Awesome Blog

Do not want to sound as an advert for other blogs but this one is seriously awesome.
Especially the Mahabharata Series.

Merry Christmas

Well a whole lot of firsts for me this Christmas weekend.
Cooked for Mom.
Cooked for cousins.
Did not screw up.
Got compliments.
Could not finish a book on a weekend.
No plum cake and Wine.
No Mistletoe (Not a first but who cares anyway)
Well atleast it was not all misery but a whole lot of merry with family (Hope to see them in the nick of health even after my cooking).
PS. That’s my Christmas Wish.
And hope all of you had a fantastic Christmas.

Nice article

Well another great article from Gaurav.
Hardly surprising but this one interested me so cos i have a sustained interest in both named companies. I work in one and hope to work in another.
So read it .

Life

I have lost interest in blogging, again. Damn !!

Well I have a lot to share but most of it is under the blanket of what he/she will think. And the rest of my life is slowly becoming too routine and bland. I am bored at work, home and elsewhere. So there is nothing to write about. Comes from having no girlfriend for the past $ months, giving up smoking/drinking for the last 3 months, living like a monk, reading books like “The monk who sold his Ferrari” and not having a Ferrari.

Result : too much thinking and no Action.

Yeah, I still could watch movies and write reviews but honestly it’s boring for me(quality of movies) and frankly who can actually read all that crap. I could visit places and write about the journey but have neither the time nor the inclination to ask my boss for a vacation. I could take pictures and post them but my camera is not suited for still photography.

But I truly don't have anything else to say. Nothing new, nothing meaningful, nothing fun so I shall crib today and then go for a drive in the company of Pink Floyd. LIFE ROCKS

LOL

Gals Pls pass on this and try to forgive me, while the Guys can enjoi. Really Really funny!!!!

Conversation between a teacher and a student

Now if you are really busy, Please refrain from reading this as it may be a bit verbose.
But if you are truly VELA, Please do read it.

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and....
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then?

Hmm? (Student is silent.)
Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student :Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student :Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student : No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student : No , sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelled your god? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy.
Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light.... But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelled it?.....No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it, sir.. The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.
Do you know who the student is....?

That young man was ALBERT EINSTEIN.

Change of Girth

As far as I can remember, Mom and Dad were always concerned that I was too thin. In fact Mom’s favourite story is that Dad had asked the doctor who delivered me for a tonic/medicine/Magic portion which would make me one of those chubby cute babies. Now this was 2 hours after I graced the world with my presence. :D And I had stayed thin all my life, so it was with not a very pleasant surprise that I discovered I had moved to waist size 34. I fact till third year engineering, I was a bit less than 28 and used to ask hazard salesmen why size 27 was not stocked.

Well I guess HAL has been nice to me and I see it as a sign of prosperity. Joining the gym today never the less!!!!!

More on Manjunath

Well a lot of blogs have come up on this subject but I guess this mail from Akhil Krishna (Manju's Friend) sums up the issue perfectly.

The poor man and the stone

Manju was my close friend at IIM-Lucknow. I have a Graduation Day snap with him. When I joined the IIM, he'd just returned after a Research Associate-ship in IIM-Bangalore. His topic of research, and the topic that really caught his imagination, was 'Values'.

He often used to speak of values, looking at me deeply with those sincere-looking eyes. His favourite course in the MBA program was 'Leadership'. He spoke from the heart and hated any pretence in presenting himself anywhere – class discussion, interview anywhere.

He used to speak of making a difference to society. He was interested in meditation and mind control - primarily as a means to overcome the impulses that make one deviate from values.

He was a brilliant singer and the most popular guy in the batch. He always gave joy to people and brightened their lives through his singing, jokes, and his free spirit. He never spoke ill; in fact he seemed incapable of even thinking ill of anybody.

Knowing his love for upholding values, I think the highest ideal Manju would have conceived of, must have been to die for them. All of us are bound to die one day, and all of us can die only once. He became one with his highest ideal – and met a heart-rending (or should I call it glorious – a romantic idealist's glory) death. (Read)

Satyendra Dubey from IIT. Manjunath Shanmugham from IIM. How many bright and honest young men will we lose like this?

The Economist estimates that of every Rs. 100/- dispensed from the centre for the poor (such as through employment schemes), only Rs.27/- reaches the people it is meant for – the rest feeding the greed of the corrupt scum of our country. When will this Rs.27/- take the poor man to progress? And do we need to contribute Rs.73/- to the coffers of the corrupt mafia in the process?

Please remember that this Rs. 73/- is not getting wasted down the drain (that would have been better); it is actively contributing to the growth of the mafia and ever making them stronger, bigger. It's something like this – I am trying to throw a stone off my head, and every time I grow in strength by X, the stone grows in weight by 2.7X.

I am a poor man from a backward area of the country. On my head is this huge stone called corruption and goondaism - which rule my land. Will I ever be able to throw it off, or will I just get crushed under it?

Other countries – Russia, France - have had full-and-full revolutions, no less! Is our basic peace-loving nature as Indians making us soft, and consequently, impotent?

