ramble-mania

Logic and Algorithms.

2009-12-03T00:54:00.000-08:00

Its no more unrequited love - this winter I plan to start a website dedicated to 'identifying interesting problems on Logic and Algorithms'.

1) NP Completeness.

2) Satisfiability.

3) Algorithms on strings.

4) Programming Languages - Python.

For motivation I did a random search that had the second hit something like this.

"As the hardware is getting cheaper and faster everyday, if you can get things done than investing time on efficiency of algorithms, you are a winner in the current business world."

munch of the day.

2009-10-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Can you feel it? Sure I can :-)

I am reminded of those days when everything I do, I do it for a prize.

2009-09-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Federer look-alike

2009-09-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

Link

“WTF is wrong with this world!”

2007-10-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Summer times - “WTF is wrong with this world!”

Well apart from work, there were at least a million activities to do. While some get involved in arcade while others in pool, some pick some drinks and chat with the girlfriends, while others simply go tango-ing. If at all there is one soul who sit right in the middle of all this and thinking “WTF is wrong…” ?

And there was this Boat cruise, a beautiful large boat cruising along all the interns and their guests. You cannot expect a better trip on the seas off SFO on the moonlight sipping beers and playing say no-to-girls-when-they-try-to-tease-you games. Well occasionally you might spot a dark figure in the moonlight at the end of the boat, sitting motionless and highly contemplative, amidst all this fantasy gamers, thinking “WTF is wrong…”

There was this girl (Ramya – name changed mainly fearing her husband might bash her up after seeing this post, say, after 20 years), good looking and with great assets. No wonder I was totally into only one direction, “her” direction. Every time we meet in the Namaste Café smiling faces crop up and small “Hi”. Once out of excitement I approached her “What about a Coffee?” and that’s it, and could hardly see her for the rest of the days. I could imagine what must have been running all over her mind “Well, he would call me for a coffee, then a date, and will have all the fun in this world and I am ditched”; Perfectly normal. And I would have appreciated if she had told me this straight on face, at least I will be happy to know my reckoning is correct. Well if she later realizes that she was horribly wrong, then again I will still be there sitting in one end thinking “WTF is wrong…”

Yeah the summer was great, I did a lot. Yeah a lot! Scootering, skate boarding, and racing, and what not! Well, I wish I could have done more and it all started when I called up home,

Amma: “enna?” (what?)
Me: “I got an internship at Google”
Amma: “enna adhu?” (what is that?)
Me: “Gooooooooooooogle”
Amma: “enna Goggle-aa?”
Me: “No no, Google! amma”
Amma: “ennavo po!” (ok that’s something)
Me: “No no it’s not something, its Google G-O-O-G-L-E”
Amma: “Ok ok ozhunga saapidu” (ok ok eat well)

And the phone was cut and so is the story of my Internship.

Kudos to 2007 batch.

2007-07-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

I remember our batch (2002) lost in semi.
This one is on narasimha avatar and batch won the first prize in Saarang 2007.

Reporter's affair.

2007-07-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ha ha ha, a real funny situation.

What if a reporter does news report of LA Mayor's extra-marital affair? What if the girl whom he is having an affair is the reporter herself?

Will she still report it as 'Mayor is having an affair with me" (That will awesome, I would love to watch it)?

or Will she cover up the news? which is again unethical!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/us/06mayor.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

New poll

2007-07-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

Thought for the day.

2007-05-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

I certainly think that professionalism is very important...To be a proper professional you need to think about the context and motivation and justifications of what you're doing...You don't need a fundamental philosophical discussion every time you put finger to keyboard, but as computing is spreading so far into people's lives you need to think about these things...I've always felt that once you see how important computing is for life you can't just leave it as a blank box and assume that somebody reasonably competent and relatively benign will do something right with it.

-- Karen Sparck Jones

Quote of the day.

2007-04-14T23:04:00.001-07:00

When the nervous energy of the brain runs down then the mind switches off logical thinking and functions just in modes of emotion or desire.

courtesy - Jaycee

News update.

2007-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

STMicroelectronics' Nomadik(TM) Application Processor Selected for LG's New JoY Smartphone
Tuesday February 13, 2:00 am ET

LG chooses ST's Nomadik Multimedia Application Processor with pre-integrated S60 platform to power its first S60 smartphone products

GENEVA, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM - News) announced today that LG Electronics has selected ST's award-winning* Nomadik(TM) multimedia application processor technology, together with ST's pre-integrated S60 Platform, for LG's first S60 phone, called JoY...

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070213/nytu027.html?.v=89

Courtesy - Ashish srivastava (bhaiyya!)

V-day.

2007-02-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

To all the cupid's failures...
Valentine's day condolences.

2007-01-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

After resigning my job in library, took my laptop and opened orkut as usual and ding *#$%^???

Today's fortune:You are next in line for promotion in your firm

Happy pongal.

2007-01-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

Wish you all Happy Pongal.

You can check out an interesting site pongalfestival.org from kendriya vihar, Noida.

Item number.

2007-01-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Can not hold laughing in retrospect of good old times.

This was a piece from Nayan's marriage in 2005.

Wild guess.

2006-12-28T09:59:00.000-08:00

Guess You-know-who.

1) Tom Marvolo Riddle - One of the founders of Hogwarts himself namely, Salazar Slytherin.

or

2) Voldemort is a split personality of Harry himself (my bet) - Another connection, Prof Snape giving off his life in the end to save Harry, thats the whole point of even Dumbledore to die in the hands of Snape. All the death eaters, malfoys, Blacks, are nothing but doing good in controlling Harry's other side. Sounds crazy huh?

Wow!

