______________________
My Web Logs:
[I
have been getting a lot of hits on this page, one request to the www
reader. I hate spelling and grammatical mistakes, but invariably I end up making
them. If you find one please mail me at monks97ue [at] yahoo [dot] com]
New!! My’s Blog
moved to http://mayank.gupta.googlepages.com/blog
I will stop updating this page soon. Redirecting you in 10 seconds. If you were
looking for an old link it would be archived in the new blog at the end,
in a link corresponding to the year of the event.
Google pages offer more space and better picture uploading
capabilities.
20th Oct: LATEX:
While I was interviewing
candidates at
Every one had their view of the
best way to present the contents in the resume but one of them stood out.
I just finished changing my resume
to Latex, here is th tex
file, and the class file.
I would suggest using pdflatex to get the pdf file. I saw several other
templates on the web but they were not as space efficient as I wanted then to
be. Here is my updated Resumé
17th Oct: Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck 1938: George and
Lennie dream as we all do, but what broke George?
The story is set in the near by
16 minute run on
7th Oct: Priya is Here.
5th Oct 06:Doing
Bill/Receipts/Hisaab/Rent
The expenses had been piling on and
I had to settle them fast.
26th Sept 2006: “me gustaría
ir a la
We learnt the
conditional forms in Spanish today.
So Sofia asked the class around about the places, and people wanted to go to
Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Botswana etc even I choose Paris and then she ended
the sentence formation with “me gustaría ir a la India”, because
“Ella tiene ropas coloridas” (she has colorful clothes) and then
she proceeded to give a lot more reasons many of which I couldn’t
possibly understand due to my weak Spanish. But the fact that she wanted to go
to
14th Sept 2006:
Dispensable Humans.
I was recently planning to move homes and a part of the whole moving ritual is
to call up all the utilities and ask then to start the service in the new
place. Of all the 1-800 phone calls there is one that I will remember for a
long time.
Pacific Gas and Electric’s automated system allowed me to a) close
account on the previous address
12th
Sept ’06: Tracing the Footsteps of Great Men: I had been planning to buy a good
notebook since a long time and it just so happened that today had to be that day.
Right
behind the cashier, there were there beautiful black notebooks with thick cream
pages, soft leather cover and an elastic band to keep it from opening. On top
of the package was a paper slip that blared out that these were the same note
books used by greats like Van Gogh, Picasso, and Ernest Hemingway.
I turned
the book over saw the price tag, 5x8¼", 240 pages, and $14.95. Well, I
swallowed my surprise and got the Thing :). If you are curious, the brand is Moleskine, and you can
check out some of the famous stories at This link
. While walking out from the story, I saw the note books that I had originally
planned on buying, $4.00, Made in
Disclaimer: Buying the same stuff
as the giants of man kind, doesn’t necessarily make you one too, they
probably used Colgate too :)
1st Sept : “Over the Rainbow”
How many times has it happened to
you that you hear a song and it gets stuck in your head? So yesterday when I
saw the TV advert for Kellogg Rice Krispies where a Mom is giving breakfast to
her kid, I heard this song playing in the background. and just like scent of a
beautiful woman it got stuck on me.
The music has a guitar playing,
but is absolutely mesmerizing, Sui Generis, Reminiscent of some age old bygone
good times. So today I spent one good hour at work tracking down this song.
Obviously the Kellogg website was the starting point, but that didn’t
talk about the music, just that the ad campaign was names “Childhood
Calling”. Yahoo Answers gave me some clues and finally I tracked in on
iTunes.
The song is called "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful
World" in the album “Facing Future” by Israel
"IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole. Obviously when one sees such a peculiar name
he is temped to look it up and I found that IZ was a Hawaiian singer, who died
at an age of 38, from morbid obesity. (He weighed 750lb at one point!!!).
What a loss?. You can sample the song on Amazon.
18th Aug: Looking For Apartments
My search for a new apartment had
been frought with frustation. The web sites are horrible. I had a vision of
giving a zip code and the seeing the places on a map, with places that are
clickable. www.rent.com was horrible, www.apartments.com good but www.apartmentratings.com
had exactly what I was looking for. Great Site!!
12-15th Aug: The UTC program at AMD lead
Sushant and myself to
http://picasaweb.google.com/mayank.gupta/AustinAug06
28th July: Has
Orwell's '1984' Come 22 Years Later?
14th July : Loosing Sanity:
I knew it, I had known it all
along… it was déjà vu. Fact of the matter is that I am loosing my nuts.
So this Thursday night I am doing
my groceries and I think let me pick up a movie from Blockbusters. Now you have
to bear in mind the fact that the last time I was here, I could not find a
decent movie and thus had to return empty handed. So I am walking past the
aisle and I pick up “L4yer Cake”. Come Friday night, I pop the DVD
into the player, and 5 mintes into the movie, get the feeling something in
wrong. The scenes look a bit familiar, I think naaa, that couldn’t be.
Probably because I had seen “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”
and “Snatch” I could be just misplacing scenes. Ten minutes gone
and I am convinced that something in dead wrong. Then I started telling my
roommate what was going to come next and I knew it: I had rented the movie
before!!! I had re-rented a movie and then watched it for 15-20minuted b4 I
could piece the pieces together :(
10th July: Fixing
Problems with USB drive
In the past few months, I had been
having a strange problem with my Sandisk Cruzer mini USB drive. Even though
this drive was functional (tested as functional on other computers), my office windows
XP machine would not show it as folder in the “My Computer” folder.
I finally managed to fix this problem today. Apparently windows prefers the
“F:” for a removable storage medium. What I had accidentally done
was to map one of my network drives on to the “F:” drive and thus
windows was having a problem distinguishing both these. Once I renamed my
network drive to “H:” all the problems were alleviated.
20th June: Dot the I :
You would think
that you are seeing an average movie until you reach the end and suddenly the
whole picture changes dramatically.
23rd June: UCLA account to Stay. I made friends with some really good people at UCLA. For example Louise Watson, our secretary at Dr Woo's Lab at UCLA. Its been 3years since I graduated from UCLA, and the polite request to her, asking to extend my account, still works!!
14th June:
Thank God for any thing you have. Read this photo journal on BBC about kids living in
sewers in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/africa_underground_children/html/1.stm
13th June: What was that Again?
The BBC news headlines reads “World Cup ban in Mogadishu denied”. The funny part comes half way down the article.“Their spokesman, Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, indicated to the BBC it was the cinemas that were being targeted because they also showed Western and Indian films that the Islamists say are corrupting to the young.”
Indian movies in
7th June:
More Collateral Damage done by the
My Lai (Vietnam War): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre
No Gun Ri (Korean War): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Gun_Ri
4th June: Bay Area for Equality: We
organized a protest against the reservation policies of the Indian Government
at the Fair Oak’s Park in
San Jose Mercury, Hindustan
Times
But there was a minor scar from the Incident. A guy, Kumar Gaurav, made a scathing remark about doing work at the gathering. Little did he know that those hours that I spent distributing the fliers at Bharat Baazar and the other places were done on a severally swollen leg and an impending exam deadline. Sometimes people are too quick to judge.