If you think that men who are destined to get crushed by stones should get crushed by stones, read no further. If you think Manju and Satyendra Dubey were impractical idealists who should rather have written the screenplay for Hindi films, read no further. Delete this mail, right now! Though I find it hard to believe, I guess impotency can be a natural choice too.

If, however, you are outraged, and feel like spitting at the rot in our country, then first understand that there will always be some die-hard men of principles like Manju who will never waver from their principles irrespective of what you and I choose. We have a choice here – either we stand by them, and join hands with them in adhering to values. Or we keep adding weight to the stone and shed crocodile tears when the poor man gets crushed.

But then, I have always believed that all of us are born with inbuilt human values – goodness, kindness, love, wishing well for others. I have always believed that honest people are in a majority in this world and even more so in India. It is the corrupt that are always in a minority. But because the honest people do not stand together and the corrupt ones do, they are seen as majorities & they have the power to influence everything around us through these unholy groups and links – the Politicians-Criminals link, the Criminals-Bollywood link, and the Purchasing Officer-Vendor link.

They can kill one Manju, one Satyendra Dubey, but can they kill all of us? We know they can't. And yet they kill. Most heinously, they do.

Why? Because we don't come together!!

Coming together does not stop with signing an internet petition, making some noise when a tragedy happens. It means coming together in spirit. In ideology. In the way we lead our lives. In small things. It means, taking a receipt of 100 Euros for the taxi ride that cost you 100 Euros. It means, not looking left or right while writing an exam. It means, not giving a PSU purchasing officer an expensive watch because he suddenly became your personal-friend-from-previous-birth when you went to submit your tender in his office. It means, having the guts to stand up and oppose corruption – like Satyendra and Manju did.

There is no dearth of inspiring stories – Narayaswamy, G.R.Khairnar and Alphons Kannamthanam and many many more. And Manju & Satyendra if you're looking for the younger ones (they died really young didn't they…). As I said, the basic good nature in humans is strong, and good people are in a majority.

My first foreign work-visit convinced me that Indians are one of the most intelligent beings on the planet. My subsequent visits only confirmed this. The IITs and IIMs – Satyendra and Manju's alma mater, together have an alumni that MIT, Standford and Harvard would together be hard-pressed to match. Lack of Intelligence is clearly not the reason for India's backwardness, it is something else – lack of inspiration, lack of initiative.

Should the intelligence we Indians are born with, come with a baggage of impotence? And how many guises this impotence takes – 'being practical', 'being tactful', 'being wiser than the hindi movie script'. At the same time our intelligence thinks of principles as 'impractical', 'the 'melodramatic hindi cinema plot', 'not for the modern day'. Being intelligent is quite alright, but can't we be Inspired, for heaven's sake?

If I wish to really honour the memory of Manju, Satyendra and many others who have lived by their values, I should stand by them and commit myself to values too. I can't mince the words on that. I realized this when he was shot and all the old discussions we had on values came back to my mind.

To commit yourself to values, and spit at the rot that took Manju's life, sign here – and see for yourself that there is no dearth of good people in India:

When I studied for IIT, I used the famous Physics Textbook written by Resnick, Halliday and Jearl Walker. Prof. Walker was a daredevil. He used to try out all the theories of physics in practice. The *Leidenfrost effect* is the phenomenon by which a liquid in near

Contact with a mass hotter than the liquid's "Leidenfrost point", produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps it from boiling rapidly. In short, it says that if you walk on hot coals, the vapour of your sweat will keep your feet from burning. Prof. Walker believed in the physics that he taught, so he walked on hot coals many times, dipped wet hot fingers in molten lead, poured liquid nitrogen in his mouth.(Read )

The great Richard Feynman, no less, has been known to have stuck his hand in water first and then into the benzene and lit it, to prove a point in physics to his friends. The first time, it worked fine, the second time though, it hurt like hell – he had grown hairs on the back of his hand. (Read)

Prof. Walker has often argued that physics degree granting programs should employ "fire walking" as a last exam. If the candidate's belief in physics is strong enough that the feet are left undamaged, the chairperson hands the candidate a graduation certificate. By a similar token, I as Manju's batchmate, believe that he was the truest of true leaders, because he really carried out in life the values of a true leader. The fact that I might have got a higher grade in the Leadership course might be one of the most insignificant facts inhabiting the synapses in my brain.

Manju's story should inspire in at least a thousand people at least a ten percent higher adherence to values. That is really the only way I can console myself over the loss of this friend, the truest of true leaders.

Please see how you can make your contribution to make the Manju case an occasion to strike a blow to the rot in our country. It could be anything from writing a letter on this case to the editor of a newspaper, to using any of your contacts in media, to, let's say, arrange a talk show where administrators are called in and nailed down to some firm action. It could be writing an article in sulekha.com or suniti.com. Or forwarding this mail to influential contacts with some executive power. Just about anything, everything helps.

We are also planning some protest marches, and setting up something concrete in Manju's name to recognize and encourage honest people who help deal a blow to corruption. If you can help on anything, please join in.