2006-12-17T02:01:00.000-08:00

This was the description of one of the courses that was offered next semester :)

COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

550.672 Graph Theory

Spring 2007

Writing in Nature in 1878, J.J. Sylvester (the first professor of mathematics at the newly established Johns Hopkins University) coined the word “graph” to describe mathematical structures consisting of objects called “vertices,” some pairs of which are joined by “edges.” The word “graph” comes from “graphical formula” for an organic molecule. The vertices of a graph are abstractions of the atoms and the edges are abstractions of the bonds between the atoms. Today, graph theory is a vibrant area of research attracting the interests of pure and applied mathematicians as well as computer scientists.

In this course we will emphasize graph theory, i.e., our focus will be on developing the mathematical foundations of the subject. Heavy emphasis will be given to proof writing. Our topics include trees, connectivity, Eulerian and Hamiltonian cycles, matching, vertex/edge coloring, Ramsey theory and planar graphs.

Prerequisites: 550.171, and 110.201 or 550.291

Text: D.B. West, Introduction to Graph Theory, 2nd Edition

Time: MTW 10
Section 1: F 10:30

550.472 and 550.672 meet concurrently

Instructor: Edward Scheinerman
Whitehead 205
410 516-7210
ers@jhu.edu

Power of expression.

2006-11-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

I am writing this piece while in library. It was an odd day after long restless days of assignments and tests. When I entered the systems room in the B-level, I already started feeling dizzy which resulted from continuous lack of proper food and sleep.

I opened my laptop, hey! I am back to this junk world of Gmails, Orkuts, Myspace and what not. I could see how dormant I was for the past six months, earlier dreaming about new graduate life later dreaming about the past life, has led me to pass no more than very few google hits.

Then I got a subscription mail from this JoelOnSoftware thing which lead me the rest of the hours peacefully and not less productively. The JoelOnSoftware.com is one heck of an archive of articles related to software engineering, business, coding, careers, anything and everything I would like to spend time on. Thanks mainly to Paramanand Singh, for introducing me to this one great site couple of years back.

How does a software click? Is it the efficient implementation? Or does it involve breakthrough ideas? Does it have a business appeal? Or more importantly does it convey clearly on what it wants to convey?

The answer is weighted mix of all the above with considerable weight given to the last point, that is making it easily understandable. (Like the one found in this specification by Linus Trovalds). The difference between a tolerable programmer and a great programmer is that the ability of the later to communicate his ideas better. Another example is Firefox, by Blake Ross & co., though a complex implementation it is growing at rapid rate. Besides much of the innovation like tab browsing and efficient footprint, it is the clarity of the specification given by Blake (as in article of ddj.com) that made the software click.

Clear write ups enable the software to be widely followed by the masses, as a result, more and more people view your ideas and you emerge as a winner. Quite simple!

Happy Deepavali.

2006-10-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

Things supposed to be done before this deepavali (set last year):

1) Did you get a girlfirend? (hmm... pssst... uuuuuu... no!)
2) I know you would fail in step 1, any bright or vague or dim or ray like prospects? (Darn!!)
3) How closer did you get, anything better than the feat that you achieved in 2004 when you asked a girl to get a ticket for movies cos the ladies' line was short? (I give up!)
4) Any other activities, like badminton, violin or juggling? [Nope, cudnt find time :( ]
5) So, you didn't get a girlfriend, you are not even into improvement and you have no other activities, so you must be doing Master's in CS. Are you fully into it. (Oh shit, I dropped a course today!)
6) Any plans to put up a checklist for 2007, better not!

Ladies and Gentlemen, let this Deepavali bring lots of joy, so lots that you will start celebrating when its not deepavali, and you celebrate much that you start enjoying deepavali again and the cycle continues... (Now I know why exactly the other side doesnt even bother to turn in your direction)

Vijay's guide to Paris

2006-10-11T04:45:00.000-07:00

Vijay's guide to Paris:

Metro (M) Stops in Bracket.
French (F) Translations are also in brackets.
Common Tourist Attractions:
1) Eiffel Tower (F - Tour Eiffel, M - Bir Hakeim)
2) Louvre Museum (F - Musée de Louvre, M - Palais De Royal Louvre)
3) Arc De Triumphe ( M - Charles de gaulle Etoile)
4) Notre-Dame Cathedral (M - I dont Remember)
5) Sacre - Coeur Basilica / MontMartre
6) Chateau De Versailles ( For this you have to take a RER-C )
7) Champs Elysees (M - Charles des Gaulle Etoile, dont forget to have a stroll on this street from Arc De Triumphe to Concorde.)
8) Disney Land (RER - A)
9) Montparnasse (I dont remember)
10) Opera (M - Opera)
11) Place Vendome (M - Opera)

My Personally Marked Places :
1) Moulin Rouge (M - Blanche)
2) Roland Garros (M - Pont Du Accentueil)
3) Stade De France ( French Football Stadium, M - I dont Remember)
4) Pont du L'Alma (Tunnel where Princess Diana was killed, M - Alma Marceau)
5) Boat trip covering the whole of Paris. (M - Pont Neuf)
6) Palais De Elysees. ( M - Champs Elysees Clemenceau)
9) Madelin. (M - Concorde)
10) Statue of Liberty. ( M - Bir Hakeim)

Paris Night Life:
1) Moulin Rouge
2) Dont ever miss "La Loco" just pay and enter, its cheap and its just touching near to Moulin Rouge. (M - Blanche)
2) Place Pigalle (M - Pigalle)
3) Le Marais (M - I dont remember)

Shopping:
1) La Fayette near Opera
2) Barbes Rochercheu and shop called Tatti(For cheap Perfumes) (M - Barbes Rochercheu)
3) Champs Elysees - Its one of the costliest places in the world, do u have any guts to shop here?

English Book Shop:
W.H.Smith (outside concorde metro stop) here you get the France Guide Books.