3rd June: Motherly Love, Too mUcH?
There is a something I must admit to. I still believe that whenever I am deep in trouble or say in an utterly hopeless situation, I can talk to my parents and somehow, miraculously, thing will work out. This has been the case every single time in the past, so why not in the future? But here is German Mother you wish you never had… German convicted over baby deaths
29th May: The Gang at MIT:
Standing:
Ajay,Anuj,Goli,Anjana,Tanu,Manisha,Manish,Monks,GB,Suraj,HVD,
Sitting: Talwar,Isha,Sonal
28th May: It was a pleasant coincidence to meet Ashish in the most unlikely of places: the MIT campus. And this was after we last met in A2/12 Annapurna Nagar.
24th May: LiveStrong: I got tired ironing the cloths for 2hrs and the right leg swell up all again. So I called Anchal and Papa as to what I should do and she tells me that I should wear one of those yellow Livestrong bands in my right leg and it will get strong....
20th May: Ajay's Play:
Ajay just sent me
the link and it was soo cool to read
Directed by Ishwinder
Kaur Banga Produced by Ajay Somani
Our man is Producing a
play!. Check out the play web site of :WHERE THERE IS A WILL
18th May: PERL/HASH/ARRAY/KEY/VALUES:
I had been working in this Perl code for the past 1.5weeks. I was almost at the end of my wits, and unless Naval Verma had not come to my rescue, this one had me. The idea is to create a tree with multi branches. The nodes would be hashes, and the branches would be the references to hashes. If you look at the sample input file you realize that the tree structure is something like this
Device_name==>Parameter_name==>Device_bias==>Device_Temperature==>Device_Width==>
Device_length==>Array of Site_data
Now as you can guess that these could be any other attributes that might be specific to your needs but idea is the same. Also since different device_names can have the same parameter_name you need to differentiate then right at the top. The bottom most leaves would be the array of data that you would like to get out.
So here is the perl script and the test file.
I have modified the data slightly, and the script has NOT been tested on the modified data. But if you are smart enough, you will get it
17th
May John Brown’s Reggae band: After a gloomy Sundays, Pathak proposed
that we do something exciting for the weekday and what better day to have ball than
Wednesday? The Band was playing at the “Great American Music Hall” in
The downer? The dance floor was full of pot heads, there was so much smoke that you would have to stand in the side lines to enjoy the Show, so as not to choke on smoke. All in all it was a fun night.
17th May 2006: 5K run in 22:41, More painful than completing the race was the fact that I took almost 3minutes extra than my pre injury timings. This ankle is not healing.. 7months and 10days and I am still not there. When will I look back to this injury?
Movies: Leon the Professional and Over the Edge (free by AMD)
12th May Getting Killed: So there is biking, intense biking and then they is getting killed. And that is exactly what I got today. Slaughtered, butchered, manhandled. Wow!! 1hr of biking out of which 35minutes were spent at >85% heart rate. It’s been a long time that I had my muscles so sore. Also the funny thing is that Carroll had the music to set up the tempo. So when Black Eyed Peas were playing "Pump It", we got really going. Music is gooood... Makes you do things that you would never dreaming of doing other wise
3rd May: As Weird as it get ?? Cannibal 'must never be released'
29th Apr: First 30minute run after 6 months! and I have been limping there after.
28th
Apr:
27th Apr: Oil Co and price gouging: Exxon and Chevron earned a combined 11BILLION$ in the last quarter. That is 11Bil for each of us paying an average 2.70$ in the past 3month. And look at the preposterous part, Republicans are asking to give 100$ to the americans as a gas rebate. Guys, what ever happened to taxing the Oil Co? Think about balancing the book, not tearing it!!
26th Apr: Secondary Axis in Excel: I had spent so much time trying to figure out how to plot a y1 and y2 on the same plot in MS excel. tons of hrs spent on google/over laying plot by making one transparent, until Sushant finally found out that all you need to do is to plot both y1 and y2 in the same plot, good old fashioned way, and then select one of the series, right click and change it over to y2 secondary axis.
25th Apr: Just checked sitemeter: I have actually started getting hits on the pages.google web site rather than the blog at UCLA icsl website.
24th
Apr: Spanish Class: Holly's daughter Anna was in the class. The sweet 5year old
could speak better spanish than any of the adults in the class but it was her
unmitigated enthusiasm was infectious at the least that struck up. Also we got
a beautiful presentation on Equador by
22-23rd Apr Movie: First Dutch movie: Antonia’s Line. Good. La Petite Lili, crappy movie to say the least, I had to actually forward parts to get over with it.
Undated (sometime in 2003) Gandhi
One of the
latest fads of the new Indian generation these days is the bashing of leaders
from the past. This has probably more to do with the fact that given the
present political status of our country, people
have simply refused to believe that a Man can ever think of his country before
him self.
"The evil that men do lives after
them, the good is oft interred with their heir bones", so said Marc
Anthony. So what if Gandhi fasted for years to get
his propaganda. So what if the British oppressed us for 250 years, and crushed
so many armed mutinies and it was only Gandhi's ahimsa that could finally
convince them to leave? Gandhi was trying to sabotage
plans for freedom. What if Gandhi refused the post of PM, once Nehru asked him
after
Bapu, that is what we know him by, he
never allowed anyone to call him Mahatma, in his presence. Is what a man,
hungry for fame, does? He was a barrister by profession, a title that bought a
lot of perks in the British Raj still he left every thing he had and fought the
freedom movement. If he was egocentric, he would have never done that.
So they say that is was good that he was
shot and we got separated with
Since the beginning of time there have
been followers and skeptics. The Believer form a religion and continue to live
for generations to come and the skeptics are relegated to writing articles on
Rediff.com or shouting at the moon. We have to make our choice. It is all about
where you want to be.
monks
In response to
> http://rediff.com/news/2003/may/19varsha.htm?zcc=dc Varsha Boshle of
Rediff
15th April: Rande Bansanti
Was at a friend's place for her anniversary celebrations and they ran to stanford to watch this movie with Naga and Patil. I had to see this in a treater and it was worth very penny. "No system is perfect, but we have to try to make it better".
10th April 06: Adobe Acrobat Sucks!!
Uff.
I am sick of Adobe Acrobat 7. This piece of shitty
software has just tipped of all products by Microsoft to claim the worst and
most incomplete software ever.!! Every week you have a update or two that is
20Mb in size and needs multiple reboots to install. What is that ? I just
installed 3patches and I had to reboot my m/c 6 times!! Also it takes forever
to load any thing. and all this to display a tiny tiny pdf document. Plus it is
pretty darn expensive. Usually the auto update is turned on and this would mean
that while you are working ion something important Adobe
in installing a 20mb file to support chinese or arabic! The unsuspecting user
has no clue what to install and what not to.
