and from trying to make others happy. Happiness is contagious, and the more of it we give to others the more we will have for ourselves. Each day we have a new opportunity to find happiness; and unless we are able to learn to be happy on a day-to-day basis, we will probably never find true happiness. Certainly there are times, such as after the loss of a loved one, when we are hurting so much that we cannot find happiness in the immediate future. But, during those periods when we have not recently suffered a major loss, all of us should be able to find at least some happiness in each and every day. If we can't, perhaps we are traveling the wrong road.

Source: Allen W. Smith

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

This is a clip from one of my favorite episodes of Simpsons. A must see for all desis.



Adultivity, store credit only, 13 stripes for good luck - real classics!! For those who did not have the pleasure of meeting Apu, here is a brief introduction to this wonderful character.

Texas' Independence Day

On the eve of Texas' independence day, I thought of memorializing some interesting facts about Texas.

On this day, 171 years ago (in 1836), Texas declared its independence from Mexico, and existed as the independent Republic of Texas for nearly a decade. In 1845, it joined the United States as the 28th state. Austin is the Capital of Texas. Texas is popularly known as the "Lone Star State"

The state's name derives from a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai meaning "those who are friends," "friends," or "allies." With an area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km²) and a population of 23.5 million in 254 counties, the state is second-largest in both area and population—behind Alaska and California, respectively. Texas is larger than France.

Texas boasts that "Six Flags" have flown over its soil: the Fleur-de-lis of France, the national flags of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.

Texas is one of the top film making states in the United States, just after California and New York. Austin, Texas is now one of the leading film making locations in the country. Between 1195 and 2004, more than $2.75 billion has been spent in Texas for film and television production. If Texas were a nation, its economy would rank as the eighth largest in the world, according to the Comptroller's Fall 2004 Texas Economic Update. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco, Texas in 1885. There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper.

As of 2004, the state has 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6% of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal immigrants (illegal immigrants account for more than one-third of the foreign-born population in Texas and 5.4 percent of the total state population).

Texas has a vibrant live music scene in Austin boasting more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city, befitting the city's official slogan as The Live Music Capital of the World. Austin's music revolves around the many nightclubs on 6th Street and an annual film, music, and multimedia festival known as South by Southwest. The longest-running concert music program on American television, Austin City Limits, is videotaped on The University of Texas at Austin campus or Zilker Park. Austin City Limits and Waterloo Records run the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual music and art festival held at Zilker Park in Austin.

Texas is home to many of the tallest skyscrapers in the United States. The Houston skyline has been ranked fourth-most impressive in the United States when ranked primarily by height, being the country's third-tallest skyline (after Chicago and New York City) and one of the top 10 in the world; however, because it is spread over a few miles, most pictures of the city show only the main downtown area. Houston has a system of tunnels and skywalks linking buildings in downtown. The tunnel system also includes shops, restaurants, and convenience stores.

Houston Downtown

Austin Downtown

References: Wikipedia, Business and Industry Data Center, CIA, Dr Pepper Museum

Good for a Hindu or a Jew!

Liked this Al's quote.

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. - Albert Einstein

Fun Fact: King Ranch in Texas is the largest ranch in the world, and is larger than the state of Rhode Island!