Tamil Area:
La Chapelle , there you get ananda vikatan, kumudam etc. go to rajah fast food to have idli and dosai. Go to the theatre near by (i dont remember its name) to see a tamil movie (i saw pithamagan out there).

Here is the Plan for the Paris If you are planning for 2.5 days( minimum time you require to skim through the paris).

1st Day
------
First find out if Louvre musueum is opened on sunday and monday. If not saturday afternoon visit the Louvre musueum. The metro is Musee de Louvre. See the Monolisa, statue of venus, works of michelangelo and some priceless drawings in this musueum. Hey, on first sunday of every month entry is totally free, if you are going on the first weekend of the month then change your plan accordingly.

2nd Day
------
If Versaille palace is open, go and visit this. This is in the suburbs of Paris. Ask your hotel for help in going to this palace. In French Chateau de Versailles. Visit the Kings or Queens bedrooms, also visit the hall of mirror. Take a Petit Train and have a glimpse of the gardens surrounding it (Petit Trianon, Grand Trianon and Grand Canal). Its a paradise for the photographers. Try to leave as early as possible. Have Lunch.
(This should be over by 2PM)

Go to Arc e Triomphe. Go and see the Arc. Do not cross the road on this dangerous round about. There is a underground path to reach the arc. You could get good panoramic view of paris and of Avenue Champs Elysee from here. Then walk on the Champs Elysee. Be careful of pick pocktes here. This is supposed to be the most beautiful road in the planet for Parisians. Stop near Lido and take photos. Continue on Elysee road and do window shopping. Try to have a glimpse of the Elysee palace (Palais de Elysee), this is the French Presidential palace. This is midway off Elysee avenue. Continue and you will see Grande Palace and Petit Palace. Then walk upto Concorde. Take photos and see the statues of women which represent French cities. Cross the bridge and you see the French Parliment in front of Concorde, Also you get a view of Eiffel Tower. Walk upto Eiffel from Concorde called Tour Eiffel. Also on the way get a glimpse of Invalides. In Eiffel go upto 3rd floor. After coming down from the Tour cross the road and goto Trocadoro to get the best pictures of the Eiffel.

3rd Day.
------
Goto Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris. Go inside and see the glass work. As monday is a religious day be careful do not make noise, remove the hat. Then walk on the quai of river Seine towards Eiffel Tower. Stop at St-Michel and take photos. Continue, you will see the oldest clock in Paris. Then take a boat trip from Pont Neuf bridge. This will take and show you all the monuments in Paris. After that if
you are still fit without eating a good rice and curry for 3 days, goto Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. This is white church on top of a small hill. And comment me how the experience was.

Copyright (c) Vijay Venkatasubramani.

2006-09-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Interesting read.

One day In 1939, George Bernard Dantzig, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, arrived late for a graduate-level statistics class and found two problems written on the board.

Not knowing they were examples of "unsolvable" statistics problems, he mistook them for part of a homework assignment, jotted them down, and solved them. (The equations Dantzig tackled are perhaps more accurately described not as unsolvable problems, but as unproved statistical theorems for which he worked out proofs.) Six weeks later, Dantzig's statistic professor notified him that he had prepared one of his two "homework" proofs for publication, and Dantzig was given co-author credit on another paper several years later when another mathematician independently worked out the same solution to the second problem.

George Dantzig recounted his feat in a 1986 interview for the College Mathematics Journal:

It happened because during my first year at Berkeley I arrived late one day at one of [Jerzy] Neyman's classes. On the blackboard there were two problems that I assumed had been assigned for homework. I copied them down. A few days later I apologized to Neyman for taking so long to do the homework — the problems seemed to be a little harder than usual. I asked him if he still wanted it. He told me to throw it on his desk. I did so reluctantly because his desk was covered with such a heap of papers that I feared my homework would be lost there forever. About six weeks later, one Sunday morning about eight o'clock, [my wife] Anne and I were awakened by someone banging on our front door. It was Neyman. He rushed in with papers in hand, all excited: "I've just written an introduction to one of your papers. Read it so I can send it out right away for publication." For a minute I had no idea what he was talking about. To make a long story short, the problems on the blackboard that I had solved thinking they were homework were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics. That was the first inkling I had that there was anything special about them.

A year later, when I began to worry about a thesis topic, Neyman just shrugged and told me to wrap the two problems in a binder and he would accept them as my thesis.

The second of the two problems, however, was not published until after World War II. It happened this way. Around 1950 I received a letter from Abraham Wald enclosing the final galley proofs of a paper of his about to go to press in the Annals of Mathematical Statistics. Someone had just pointed out to him that the main result in his paper was the same as the second "homework" problem solved in my thesis. I wrote back suggesting we publish jointly. He simply inserted my name as coauthor into the galley proof.

Dr. Dantzig also explained how his story passed into the realm of urban legendry:

The other day, as I was taking an early morning walk, I was hailed by Don Knuth as he rode by on his bicycle. He is a colleague at Stanford. He stopped and said, "Hey, George — I was visiting in Indiana recently and heard a sermon about you in church. Do you know that you are an influence on Christians of middle America?" I looked at him, amazed. "After the sermon," he went on, "the minister came over and asked me if I knew a George Dantzig at Stanford, because that was the name of the person his sermon was about."

The origin of that minister's sermon can be traced to another Lutheran minister, the Reverend Schuler [sic] of the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles. He told me his ideas about thinking positively, and I told him my story about the homework problems and my thesis. A few months later I received a letter from him asking permission to include my story in a book he was writing on the power of positive thinking. Schuler's published version was a bit garbled and exaggerated but essentially correct. The moral of his sermon was this: If I had known that the problem were not homework but were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics, I probably would not have thought positively, would have become discouraged, and would never have solved them.