5th April 2006: Crying over Happiness: This is was
the first time that it happened. I was always amazed how people managed to
choke on hearing good news. Why cry at something good? But it happened
today. My Sister got selected in Ophthalmology in Medical PG at
1st April 2006: Ice Age the Meltdown: Saturday with
Chinky and his better half. Ok movie, plenty of laughs.
31st March 2006: Prelude to a B’day:
I got the surprise of my life when Vineet, Sushant, Shyam,
Juthika, Ciby, Priyanka and Pranav, showed up at my home at 8pm with a huge
chocolate cake and
25th March 2006: Holi
At Stanford: Wow this was the
most fun filled holi that I have placed in the
19th March 2006: Unkindest
cut: Heckled at home
This was the head in the online version of the
Hindustantimes.com and we were referring to Sachin Tendulkar being booed at
Wankede for his 1/33 ball in the 3rd test vs.
19th March 2006. Salmon
and Srikhand and a good movie : Crash
Juthika and Vineet were at my home and thus we watched Crash.
Actually is good movie, (recall it was the surprise winner at the Oscars too).
The movie is about the cosmopolitan milieu of
17th March : gmail.com
g.mail.com or g.m.a.i.l.com ?
Google finally
clarified the apparent gmail bug (ref. Blog 5th Jun 2005). FirstString.LastString@gmail is
same is FirstStringLastString@gmail.com
12th March : Change
in address
I will have to move this web page soon. My UCLA EE dept admin
sent a mail that they are going to end my account on 30th June.
Well this webpage will have to go somewhere else.
7th March Liberating
Women the Western Way: It has been
almost 4.5 years since I have been in the US, so probably this opinion of mine
might be generally pertinent to the US but then I think this might be true for
some other Western cultures too.
I think I just have had enough!! If there is
one place that you have to see women as mere objects of display you should come
over to the Western half of the globe. The other day right when the Super Bowl
was being held in
Who am I to judge?
4th March Fight Club: Really Cool movie. I saw
and I was really surprised how I had missed this one. And then I checked IMDB, 33
from the TOP. No surprises there.
3rd March 16
Blocks: Mos Def is definitely the star of this Movie. I would rate him
better than Bruce Wills in this one. But one advice, rent it on a DVD and watch
it with the subtitles on, then only can you hope to catch Mr Def’s
dialogues.
2nd March: AIPGMEE 2006
Anchal called and told me that All India Post Graduate Medical
Entrance Exam’s results, in which she had secured a poor rank, had been
put on hold. It was such a relief. I know my sister and she is good. She had
put so much for this that the poor rank did not make sense. Faith
Prevails.
1st March: Leaving
I was sight of Elizabeth Sue and I knew I had to watch this
movie. Nicolas Cage is good as ever, but the really good part of the movie is the
score. Truly heart moving.
27th Feb: Grizzly
Man:
Timothy Treadwell dies doing what he
loves best, saving Grizzly Bears in the
25th Feb : The
Edukators
Daniel Brühl (Good bye Lenin) was in this nice German Comedy.
The end has a twist that is sure to make you remember the movie for a long
time.
23rd Feb 2006: Save
my Browser
Just found this very cool firefox extension. Remember how
frustrating it is to see all your open windows get lost when your browser
crashes? Well there is hope now.
-mayank
Ps. IE7 also has this feature.
Crash Recovery -
Firefox Extension https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=1955&application=firefox
Crash Recovery 0.5.3, by zeniko, released on January 27, 2006
Quick Description: Crash Recovery automatically restores all
opened pages after a crash happened. It is an "install and forget"
extension which you will only notice right after the occasional crash.
Additionally this extension could also be used as a very basic
SessionSaver replacement, since it allows to resume your browsing sessions if
you prepend your browser's homepage (in Tools -> Options -> General) with
"about:crashrecovery?" (without the quotation marks).
Note: Don't install this extension, if you're already using
SessionSaver or Tab Mix Plus.
OR
SessionSaver .2 -
Firefox Extension https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=436&application=firefox
SessionSaver .2 0.2.1.031, by rue, released on December 13, 2005
Quick Description: SessionSaver restores your browser -exactly-
as you left it, every startup, every time. Not even a crash will phase it.
Windows, tabs, even things you were typing -- they're all saved. Use the menu
to add + remove sessions; right, shift, or middle-clicking will delete.
"Simple mode" for peace of mind, or "Expert mode" for
advanced flexibility.
14-17th Feb 2006: Gold Palm Resort
Veenu at IBM arranged for this fantastic place for a couple
get-away. The service was impeccable and the place superb.
Pictures here.
Gold Palm Spa and Resort Bangalore
8th Feb 2006: Reception
in Mau
This was as some said the best reception people had see in Mau
in a long time. For 1.5hrs I danced with my cousin Amit, like a man possessed.
Pictures Here
3rd Feb 2006: Shaadi
Marriage the Real Thing
The barat was staying at the Padmini hotel and the marriage
ceremonies were held at the Tulsi Lawns on Mahmoorganj in
In the pictures you can see the Mehndi in my hand as well as
Priya’s Hands. Also you can also see the pictures of Haldi being applied
at over me.
There were tons and tons of people in the Barat. My Chacha, Chachi, Taau, Taayee, Dada, Dadi, Nana,
Nani, Mama, Mausi, Mausa, Mami, Boowa, Phupha. Uncles and Aunts from Mau. There was
the dance floor in the marriage at the Lawn, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Then
the Jal Mal which went with out events, (no one lifted no one). Lots of smiling
done. I actually didn’t know what
all the ceremonies were until I looked it up on goolge. Google was always
smarter than the Pundit. You can see the ceremonies of hetaleva, Vivah, Kanya
Daan and Vidaii in the pictures here.
1st Feb 2006: Tilak
@ Malti Hotel Varanasi
We had it at Malti Hotel, 3rd Floor. Pictures here
30th Jan 2006: Ladies
Sangeet:
This was held at my home in Mau. A lot of mom’s friends
were there. Starting Pictures in this album are from sangeet. Damyanti ensured
that we had five folk songs for all the four days.
Vidaii:
In this ceremony, after the wedding is over, the brides parents gives a warm
send off to their daughter. They wish her a very good and harmonious long
married life. From now onwards their daughter does not belong to them.
Kanya Daan:
This is also a part of the wedding ceremony in which the brides parents entrust
their daughter in the safe hands of the groom.
The Wedding Ceremony (Vivah, Shaadi):
During the wedding ceremony the bride and bridegroom are seated in front of a
holy fire. A Pundit conducts the wedding, performs havan, and recites various
religious sayings. In the havan, offerings are made into the holy fire. The
Pundit explains to the couple their responsibilities and duties in their
married life towards each other. Hindu religion believes that fire is a
sustainer of life. The couple walks around the fire four times (in some customs
seven times) exchanging vows of their duties.