I hate chain mails and have deleted with particular glee all those chain mails that promise dire consequences if you don't forward them on ("If you don't forward this mail within 5 minutes of reading it, God will strike you down with lightening" etc). However, since this is for a poor man with a big stone on his head, please do forward this to like-minded people. Let us strike the iron when it is hot – and strike hard.

Akhil Krishna

IIM Lucknow -2003
IIT Madras – 2000
Comments, suggestions, ideas: akhilkrishna@yahoo.com

Back after a 4-day Haitus

Had been to Sarath's Marriage.
Here's wishing the happy couple "A Happy Married Life"
Photos Follow......

Beware Majaa

Most of the Tamil movies I see are what you call recommended. Well I always had an impression that if friends recommend a Tamil movie, it would be good. But Majaa was a major shocker. I mean I have seen some bad movies but a movie this bad would be really hard to find. After exactly 10 mins, I had the urge to leave the theatre but suffered for about 30 mins past the interval before making a run for it.

If you really want to know how we suffered in detail, please read Mad’s Blog.

Special mention of Vikram’s dress designer, who either is a complete nincompoop or a genius. He matches the lungi with a vest accompanied by the same coloured design on the equally flamboyant shirt. For more, watch the film but please watch out for your mental sanctity.

Too many Birthdays

A whole lot of birthdays in the last few days. Some I missed and some I remembered. So here’s wishing all of them a very great year ahead.

Bujji (Kalyan), Pallavi, Pavan and Divya.

May the lord shower you with happiness and wish you all a very happy Birthday.

Now where’s the treat??

Interesting Article in The Indian Express

"India empowered to me is when we are no longer called Muslim Indians but Indian Muslims" Maulana Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq

This is an excerpt from an awesome article on Muslims in India in The Indian Express.Read the full article here.

Can justice prevail?

Manjunath Shanmugam, May god rest your soul.

By now all of you would have heard of Manjunath (IIM-Lucknow batch of 2003) who was shot dead two days back. Details of this ghastly murder have been put up only on the India express (Lucknow version) and are unavailable in Rediff and Indiatimes.

Well so much for the state on web-journalism. Also found wanting are Hindu and Times of India, who allocate reams and reams of paper to baseless Page 3 news and advertisements (recall this week’s page-long IIPM advertisement) but do not consider this a news worthy item.

I also did a Google search on this topic and came up with just one result. Most of the details are coming from his batch mates and friends. Some of the few posts on this subject.
Gaurav Sabnis
Sharad Patel
Dhammonia

But do not let this dilute the fact that Manjunath paid with his life by standing up for, what he believed was right. He was an honest person who did not believe in taking the easy way out and paid for his principles with his life.

Hopefully justice shall prevail and the culprits will pay for their crimes. But knowing the Indian judicial system and apathy of the Indian media, I have serious doubts.

One more newspaper catches up.

Harry Potter Review

I loved the Movie. But as every HP Fan would say, I would rather have a detailed mini-series about each year rather than have one jam-packed movie. Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) who directs this instalment does a brilliant job but makes a few modifications which may not please Witches and Wizards watching. He has commented that he sees the novel as a suspense thriller and that the best/only way to adapt the 734-page novel would be to shed everything that doesn’t involve the main story line. Well all that is fine but why do the grindylows attack Harry after he has rescued everyone in the lake. Makes no sense and seems a bit forced doesn’t it? And some other issues with the movie are:

• Not one house elf makes an appearance in this movie.
• Malfoy’s ferret scene is a disappointment.
• Mad eye moddy does not have half his nose missing and does not look frightening
• The lovely ladies of Beauxbatons especially Fluer Delacour are not as mesmerising as they could have been.
• No one can understand what the Weasley twins are doing? The sale Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes are not well shot.
• The Dursley’s do not even make an appearance and we lose a chance to see Ton-tongue toffee.

A major change was the introduction of Barty Crouch Jr in the first scene of the movie. Even though it eases things along for new viewers, it is something that will definitely rankle the chains of Harry Potter purists. The Quidditch World Cup is also skipped over along with the characters of Ludo Bagman and acts a set piece to introduce the character of Victor Krum and as a set-up to the frightening entrance of the Death Eaters.

However the movie has some spectacular special effects and some real good original dialogues. The Quidditch World Cup Stadium and the dragon sequence are stunning, but the maze does not have any obstacles except for some silly vines. But the overall visuals in the movie are amazing. Some of the dialogues, especially the one where Ron tries to tell Harry about the Dragons are a total hoot. The ball scene is also good (for all romantics) and the scene before where Professor McGonagall teaches the Ron Weasley how to dance is Paisa Wasool.

But the one thing that I shall remember about the movie is Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger. I remember a review which said she was too beautiful to be Hermione, but she will be the reason I shall see the movie again.

Weekend

Have tickets for Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire courtesy GRN. So I am off to Hogwarts for the day. Saturday and Sunday shall hopefully be alcohol-free and will involve a lot of cricket viewing. So here wishing all of you a very very VELA weekend.I shall let Calvin have the last say on VELAGIRI.Best of Luck to all CAT aspirants(including my bro, Deepthi, Bala, Trra, Sandeep and others). Crack Madhi!!!