Thought for the day.

2006-07-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

karmany evadhikaras te
ma phalesu kadacana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango 'stv akarmani

karmani--prescribed duties; eva--certainly; adhikarah--right; te--of you; ma--never; phalesu--in the fruits; kadacana--at any time; ma--never; karma-phala--in the result of the work; hetuh--cause; bhuh--become; ma--never; te--of you; sangah--attachment; astu--be there; akarmani--in not doing.

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

Now check out this cool video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5446091014702365336

source: asitis.com

nair tea kadai.

2006-07-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

nilaavula orey astronaut koottam!
namma nair parthaaru, apparam...

chai chai chai...

iPod Blues

2006-06-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

After relishing it for the past six months, my iPod video has become an important part of me. I simply feel handicapped without it, especially when I have to necessarily travel by bus to reach Office in the morning and return in evening; I had fun with all the music videos, games, movies and music. Though it is, and remains to be, convenient at a larger part certain flaws are quite apparant and need an immediate attention from the Apple guys.

Firstly, Music Videos are horribly costly to be bought from iTunes Store. Each costing about $1.99 you will be shelling out nearly $20+ for an entire album (if at all the entire album is available!). So are the TV shows.

Secondly, there are too few to select. I wish that one day I get TV shows of Russell Peters, Friends season 8, Tom& Jerry shows from iTunes store. I thought of having the whole collection of Michael Jackson but ended up with only 7 to 8 music videos of him. And movies - not in the near future as Apple itself is busy negotiating with the English-movie production houses, and getting Tamil movies is something my son or daughter will yearn for.

Thirdly, there is no suitable software that can convert other video formats to iPod format. I tried iTunes to convert MPEG files but instead it stripped off the audio leaving only video. I tried some open software available on the net but most of them generate video streams that are either out of sync or of very poor quality.

Fourth flaw is my favorite as this one is an authentic bug in iPod. When the software hangs there is no way you can reboot the system, instead you need to wait till the battery getting over and recharge it again so that it works.

And the last one, before you go for the latest iPod video make sure you prepare yourself to be careful with the device as its storage is a plain hard disk and not flash, so if you drop it once then don’t bother to pick it at all.

Whatever it is, the convenience of the podcasts is a cool luxury. Not less of its elegant design and simplicity. I love my iPod, and I am sure you too will love it.

Thought for the day.

2006-05-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

"India must be the only country in the world, where people fight to be called backward" - Narayan Murthy

இன்றைய ஹைக்கு.

2006-05-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

அன்பே. உள்ளொன்று புறமொன்று இருந்தால்
வஞ்சன் என்பார்கள்.

நானும் அப்படித்தான்,
உள்ளே நீ, வெளியே நான்.

- ஆற்குட் களஞ்சியம்

Why must we put on our pants one leg at a time?

2006-05-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Got this from one of the forwards.

Q: Why must we put on our pants one leg at a time?

Ans: If we jumped into our pants simultaneously placing both legs in at
one time, we would land heavily on the ground. As a majority of us are
getting dressed at the same time of the morning, the cumulative effect
would Cause an earth tremor. Due to the use of time zones, the tremor
established In Eastern Time would arrive in the central zone at
precisely the moment all those people were jumping into their pants. The
tremor would increase in size exponentially, and proceed west to combine
with the mountain zone folks as they get dressed. As this cycle
encircles the globe, it would feed upon the next day's Tremor and
eventually cause the earth's crust to break apart and float into space.
This is why we put our pants on one leg at a time.

Relient K.

2006-02-19T00:36:00.000-08:00

Lyrics of latest song by someone called Relient K. (You can read it; I am having the pleasure of feeling it)

I watched the proverbial sunrise
coming up over the Pacific and
you might think I'm losing my mind,
but I will shy away from the specifics...

'cause I don't want you to know where I am
'cause then you'll see my heart
in the saddest state it's ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus]
Stop right there. That's exactly where I lost it.
See that line. Well I never should have crossed it.
Stop right there. Well I never should have said
that it's the very moment that
I wish that I could take back.

[Chorus]I'm sorry for the person I became.
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to try and never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been.

I talk to absolutely no one.
Couldn't keep to myself enough.
And the things bottled inside have finally begun
to create so much pressure that I’ll soon blow up.

I heard the reverberating footsteps
sinking up to the beating of my heart,
and I was positive that unless I got myself together,
I would watch me fall apart.

And I can’t let that happen again
‘cause then you’ll see my heart
in the saddest state it’s ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus x2]
[Chorus]

Who I am hates who I've been
and who I am won’t take the second chance you gave me.
Who I am hates who I’ve been
‘cause who I’ve been only ever made me...

So sorry for the person I became.
So sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I’m ready to try and never become that way again
‘cause who I am hates who I’ve been.
Who I am hates who I’ve been.

Srinivasa Ramanujan

2005-12-21T23:57:00.000-08:00

It was yet another nice day chatting with Premnath who was showing his school days stuff. As I came across his 10th standard mark sheet I noticed the distinction in his mark sheet. It was not his 10th standard marks but the distinction of his school - Town High School, Kumbakonam.

Ramanujan's work was mainly categorized in number theory and summation formulas. Ramanujan Conjecture is a complex formula involving Fourier coefficients of prime numbers. This was proved later after a decade. He has made 2500+ such formulations and theorems and the collection of which is still a research topic in many Universities. 'Ramanujan Journal', for example, actively focusses on his works. Also, 'The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan' by Robert Kanigel is one of largely pursued books all over the world.

Born on this day 118 years back, being a mediocre student and as a poor clerk to Fellow of Trinity and finally a Fellow of Royal Society (highest honor in science), his short life and plethora of his works was an inspiration to all.