Hathleva (Joining
of Hands): In this ceremony which is a part of the
wedding ceremony, some henna is put in the right hands of the couple and are
tied with a cloth. The couple pray to the Gods to bless their marriage.The
Hathleva signifies an eternal bond that will join the couple forever. The
Hathleva also signifies that although they are separate individuals, from now
onwards they are one in mind and spirit.
Procession
& Reception (Barat & Swagat)): The groom, accompanied by his family &
friends, goes to the Bride's place in a procession. He sits on a decorated
horse. The bride's parents and other senior members of the family welcome the
groom, his parents & relatives and introduce each other. The introduction
is known as milni. The
procession may consists of 100 to thousands of people, both men and women.
Earlier married women were not permitted to go with the procession, but now a
days close women relatives go and even dance in the procession. The barat, i.e. all the people who
come in the procession are garlanded and seated. Cold drinks, snacks, and
sweets are offered. They also take dinner as the guests of bride's parents. All
the expenditure of the barat reception, marriage ceremony and the dinner, etc.
are born by bride's parents in most of the cases. However, the groom's parents
give the dakshina to the pandit (priest) for the marriage
ceremony.
Mehndi (Henna): Both the bride and the bridegroom applies mehandi.
While the bridegroom applies it as a token on his hands, the bride applies it
on her hands and feet making intricate patterns. Mehndi signifies the strength
of love in a marriage. It is believed that the darker the mehndi color, the
stronger the love and bond will be between the bride and the bridegroom.
Tilak:
This is
basically a promise on the Grooms side that he will marry the girl. The tilak
ceremony is held mainly at the groom's residence because according to the Hindu
custom only the groom is formerly engaged so the tilak ceremony is only for the
boy and not for the girl but gifts are exchanged between both the families.
Sangeet:
Geet and sangeet are the soul of any Indian wedding. Ladies collectively take
part in Geet/Sangeet for 4-5 days. Now a days a programme for ladies Sangeet is
kept in which all the relatives and friends are invited. the ladies sing
wedding songs and the girls dance.
Thanks to http://www.matrimonialbank.com/indianmarriage.html
for the details
26th Jan 2006: Google
Campus: Living the Dream
Naval, started to work for the most well known Co in the whole
wide world almost a year ago and I always had my mind to visit the place
physically one day rather than on the web, which I do more than often every
single day. Plus if you are a visitor at Google and you know someone at the
place, Lunch is free. Well, who in his sane mind would refuse a free lunch?
When I reach the Google Campus on exit on Amphitheater way on 101, I come to a
place that is bustling with life. The place is just teeming with cars parked.
It is impossible to find parking; it is like every one in this part of the
world works for Google. You can look in any direction and you will see the
variegated Google sign printed on the entrance of the Building. When you go
inside the place is a dream played in real. It is more like a college scene,
median age 25-30, M:F ratio a staggering 1:1, an impossible feat to achieve in
a engineering
Looking Back: I don’t feel envious of
the folks at Google, no not at all. All this is just too good and won’t
last for ever, while some one is enjoying it, why not. May we click more
Ad’s so that at least some one can reap the benefits.
25th Jan 2005: The
Hospital Scam
Readers beware! There is hospital on
16th Jan 2006: Laptop
Problem. My Toshiba Satellite laptop started giving me problems. It simply
refused to connect to the internet. No IP address. You type
“ipconfig” and you get “Windows IP Configuration”. That
is it and nothing else. The problem was traced back to Cisco VPN client. The
client was assigning the IP address and not allowing windows to get an IP
address. I simply used the Windows XP restore to do to a date when the client
was not installed.
15th Jan 2006: Salmon
for dinner and Thanks to Google another mystery has been solved: Eau D'Asparagus
By Elizabeth Somer, MA,RD
Aug. 14, 2000 -- You may have heard the tall tale that
"asparagus urine" is linked to higher intelligence. In fact, it's the
result of a simple chemical reaction. Asparagus contains a sulfur compound
called mercaptan. (It's also found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, and in the
secretions of skunks.) When your digestive tract breaks down this substance,
by-products are released that cause the funny scent. The process is so quick
that your urine can develop the distinctive smell within 15 to 30 minutes of
eating asparagus.
But not everyone has this experience. Your genetic makeup may
determine whether your urine has the odor -- or whether you can actually smell
it. Only some people appear to have the gene for the enzyme that breaks down
mercaptan into its more pungent parts. A study published in the May 1989
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that 46% of 115 people tested
produced the odor in one group of British citizens, while 100% of 103 people
produced it in a group of French citizens. The ability to smell the by-products
may also be genetic. While eating asparagus may make your urine smell strange,
it won't harm you. Actually, asparagus -- a member of the lily family along
with garlic, onions, and leeks -- is a powerhouse of nutrients. It's an
excellent source of folic acid (a B vitamin that may help protect against birth
defects, heart disease, and cancer), a significant source of vitamin C (an
antioxidant that may protect tissues against damage), and a good source of
vitamin A (an antioxidant). Not to mention that asparagus contains 3 grams of
fiber per 3.5-ounce serving and a host of health-enhancing plant chemicals, or
phytonutrients, that may protect against disease.
Although the link between "asparagus urine" and higher
intelligence is a figment of someone's imagination, eating it regularly could
be a sign of some serious health smarts.
Elizabeth Somer, MA, RD, is the author of Nutrition for a
Healthy Pregnancy, Food & Mood and The Essential Guide to Vitamins and
Minerals, and co-author of The Nutrition Desk Reference. An advisory board
member to Shape and a contributing editor to Eating Well magazine, she has
appeared on The Today Show, The View, CBS This Morning, and other television
and radio programs.
12th Jan 2006: Getting
there
So what do we eventually want? Well depends on where you are in
life. When you are young: Possible name, love, when you in your 40’s:
recognition for all you have done over the last 10-15years of work. And finally
when you are old you want to leave your legacy. Not that there is anything
wrong with having a moving target and changing wish list. But what if you miss
a stage? So you are 20-30’s and you are thinking of legacy? Well some
things are the way they are for a reason. You will just hurt your self if you
go against the natural course of life. (This is part of a discussion that I had
with a friend over some beer. Amazing how some alcohol brings out some of the
most important issues right in the frontline. Well for a change I won’t
mention his name. Cause in his words, “you just want on name on your blog
to get more hits on it.” Naah I will pass ;)
6th Jan 2006: Matchpoint
Well the movie was written and directed by Woody Allen and had
the lovely Scarlett Johansson. So the movie was put. The opera playing through
out the movie is thoroughly distracting. I would say the movie was a let down
for all the hype around it :(
5th White
Fang: Jack London
Jack London takes you right in to the
27th December 2005:
Steven Spielberg finally gave us something worth watching after
disappointments in “War of the world” and “Minority
Report”. To this man’s credit are great movies like Jaws and
Schlinders’s List. Many friends of mine refused to watch it saying that
it would be an action motion just like Bourne Identity. But no, this was just
more than vengeance for the death of 12 Israeli Olympians. This was about what
went thru the minds of these messengers of death. I convinced DK that he looked
just like Eric Bana. Well Dk couldn’t be happier. There was something in
that movie which some people might have overlooked. Anver is reticent in all
the killings and is shown as a hardened killer until he listens to his young
daughter’s first words to him “dada” and he breaks in to
tears. I guess being a Dad is huge. Well we will know.