"I remember once going to see [Ramanujan] when he was lying ill at Putney. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavorable omen. 'No,' he replied, 'it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.'" -G.H. Hardy

story continued...

2005-10-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

The moment I saw the storyline, my evil brain incited me to end with a grin... Profanity was the underlined theme for my continuation of the storyline by smitha, but for the sake of presumably 'good' continuation I strained my brain to write a proper one...

... contd from smitha,

He thought it would be an ordinary journey. Standing behind the pillar he watched the train snort arrogantly into the station. With each snort he was reminded of his grandfather's words "You will fail in the city and return penniless"; with every heavenward whistle, he heard his cousin, "Don't worry. Come here and I will get you a job at the construction site." Now he had a 34-hour journey to prove one of them wrong, and he expected the excitement at the end of the journey. He looked at his ticket once again: compartment S9 berth 23.

He would preserve this ticket. When he would succeed, he would frame and hang it for all to see, as a reminder of the fact that greatness had humble origins, of the day when he set out to seize his destiny. His lips quivered with emotion as he carefully counted the money in his wallet, yet again. Four crisp hundreds and two crumpled fifties. At seventeen, it seemed like a fortune to him. He would carefully plan his expenses. He felt as energetic as the strong breeze that hit his face. He stumbled backward, as the wallet slipped from his hands.

Turag watched it fall, with the fingers of both his hands curled—one gripping the steel bar and the other gripping nothing but air. The wallet settled, the second time it touched the greased stones. It was diminishing in size and moving away from him like an open-mouthed balloon propelled by the gushing air. He knew, well enough, the events that would follow if he pulls the stop-chain. In fact it was a stop-chain that brought a wind of change in his life. Getting off from the thought-train that the stop-chain had evoked, he rushed towards it, with uncurled fingers.

"Don't do that." said a voice from behind him. The command in the voice, more than his curiosity, made him stop and turn around. The first thing he noticed was her eyes which also held the finality her voice seemed to convey. He was still staring deep into the depths of her beautiful eyes when he realized that he had been stopped. He closed his eyes for a second, shook his head to clear out the image -as if wiping the slate clean- and reopened them."I drop my wallet.", he said

Understanding his situation perfectly, she rose to pull the chain.

"Are you alright?" she asked him after the train started again, it was - rita - his cousin's friend. He was surprised that he will reach his destiny so easily and everything would be fine. But not before long he stopped gaping at his fortune the fate had its own game to play.

There was a heavy thud, and the compartment rolled upside down. Kid in one hand, rita struggled to remain fixed, but the latch holding her seat broke off.

Slowly rising from beneath the mound of debris, he searched for her, but it was too late. Tears flowing, he could feel blood rushing within himself. Silence prevailed. Out in the corner, there was a squeak, he turned around and saw the kid left stranded atop the pile of metal wreckage. He took her in his arms and started to walk. Towards life, towards hope, towards destiny...

this should be continued by moosh, boopa, smaraa, paramanand

But how come I ignore my initial thoughts and my evil grin on this storyline. The moment I looked at it, only one thought came to my mind, that is....

read it fully again, to have fun...

... contd from smitha,

He thought it would be an ordinary journey. Standing behind the pillar he watched the train snort arrogantly into the station. With each snort he was reminded of his grandfather's words "You will fail in the city and return penniless"; with every heavenward whistle, he heard his cousin, "Don't worry. Come here and I will get you a job at the construction site." Now he had a 34-hour journey to prove one of them wrong, and he expected the excitement at the end of the journey. He looked at his ticket once again: compartment S9 berth 23.

He would preserve this ticket. When he would succeed, he would frame and hang it for all to see, as a reminder of the fact that greatness had humble origins, of the day when he set out to seize his destiny. His lips quivered with emotion as he carefully counted the money in his wallet, yet again. Four crisp hundreds and two crumpled fifties. At seventeen, it seemed like a fortune to him. He would carefully plan his expenses. He felt as energetic as the strong breeze that hit his face. He stumbled backward, as the wallet slipped from his hands.

Turag watched it fall, with the fingers of both his hands curled—one gripping the steel bar and the other gripping nothing but air. The wallet settled, the second time it touched the greased stones. It was diminishing in size and moving away from him like an open-mouthed balloon propelled by the gushing air. He knew, well enough, the events that would follow if he pulls the stop-chain. In fact it was a stop-chain that brought a wind of change in his life. Getting off from the thought-train that the stop-chain had evoked, he rushed towards it, with uncurled fingers.

"Don't do that." said a voice from behind him. The command in the voice, more than his curiosity, made him stop and turn around. The first thing he noticed was her eyes which also held the finality her voice seemed to convey. He was still staring deep into the depths of her beautiful eyes when he realized that he had been stopped. He closed his eyes for a second, shook his head to clear out the image -as if wiping the slate clean- and reopened them.

"I drop my wallet.", he said

Thud, Thud.

"Come off you moron, I am on tip of the hell" he woke up to the door banging outside. He realized he slept in the toilet. Eyes were heavy, head started to ache again, he slowly dressed himself, flushed and off he go.

But the thoughts kept ringing at the back of his head, "was I dreaming". The dream that kept him sleepless for several days. He had his wallet intact, and, holy god, he never had any cousin, thats Ok, but his grandfather died before he was born. What the hell was the dream about?

Then he remembered about the doctor. His fear rose like mercury in thermometer, inner self had sudden quiver, blood gushing, heart pumping like a engine piston of a heavy truck at high speed.

As scornful as a descendant of English royal-blood towards the hard-core tribe of nigeria, the doctor gave him money to buy medicine for his constipation. "You will fart in the city, if you are penniless" doctor shouted, exactly like his grandfather.