14th December 2005: King Kong
Wednesday, middle for the week and I had just brought a
multimeter, and Vineet shows up and say how about watching “King
Kong”. Peter Jackson has created this fantastic 3hour entertainer where
you never pause to look at the watch. And just like that Naomi Watts looks
stunning.
13th December 2005: RAFT
The Resource Area for
Teacher is what every 8 year old has ever dreamt of! As a part of
AMD’s efforts for the community we visit RAFT’s centre at
12th December 2005: Two more Movies and a Book
I have been the laziest bum around! I pretty much wasted the
entire week end. Running was out of the question. It was cold outside, so I
just lay in the bed solved Sudoku, read books and watched movies. think I live
to learn, meet all the wonderful, varied and completely different people around
me. I live to see the whole world, different cultures, people, jobs, and
languages. We as humans have been truly blessed with something no other animal
has, intellect.
3rd December 2005: Why do you think living is worth?
Finally got the key board of my laptop working and am able to
comfortably write emails from home (I spilled coffee on the key board, don't
ask how ).
NPR today and they were asking every one's views about "Why
do you think living is worth?". Every one had different views some one said
he lived for the vacations and the paycheck, some one was living for hard work
(what a lie!!). One mom turned to her 2year old son for her reason to live.
I think I live to learn, meet all the wonderful, varied and
completely different people around me. I live to see the whole world, different
cultures, people, jobs, and languages. We as humans have been truly blessed
with something no other animal has, intellect.
So why do you live?
3rd December: Movies:
Second Best,
I forgot to mention a really really good movie that I saw,
“What the bleep do we know?”.
Brilliant movie, totally changes your perception about life, its troubles and
your choices. A must see for any one!!
Ohh yes my leg still hurts from the sprain twenty days ago. No
running and it is mostly crutches for me right now.
2nd December 2005; Bragging Rights:
A close and good friend of mine had this to say about me
"Now about your writing---you are a very interesting man-
you need to know that you belong to that 5-7% of men that we women call
"perfect"-- you are writing observations and reflections!!!! You are
in sync with your thoughts and feelings!!! It is an amazing characteristic and
everybody likes people who possess it. "
Can I die in peace? naaah not yet,
29th November2005: Such a Waste!:
After eating out at fancy place for almost three weeks, myself
and Vineet decided to eat at good'ld Subway. I order Chicken Parmesan and the
girl at the counter duly starts making my Sub. She placed the chicken breasts
and the gravy on the bread and before I could say a word she also put 4slices
of cheese on the bread. I immediately correct her, "I am sorry, I didn't
want the cheese". She doesn't even look up and just like that throws the 4
cheese single into the waste basket!! I am not sure if I should blame
myself or the girl or this system for this absolute waste. Any comments?
24th Nov to 27th November:
This year I have out done my self. No seriously. India in Jan,
New Orleans in Feb, Alaska in June, LA/San Diego in Jun, Sunnyvale in July,
Vegas in September, then again Portland in October, and Now Florida in
November.
Wow what a trip. There were certainly many firsts in this trip.
Well frankly I can’t mention all of them in the public domain, but if you
ask I can elaborate on them later. Pictures would be put, Ajay, Goli, Chinky
and Anuj were there. Chinky and Anuj gave me the surprise of my life when they
showed up from no where in the back seat of the Chrysler 300.
Absolute fun for 4day. I had so much fun in my broken leg. And
for any readers other there,
11th November2005: Shall we get the Nurse?:
So I am sitting in the hospital ER having sprained my ankle and
there is'nt really a whole lot that I can do. Thankfully my friend Ashish
Agrawal shows up to take me from the hospital. Now I am really pissed off at
the hospital folks, the 911 call landed me in the hospital in 10minutes flat
and then I had been sitting in the hospi for over 2 hours and I got to see the
doc just for 15seconds. Whats with the neglect? So as we are leaving the hospi
I make sure that I pick up ever single splint, bandage piece of paper that I
was given to me (After all they will charge me 1000's of $$ any way). Well any
way my insurance Co is gonna pay for them, so I ask my friend "Abe, kuch
aur chahiye kya?, insurance co paisa dedegi", "Dude, do we need any
thing else? we might as well ask for it, since insurance co is paying". He
very innocently replies, "Yar vo Nurse..." ,"Sure, how about the
nurse..."
13th October 2005: Ever lasting love:
On my trip to Portland, something beautiful happened. I was
sitting in the Max and pretty much seeing the city go by when this elderly
couple boarder the Max. They must be both in there 60s, but both of them had a
unexplainable glow on their faces. They were happy, not like the grumpy couples
that you see around. They had a newspaper in their hands they were working at
the crossword it like it was the game of their lives and they both were on the
same team. They were just ment to be together. As the couple they looked a
hundred times better than the young teenagers that were sitting right next to
me, almost making out in the Max in public view. Decades of living together and
they still loved each other. The whole world could vanish around them and they
wouldn't notice, cause they had each other to look after. I must confess, there
is nothing more remarkable than finding the one you truly love. In their case:
they certainly are the blessed ones.
9th October 2005: 5Miles:
Finished the 5Miler at the Portland Marathon in 34min40sec. Not
the best of my times, still pretty descent given that I was shooting for under
35min. The best part of the racer: I actually ran past a volunteer from the
last year's Marathon training and we both recoganized each other immediately.
Isn't it a small beautiful world?
11th October 2005: Attempt to write blog offline:
If you can read this attempt was a success .
3rd October 2005: Me and my big mouth:
I was talking to a collegue and actually praising a superior of
mine but the way it came out was dead wrong.
It seemed more like a prejudiced remark than a accolade. Think
b4 you speak
2nd Oct: Funny thing: A student from
1st October 2005: I haven’t updated this page
in months. Mom Dad left on the 18th of September. . (That is
huge) and wait I already watched so many movies
The Triplets of
Million Dollar Baby:
Rest when you are Dead, Tough an’t enough
Alfie : You better
know where you are going cause
“And you run, and you run to catch up
with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death”
Cider House Rules:
Show me a lady who is more gorgeous than Charlize Theron. Phew..
Head Above the
Clouds: Again I go it just because Charlize was in it, one shitty movie.
Corpses Bride:
Beautifully well done anim.
Irreversible: Monica
Bellucci rocks: but this movie was just too much to handle, until …
until.. At the end of 96minutes you wonder what hit you? Then you fiddle with
the DVD menus and there is a section where the director Gasper Noé tells you
about the disorienting camera work. There is so much violence in this movie;
you need some guts to watch it.