Also he remembered when he was rushing to finish off his unfinished business, this watchman, who was standing under a big board "PUBLIC TOILET", blurted out excitedly "Watch kid, I'll get you a WC at the central site".

Then he entered. Started with the heavenly whistle, this 34-minute journey proved both of them right.

"But what about the wallet I dropped"

"Holy ****"

to be continued by sunnath, smitha again, thaatha

(Everything below the dashed line above should be copied and pasted with every accepted tag)This is a Story Tree and is best nurtured as follows:
1. A blogger can add only 90-100 words (not more or less) at a time.
2. All previous snippets of 90-100 words need to be copied before the new set of 90-100 words are appended.
3. Each entire snippet should be linked to the respective author (and not just the first sentence or so)
4. Characters, scenes, etc. can be introduced by an author
5. Bizarre twists, sci-fi, fantasy sequences are best avoided.
6. A tag must be accepted within 7 days else the branch is a dead branch
7. After appending 90-100, the Story Tree can be passed on to at most 3 bloggers.
8. If more than 1 branch leads to a blogger, s/he is free to choose any one of them but cannot mix the snippets of the individual branches.
9. The Story Tree is best left to grow than concluded
10. Please attach the image of the Story Tree below with each accepted tag (the link address can be copied and used).

2005-09-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

our rajasthan trip.

we planned for a jaipur-bharatpur-agra trip. But ended up only half a day tour in jaipur with quite good shopping. Trip to agra was amazing, it was almost night when we landed there and literally we were searching for taj mahal standing right in front of it.
Anyway, 15 hours of private talk with the future bill gates during the travel was quite insightful.

My cousins' concert

2005-09-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

My cousins' concert

After a long time, I attended something called Carnatic Music concert, that too by my cousins (2nd and 4th from left). Let me confess onething that, unlike both of my parents, I am totally alien to this kind of music. As I was more comfortable with film instrumental songs, western classical, pops, rock or melodies for that matter, but carnatic music was something different, or puzzling quite frankly. But today it was different, I enjoyed it! I was totally immersed by the sync. with which those three violinists played. Perfectly spellbinding.

Sometimes it requires enough maturity & time to taste the essence of beauty in life.

Yet another quote on life.

2005-09-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

I saw this one here.

i have lived nearly fifty years, and i have seen life as it is. pain, misery, hunger... cruelty beyond belief. i have heard the singing from taverns and the moans from bundles of filth on the streets. i have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle... or die more slowly under the lash in africa. i have held them in my arms at the final moment. these were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. no glory, no gallant last words... only their eyes filled with confusion, whimpering the question: "why?" i do not think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived. when life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? perhaps to be too practical is madness. to surrender dreams - this may be madness. to seek treasure where there is only trash. too much sanity may be madness. and maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.

don quixote de la mancha

Chidambarathil oru appasamy (Pre-release review)

2005-08-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

Name says it all...

According to Tamil grammer, 'சிதம்பரத்தில் ஒரு அப்பாசாமி' is wrong. It should be 'சிதம்பரத்தில் ஓர் அப்பாசாமி'.

ஒரு cannot be used before உயிரெழுத்து, so it should be ஓர்.

Atlast, my twelve years of tamil study borne some fruit. uumph...

Cool Poem

2005-08-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

This one I got through one of the forwards. Pretty cool uhh..

"This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital." - I dont know about this shit, but read on...

It was sent by a medical doctor
SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi" <>You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day, It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Nada Nada...

2005-07-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Never thought of posting again, until I slipped into bala's blog. Recent work by the group called Avial is quite commendable. Starting as a no-budget film (not low-budget film), these guys have everything to gain.

Guys, check out this "Nada Nada" by mallu rock band 'avial' (is it by any chance the same avial - mixture of vegetables?)
http://www.poormanproduction.com/musicvideos.htm

Here's an article in The Hindu...
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/12/27/stories/2004122700030100.htm

el héroe

2005-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Carlos as usual kept his cool when he said "I think, I need to break one of my limbs to win this championship", on being asked how he's feeling about the finals next day after his semis victory in Chennai Open 2005.

A perfect display of tenacity could be seen on the night of Jan 9, 2005 when our King gracefully manipulated the Asian player in retaining the title yet another year. Experience coupled with mastery, the champ held the ball intact well within the other end of the court long enough for the opponent to end up in a mistake.

The curtains unveiled when Carlos was 2-0 down in the second set after losing the first set. It all began with a smashing forehand winner and he marched all the way to his second set victory. It was again 5-2 in the deciding set, Paradorn was serving for the championship. Now a backhand rocket from Carlos, for which paradorn looked helplessly as it shot through the base line of other end and through many hearts as well. Scads of rockets continued to splash around for the next four games in the same set which ended in a tie break which again was equally breath-taking. A Spanish feast. Such a slugfest will for sure be remembered for long or at least till Jan 3rd 2006.

His class, persistence and indomitable will to retain the Chennai Open title, only to lend the winning amount for the tsunami-relief is something I believe, regardless of the amount, it to be the best contribution in the world.

Happy New Year

2004-12-31T00:17:00.000-08:00

"Ha" shouted bobby, "Hawaii" replied shannon
"Ha" again bobby, "Hotdog" responded willy
"Ha...Ha..."
"Hollywood" shouted corkorian
"Ha"
"Halo" called mark
"Ha"
"my hat" cried shannon
"Ha...Ha...Ha..."
"Hey, I got what he tries to say...What's it now" wilma questioned
"Midnight, 1st of Jan" crowd replied
"So Bobby means to say HAPPY NEW YEAR". hence the crowd rejoiced.
"Wish you all Happy, Prosperous and Safe New Year." - Vijay Venkat
"gotta kill that bloke, who's stepping on my foot" - Bobby

Timely Joke.