City of
7th Aug 2005: A Note to a Dear One,
I wish to instill confidence in you: that
you stand up for your self, think that nothing is too good for you and you
deserve and will have the very best of everything. Life, Carrier, Love. NO
COMPROMISES to be made. Life is Beautiful, fight for it.
Don’t set your expectations to where you can easily reach
them, Goals should be sky-scraping and only then would you excel. Think
Big and you will become Big.
5th Aug 2005: Mom and Dad visit me.
This is very exciting. The reassurance of having ones parents
around, to have the feeling of a protecting shield. Nothing beats it, when you
are with your loved ones; you are invincible, infallible because you know that
you would be unconditionally loved.
But I am enjoying this for one more reason. I am reliving the
thrill/the fear/the excitement of going to a new place through their eyes. The
Ooh and the Aah. I hope that they have a memorable time.
20th July: Confusion
The good thing about a online blog is that you can simply delete
what ever you don’t want and poof its gone. I wish I could do the same
with many other things in life. ßDeletedà
1st July, 2005: Honesty usually pays off:
I have a
very good friend, Deepak Kumar,
he is my benchmark and whenever I am in a dilemma I ask the question,
“What would Dk do in a situation like this?” Here is a nice thing
that happened to me.
As I was leaving
Lattice Semiconductor, and was having my exit interview I was walked thur all
legal things that I could talk and not talk etc etc and then they handed me a
check for 2051$ for my salary for the last two weeks of work. The HR person had
completely forgotten that since I had stayed at Lattice for less than 2 years I
would have to pay them back some of the relocation money. Well what would Dk
do? “Tell them”. I asked Linda the question; she said that
“Since there is a new person in the HR, she might have over looked that
thing, but thanks for reminding me, I will take care of it”. 10minutes
later I got a letter from Linda that I owed Lattice 2995$. God, I hated my self
so much, me and my big mouth, why did I have to tell her at all. But then it is
just money, honesty is much more valuable. I tell this to one of my close
colleagues, Gary Kwon, and he laughs that he had thought that I was CEO
material, but not any more. I had shot my self in the leg.
So I go to
my
See, I
didn’t cheat or lie and it still worked all right. I wish the CEO’s
of Tyco and Enron had realized this, sooner or later honestly does pay
off.
18th
June -23rd June: Trip to
Between job
changes I made a dream trip to the Last state to join the American union. The
last frontier, the land of the rising Sun and the land of untamed wilderness.
Click
here for the Picture
: There Description
This is a view from the
parking lot of Payless. I rented for the first time from payless. 320$ without
insurance for a compact car for 4 days!! This is insane.
A place near downtown
ANC, near
On the way to Denali NP
near eagle river. Stopped by to take some pictures. Further down the
Musk Ox farm at Palmer.
I had a hard time getting to this place, I was so tired. High on caffeine and
yet sleep deprived. These guys had funny names. Atta boy (for the new stud).
These are definitely not Yaks. They are prehistoric animal that have just
stayed. They have 49 at this farm. Their fur is 6 times warmer than wool. They
even had their own toys. Blow up balls etc. Note the tag in the ear. They were
tagged odd for male and even for female.
The Musk is a misnomer,
as they don’t have musk it was probably the urine that smelt as musk for
the name givers. (Urine ==musk??).
Notice the Spiral in the
skull.
Right next to the farm
was the
Reading the guide book,
I decided to do the lazy mountain hike. A 2.5mi hike (I thought this would be a
cake walk). Well it had an elevation of 3200ft. It had rained the day b4 and
the place was slippery like peanut butter. When I saw this dude at the
beginning of the hike coved in mud and sweating like a dog, I thought what an
armature!! Ha I regret my thought.
This is a picture not
even 1/4 the way up. Again notice the
These are the pictures
from the top. This was one of the very few hikes that I have done in my life (I
have done plenty) that I thought of giving up in the middle of the hike!!!
There were 4 fake peaks.
Every time you reach a peak you realized that there was more to go up to. !!
This can be so frustrating especially when you are coved in sweat.
Note the woman in near
the top. She was visiting her dad for Father's Day. She was very nice and
polite, and even suggested that I do the flat top mountain hike while I was in
On the way to Denali NP,
I was running low on gas but high on picture taking hormones. This is at a
place 40mil from
Note the time is 8:30pm
Sun way up high in the Sky.
I actually filled gas
here, and spent 10minutes fighting with a gas pump that would not give me my
payment receipt.
6miles away from Denali
NP. I stopped at a 3rd gas station to ask direction to the Denali Grizzly Bear
Cabin and Campground.
Mystic of the
Finally at the
The funny thing was that
at
The Place was managed by
a Pole guy, Some 74 odd dollars. But I was so tired that I wanted to spoil my
self.
Note the funny poem
about the sleeping bag.
At the
I would get off at
Toklat (53mi) and take the returning bus. The bus driver was Lee an Irish and
he was super entertaining. So were the African American people in front of me
from
What you will see next
are a series of mountain picture that I tried to take. But the day was so over
cast that most of these pictures have gone wasted. I could not see Mt McKinley.
(only 30% of the annual visitors do)
On the way back our bus
driver was Bruce. Man he was a story teller. Each story would be punctuated
with break and pauses and you would die to hear the next words. He told how he
made his own cabin even showed pictures and how they had not light so they
would use Kerosene, and 12V batteries during winters. He had seen -90F one
winter. Also a story about how trying to save a Moose he crashed his car and
the car he could barely move was eventually pulled out of snow in minutes by GI
who had come to Fairbank for cold training.
A northern hawk Owl!
The
The Polychrome Rest
area.
On the way back from
11:40pm in the
At 3rd and L. Mt
McKinley is usually visible form here, but like I said
Scenic Byway to Seward.
Gorgeous day out side.
This drive is what I
probably saw in the movie Insomnia. It can't get more beautiful. This is right
next to the Turnagain Arm.
Tunnel at
This is the place they
have a lot of cruise ship to Prince to
With me is Alex, son of
Jill and James. I met these hikers on the way. Hey they had seen a black bear
in this area in the last couple of days and I had to keep some company. I
went along whistling all along and chatting with these people. But I lost a
knife and my precious Oakley’s on this trip. I was so pissed off. That is
another 150$ down the drain.
Exit Glacier at Seward.
There is a trail that tells how the glacier has receded over the last 75years.
(Bush supporters please visit this place, to see global warming in action).
There is a 1.6mi trail and a 6 mile trail.
Note how the glacier has
chiseled the rocks. More pictures later. Keep 2hrs to finish the longer 6mil
trail.
This is the
Note the fly on my hand.
This hike is carpeted with flies and mosquitoes.
The Kenai fjord tour.
This was a 9hr tour that was actually very pricy (164$) but the good thing is
that it is mostly a guided tour and you get lunch and snacks on the tour. The
tour promises view of the Hump back whales, Puffins, a whole bunch of other
birds, Sea lions and much more. The Kenai Fjords is formed out of the Harding
Ice fields and the ice field spills over scores of places to form glaciers. The
waters are a quite rough and expect a lot of sea sickness. But the views are
breathtaking.
The tour goes 80miles
all the way up to the Northwestern Glacier near
One also sees the Bear
glacier on the way. A gloomy day insured that most of my pictures are very
dull. A smarter move would be to take a 5-6hr tour and probably avoid all the
sea sickness. Eventually by the end of the tour I would have paid the tour
company to get me off the tour boat ASAP. Try the excellent seafood at the
Greek restaurant Apollo at Seward instead. Also the Moby Dick Hostel in Seward
is a very nice and cheap place to stay and it is right in downtown Seaward.
Note the spikes at the
top of the glaciers. Some how the cruise attendant from the SHS really liked
it.
An ice piece just broke
and you can see the snow rush down wards. Eventually you will see a snowfall in
to the
Some Sea Lions, The big
fat is the male and he keeps an eye on his "harem" of 10-15 females.
This should be
The Great Land, tour
Boat.
15th
June: A Wish
God give me
the strength to fight it all. To bear pain. To walk down the road of
righteousness. To rise above infirmities and to keep going on and on and
on…
10th June: Mom,
who else
Yesterday I
got a text message from my mom, saying this: "If you had to use one word,
just one word, to describe me, what would be it?"
Now this
put me in to great dilemma. How was I to describe some one who had nurtured me
for 9months, fed and brought me with love and selflessness, sacrificing on her
part on every occasion possible? Someone who had not thrown me in to the
garbage can when I gave her so many good reasons to do so, who bore all
tantrums that I dished out, worried more about me than I did when ever I was
hurt, had an exam or anything. And still make an intelligent and sensitive guy
out of me.
One word?
That is unfair,
This is all
I could come up with, "MA" (Hindi) which translates to mother in
English.
There is
only one and only one person in the whole wide world that can care and love you
so much and that would be your mom.
8th June: Fundaes in Life from an OT
There is this Russell Guy, a war veteran, a avid stock market
watcher who runs a stock market column:
Comments from an Old timer.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Russell blabber -- I've learned a few things over the last 80
years, and since I consider my subscribers, as sort of my "kids," I'm
going to repeat a few of the observations that I think are valuable:
I've learned not to "sweat" what I'm going to write
tomorrow. I used to do that, but I've learned to "leave myself alone --
now I leave it to my unconscious." And if something worthwhile doesn't hit
my brain by the morning, I guess I just wouldn't write anything that day. But
this is strange, by morning something always comes to mind. I leave it to my
unconscious, to God, to a genie, I'm not sure just what, but I always seem to
have something to say -- that is if I just "leave myself alone and avoid
trying to force it."
When you hire someone to work for you, ideally, you would like
the three following -- he or she is fast, he or she is intelligent, and he or
she comes cheap (or reasonably so). But the irony is that the best you'll ever
get is just two out of those three.
I've found that the two hardest things in the world are (1) to
get the correct information about almost anything. and (2) to get anyone to do
what they say they are going to do.
Life can be frustrating. Therefore, I've developed two sayings
that fit every situation. The first is that "Nothing's easy." So
expect it, I don't care if it's your marriage or operating in the stock market
or putting a new roof on your house, NOTHING'S EASY. The second saying that I
use is that "Everything gets done." I used to drive myself up the
wall because my car had a flat or the computer blew up or I hadn't written the
day's report -- but calm down, take it easy, because EVERYTHING GETS DONE.
There's another thought that I learned from my smart old
engineer dad. It's that if you try hard enough or look long enough, you'll
probably come up with an answer to your problem, because "there's a
correct answer to everything. The answer is out there somewhere, and it's up to
you to find it."
Here's another thing I learned from my father. He used to say,
"When you're young, you're convinced that you're going to 'beat the world.'
But if you absolutely insist on beating the world, you'll end up finding out
that the world is probably going to beat you."
Another one from dad. "If you go into business with a
partner, and you're the one who puts up the money while your partner's the one
who knows the business, the chances are that it will end up this way -- you'll
know the business and your partner will have the money. Russell comment -- I've
seen this happen many times. So don't start a business unless you're darn sure
you know what you're doing.
Finally, if you're in a relationship you better stick with the
truth, and if the truth blows up the relationship, so be it. The strange thing
is that the truth seldom blows up a relationship -- what is almost guaranteed
to blow up a relationship is avoiding the truth, better known as lying or lying
by omission.
Then there's this oldie which seems to apply to men. "Never
eat in a restaurant called Mom's. Never play cards with a guy named Doc. And
never get involved with a lady who has more troubles than you do."
5th June: Bug in Gmail??
I think there might be a bug in gmail, the email client from
Google.
Mails sent to joebruin@gmail show up at joe.bruin@gmail [note the dot]. I (first.lastname@gmail with a dot) got an
email that was intended for firstlastname@gmail. This is scary, but it is hard
to believe that some thing like this could happen with a product that comes
from Google. I have a lingering suspension that probably the guy sending the
email was not sure of the email address of the recipient and he sent it to first.lastname@gmail in the BCC field?
If this happened to any of you do let me know.
Thanks
Mayank
5th June: From BBC Scientists create 'trust
potion'
A key hormone helps determine whether we will trust lovers,
friends or business contacts, scientists claim. Exposure to an oxytocin
"potion" led people to be more trusting, tests by
But one expert warned it could be misused by politicians who
want to persuade more people to back them.
Some may worry about the prospect that political operators will
generously spray the crowd with oxytocin at rallies of their candidates
Dr Antonio Damasio,
Oxytocin is a molecule produced naturally in the hypothalamus
area of the brain which regulates a variety of physiological processes,
including emotion.
It also acts on other brain regions whose function is associated
with emotional and social behaviors, such as the amygdala.
And animal studies have shown oxytocin is linked to bonding
between males and females and mother-infant bonding.
"The scenario may be rather too close to reality for
comfort, but those with such fears should note that current marketing techniques
- for political and other products - may well exert their effects through the
natural release of molecules such as oxytocin in response to well-crafted
stimuli.
"Civic alarm at such abuses should have start
Well what does this mean? The implications are amazing. To think
that when we put faith in someone, making sure that we are making that decision
in the best of our interest, using all those years of experience and
understanding of a person, is actually a façade. A tiny little molecule can actually govern and
direct our brain. And you thought that you were not gullible.
3rd June: A sad goodbye to and hello to
2nd June: Kinsey, Lets talk about Sex
How could a man be so resolute in his quest for scientific data
that he could even put his own wife on the fire? Met Dr Kensiy, aka ProK. This
is a must see movie.
1st June Numbers:
The TIME magazine has a popular section called NUMBERS.