2004-12-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

My Life

2004-12-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

I chose to learn english to better communicate and know world.
I chose tamil to taste its literature and its culture.
I chose AVM School to be part of the thespian community and learn histrionics.
I chose Biology to enjoy the intricacies of human body.
I chose REC Trichy to know, to feel, to understand cultures spread across India.
I chose computer science to understand and hone my analytical skill.
I chose STMicroelectronics not just for a job, but also for the blue color(my favorite) it was donning all the way.
I chose to go to France to understand the french mentality and see their majestic passion for arts.
I chose to live.

I wish I had my 24 years of life like this but

I was chosen to learn english the de facto language.
I was chosen to learn tamil to get incentives in my place.
I was chosen for AVM school for a better score in 12th.
I was chosen for Biology, there was no option.
I was chosen to the REC Trichy, still wondering how?
I was chosen to computer science, you know everyone does it for the money.
I was chosen to STMicroelectronics, no one knows why?
I was chosen to go to france for 3 months, so that I would be in the company for next 30 years.
I was chosen to live, and I am trying hard not to die.

Thank you God.

Poll results

2004-12-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

"so when somebody has B.O., the 'O' usually stays with the 'B'. Once the 'B' leaves, 'O' goes with it". - jerry in 'the smelly car'.
last poll revealed the seinfeld foursome to be a clear winner. total 24 votes (ofcourse one is mine and that too not for seinfeld, it was buffy!). neways for me kramer is the best, long live the 'hipster doofus'. followed by buffy and everyone's favorite 'friends' (good choice dears).

the results:
seinfeld - 38 % (9 votes)
buffy the vampire slayer - 21 % (5 votes)
friends - 21 % (5 votes)
america's hottest - 8% (2 votes)
gilmore girls - 4 % (1 vote)
jassi jaisi koi nahin - 4 % (1 vote)
reality tv - 4% (1 vote)
mtv fully faltoo - 0%
chitti - 0%
metti oli - 0%

is the vote bank majorly affected by girls or boys, though it was not so clear in previous poll why not put it up in the next poll?? just check it out and click over ur fav person.

Push the tempo.

A New Quiz

2004-11-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

I tried to resist but, I just gotta know!!

Everyone remembers the 'faked-orgasm-in-a-deli'
sequence from your kind of movie When Harry Met
Sally. It seems that you're falling for a buddy
or have already fallen for them. Uh-oh. You're
probably caught between the possibility of
having a great relationship and wrecking the
one you have now. You know what they say, it's
better to regret something you did than
something you didn't do.

What Romance Movie Best Represents Your Love Life?
brought to you by Quizilla

How Infamous are you?

2004-11-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

One of the quizzes I had gone through yesterday night. this is all what I got...

You are the Marquis Da Sade. Even stripped of
exaggerations, Your real life was as dramatic
and as tragic as a cautionary tale. Born to an
ancient and noble house, you were married
(against your wishes) to a middle-class heiress
for money, caused scandals with prostitutes and
with your sister-in-law, thus enraging your
mother-in-law, who had you imprisoned under a
lettre de cachet for 14 years until the
Revolution freed you. Amphibian, protean,
charming, you became a Revolutionary,
miraculously escaping the guillotine during the
Terror, only to be arrested later for
publishing your erotic novels. You spent your
final 12 years in the insane asylum at
Charenton, where you caused another scandal by
directing plays using inmates and professional
actors. You died there in 1814, virtually in
the arms of your teenage mistress.
You are a revolutionary deviant. I applaud you.

Which Imfamous criminal are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I, vijay v., am the deviant...

Nine Layers

2004-11-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

Nine Layers
I stole this from the next blog...I dont feel ashamed as she herself stole this from someone else...

Layer One

name: Vijay
birth date: Sep 6, 1980
birthplace: St. Isabel Hospital, Mylapore, Chennai
current location: Noida
eye color: Black
hair color: currently black with a tinge of grey, might become more grey next year.
height: 5'8"
righty or lefty: Lefty (right-brained means righteous brain!!!)
zodiac sign: Virgo

Layer Two

your heritage: Hindu
the shoes you wore today: weathered brown red-tape
your weakness: Flattery - Please dont praise me in the comments (what about chain mails!!!)
your fears: Die as a virgin
your perfect pizza: No stuffed crust, not too hot, very mild, with lots of cheese, capsicum and corns.
goal you'd like to achieve: unknown

Layer Three

your most overused phrase on aim: "being pissed, no problem, just dont show it"
your first waking thoughts: "Get busy living, or get busy dying"
your best physical feature: Smile
your most missed memory: Should have been with my cousin when we were kids, now she's married

Layer Four

pepsi or coke: pepsi
mcdonald's or burger king: helplessly only McD's being in Noida...
single or group dates: single. (c'mon its just a wish)
adidas or nike: nike
lipton ice tea or nestea: neither.
chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
cappuccino or coffee: philter kaapi.

Layer Five

smoke: Once in a while
cuss: Yes
sing: Yes, mainly to drive out the rats from my home
take a shower everyday: yes
do you think you've been in love: many times school, college, company, everywhere
want to go to college: Already finished it
liked high school: Did march-past every monday morning for that song of "Bridge on the river kwai", written many love letters, stole pencils, pens, shared A-jokes, jols, kadalais, rumors about affairs, one good shot in the back from the PT sir and his inglis "come together seperately", "form a straight circle", etc. etc.
want to get married: Desperately
believe in yourself: only way for my survival
.get motion sickness: never
think you're attractive: Damn, the most handsome in this world
think you're a health freak: occassionally yes
get along with your parent(s): not much
like thunderstorms: it scares the shit outta me
play an instrument: no

Layer Six

in the past month..
drank alcohol: Not in the last month.
smoked: yes
done a drug: No
made out: No
gone on a date: Not in the last month. but I too had a date please believe me!!
gone to the mall: yep – wandered in Ansals plaza, RPM (All in Delhi)
eaten an entire box of oreos?: What is that??
eaten sushi: No, but lots of brownies, vanilla cakes or anything with hell lotta raisins
been on stage: not in the last month
been dumped: Yes, by myself by choosing a not-so-satisfying career
gone skating: No
made homemade cookies: No
dyed your hair: No
stolen anything: might be many hearts I dont know...

Layer Seven

ever...
played a game that required removal of clothing: No
if so, was it mixed company: No
been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
been caught "doing something": yup
.been called a tease: Yup
gotten beaten up: Yup
shoplifted: nope
changed who you were to fit in: All my life

Layer Eight

age you hope to be married: 28.
numbers and names of children: n/a
describe your dream wedding: In a temple me, her and our parents. Then a trip to paris and spend a year in versailles royal closets
how do you want to die:

"He rested his head on the rocker laid outside the veranda of the West Ham Mansion in Hawaii. Head was totally clean without a slightest evidence of any hair on it. Holding the crutches in his hands constantly shaking his lean legs which had ridges of nerves running along its length. The sea shore in front was overshadowed by the bright red streaks of sun in the deep sea and the silhouettes of the sailing boats added color to the picturesque. Sitting idle gaping at the spectacular sight outside, slowly closed his eyes. It was calm, huge waves raising and receding every now and then at this twilight. Flock of Layson Albatross’ chirping in the nearby trees, girls playing in the sand with their mates, fulmers circling in the water and the butterflies fluttering between the flowers. Slowly the legs stopped shaking, nerves became stiff, crutches fell down, and the sun was finally set." (Concluding part of Chapter - III, Legend of Tuticurin.)

where you want to go to college: Already went to college – planning for a master's
what do you want to be when you grow up: grown up
what country would you most like to visit: USA. (Lots of autographs pending eminem, pearl jam, sampras, beyonce, jolie, etc. etc.)

Layer Nine

number of drugs taken illegally: None
number of people i could trust with my life: 20 maybe more
number of cds that i own: 300+
number of piercings: one in nose and each ear. Mercilessly done when I was aged two
number of tattoos: None
number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: 0
number of scars on my body: 4 or 5
number of things in my past that i regret: Lots. whole college life.

Happy Diwali

2004-11-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

This boy is about to go on his first date, and is nervous about what to talk about. He asks his friend for advice. The friend replies: "pal, there are three subjects that always work. These are food, family, and philosophy."
The boy picks up his date and they go to a soda fountain. Ice cream sodas in front of them, they stare at each other for a long time, as the boy's nervousness builds. He remembers his pal's advice, and chooses the first topic. He asks the girl: "Do you like spinach?" She says "No," and the silence returns. After a few more uncomfortable minutes, the boy thinks of his friend's suggestion and turns to the second item on the list. He asks, "Do you have a brother?" Again, the girl says "No" and there is silence once again. The boy then plays his last card. He thinks of his friend's advice and asks the girl the following question: "If you had a brother, would he like spinach?"
Thereby his story began...
10 years hence, he had grown up more, yeah, lots of mush and hair all over his body giving him macho look and smartness cropped in every aspect, may be its academic, athletics, stamina, IQ, or you-name-it. But the nausea that still prevailed is called QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS.
It was this hot summer day, when he was out to have a chai and spotted this girl lakshmi.
"Hey come on da, cheta, you can do it" murmured his pals. "yes, u can give it a shot, buddy"

"Hi, I...er...I think you too work in Elxsi"
"Yes"
"Fine, which department"
"AB @#$%& CD"
"oh, yeah thats a good department, you know"
"hmm"
"ppl do more Quality work, innovations, those kind of stuffs, you know"
...yawn...
"and the boss is good you know and everyone is peacful and..."
And she replied, "I think I have to leave ... 'you know' ... as you said we ppl prefer working you know "
"oh yeah fine, see you then"
Venugopal stopped counting on his attempts or futilities rather and is getting on his nerve. Throughout in his life, nothing seems to amuse him, full of blurred images through his wetted eyes. People associate his contemplative, absent minded, erratic behavior as some love failure but the fact that there is no love is known to venu alone.
Yet he had something to cherish for the moment...Its Deepavali...
ENJOY DEEPAVALI - only to those elite souls who could have always performed the best if given a chance.

here comes the new year

2004-11-01T02:01:00.000-08:00

here comes the new year
he dances in the discotheque
she holds his hands
he presents her a bouquet
she kisses him in response
both laugh
both cry
both play a fiddle with each other
and started dancing again
here comes the new year

here comes the new year
sitting on the mattress
bottle in one hand
and a cigarette in the other,
somber and contemplative,
not knowing the pomp and the glitter outside
appreciating the earth's rotation
thinking why the word abbreviation is so long
reluctant to free his hands to take up the TV remote
sitting idle
totally puzzled
here comes the new year

here comes the new year
he brings her the past
she rejoices it
he sets her with emotions
she binds by it
he calls her fool
she love it
they take a deep breathe
and say life is not changing
here comes the new year

here comes the new year
switched on TV
not knowing that night not meant for him
full of love songs
and parties
left the bottle that quench no thirst
there was this movie channel
chose to forget time
and to believe in one to tango
and the movie was
"Life is Beautiful"
here comes the new year

Thought to ponder

2004-11-01T01:27:00.000-08:00

This one I got from one of the forwards... It looks quite true...

People who choose to believe
in a magical invisible man
who lives in the sky and loves them
but works in mysterious ways that
include letting them suffer and die
on a daily basis are pretty much
by definition the gullible type,
wouldn't you say?