This section compares two number figures for a metric under two different
scenarios. Here is a comparison that I came up with:
*General Body Fat
Percentage Categories
|
Classification |
Women (% fat) |
Men (% fat) |
|
Essential Fat |
10-12% |
2-4% |
|
Athletes |
14-20% |
6-13% |
|
Fitness |
21-24% |
14-17% |
|
Acceptable |
25-31% |
18-25% |
|
Obese |
32% plus |
25% plus |
Body Fat percentage that I had as of 31st May, 2005: 5.5%
25th May: Passage from Wordsmith:
"Many people who have grown up in socially, deeply
conservative societies have a very hard time coming to terms with the freedoms
available in liberal countries. Indeed, they take this personal liberty
as a sign of decadence, and often despise Westerners as effete and irreligious.
Unfortunately, they have no idea of the centuries of strife and struggle that
have gone into attaining this level of secularism and freedom from the
church, society, and the state."
Irfan Husain; Existential Dilemma Forced by Clash of
Civilisations; Khaleej Times (
20th May: Movies: Sex and Lucia,
17th May: Correction!!
One of my blog reader pointed out that the 5th May
blog that I had posted had a fundamental flaw in it.
The reason being: The bidder might have brought the piece not
for its aesthetic value, but as an investment that would definitely appreciate
in price some years from now. There would be one more cash wielding billionaire
who would spend much more that 27.5mil on this “Bird”
5th May: How Rich should the Rich be?
Christie’s Auction House today sold the art sculpture of a
“Bird in Flight” by Romanian Constantin Brancusi for (Ready??)
$27,456,000. Yes Sir, there are no typo’s in this, 27.5Million US
Dollars!! If curiosity got the better of you, here is the BBC Article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4516303.stm
and a picture of the sculpture.
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/brancusi_ext.html
As an engineer I have often been interested in the true value of
a thing, Supply and demand in free market govern the price of every thing. The
life of a CEO might be worth millions while the life of a homeless man worth a
few pennies (I don’t agree to this, but this is how it is). But what I
really find apoplectic is that a few people have so much money for something so
useless.
29th April: Be nice to me, I Gave Blood Today.
Red Cross was here at office today and I had pledged to donate blood. I have a
fascination for those stickers which the Red Cross gives,
“BNTMIGBT”, at some point of time in the past a thought got fixed
in my head: Girls really like it, thus I had to have this. I turn up for the
donation at 4:05pm and read this long list of things I must know before I can
donate blood. Things I should have not eaten, done, been with and pass all the
check boxes. Then I move on to this mobile blood donation bus which right next
to my office. There a nice old lady that again walks me thru another long list
of question, if I had been in prison, if I had a transplant, if I had sex with
multiple partners. Just as I was about to finish the questionnaire and initiate
the process of getting my prized sticker, comes the usual suspect. “Have
to been out of the country in the past 12 moths?” Well guess what? I was
out to
-mayank
26th April: An Office View Lost for Ever:
I have subconsciously accepted the fact that a significant part of my day has
to be spent in the confines of a 10’x10’ cube of mine. This is why
I installed the extension Forecast Fox 0.7.1 on my Firefox browser. This little
feature gives you the capability to seeing the current weather at you location
on your computer, which by the way you could have also figured by looking out
of your window. I love this feature. The fact that forlorn humans now need a
computer to see what is ten feet’s away from them is quite scrumptious. I
guess this is what we call progress. By the way the extension is not that
totally useless, one can also see forecasts for the coming days, which now that
I have watched over the last two weeks, is totally a joke and inaccurate.
-mayank
25th April: Hotel Rwanda: Madam Archer,
“And they said ‘There isn’t enough room’”, Paul,
“But There is always enough room.” Just like
“Schindler’s List”, Hotel Rwanda tells the story of a man,
who values his compatriots more than his own life. This also brings a point
which one of my colleagues at office totally overlooked. According to him,
there is no use of the UN. Well if the Americans, Italians and the British
don’t get a dime out of
But like every place, there are good and bad people in all over.
-mayank
15th April: The luckiest guy Ever! Period.
Ever look at some one and you think, “Lucky Bastard! How
does he do that?” Well ladies and gentle men I am that guy!
I have done something that most people would, simply put, ENVY.
I have legally and legitimately ripped my cable company of nearly 100$ a month
in the last 6months. Yes and that evil capitalistic corporation would be
Comcast. Back in September of 2004 I changed apartments and asked the cable to
be transferred to my new home. Well the cable TV and Internet got transferred,
but there was a glitch in the automatic bill payment. And they duly send me a
delinquency bill in two months. I call those guys and tell them that they have
already set me up on automatic bill payment and it was impossible that I
don’t want to pay my bills. Well that was in November and I am yet to get
a bill from those cheap guys. Free cable, I don’t think they even have
that in heaven.
-mayank
14th April: One Father One Nation One Race
And yet so diverse!!
An interesting article that appeared in BBC today is copy-pasted
below. [Hopefully I am not violating any copyrights]. Notice how everything
seems to start from the
-mayank
|
DNA
project to trace human steps |
|||||||||||||
A
project spanning five continents is aiming to map the history of human
migration via DNA.
The Genographic Project
will collect DNA samples from over 100,000 people worldwide to help piece
together a picture of how the Earth was colonised. Samples gathered from
indigenous people and the general public will be subjected to lab and
computer analysis to extract the valuable genetic data. Team leader Dr Spencer
Wells calls the plan "the Moon shot of anthropology".
The $40m
(£21m) privately funded initiative is a collaboration between National
Geographic, IBM and the Waitt Family Foundation charity. Participating
in the five-year study are some of the world's top population geneticists, as
well as leading experts in the fields of ancient DNA, linguistics and
archaeology. Future resource "We see this as a resource
for humanity going into the future. It could potentially become the largest
genetic database ever created," Dr Wells told the BBC News website.
Members
of the public will be able to buy a kit that contains all the material needed
to add their genetic information to the database. Already, evidence from
genetics and archaeology places the origin of modern humans (Homo sapiens)
in By studying the Y (or
male) chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (which is passed down exclusively on
the maternal line), scientists have pieced together a broad-brush picture of
which populations moved where in the world - and when. What is lacking, says
Wells, is the fine detail, which could be filled in by this large-scale
project.
"We
know which markers on the Y chromosome to focus on; we know our way around
the mitochondrial genome fairly well. We just haven't had the large sample sizes
to apply these technologies properly," Dr Wells explained. "There
are still many questions we haven't answered. Was there any interbreeding
with Neanderthals as modern humans moved into These and other
unanswered questions form the research goals of the project. They include:
A total
of 10 DNA collection centres located around the world will focus on obtaining
samples from indigenous peoples. The genetic markers in the blood of these
groups have remained relatively unchanged for generations.
"Sub-Saharan Collection challenge But some researchers
said experience on other projects suggested this one could run into trouble
with indigenous groups - particularly those, such as Native Americans and
Aboriginal Australians, with a history of exploitation. "I don't
know how they'll deal with getting samples from more sensitive places,"
commented François Balloux, a population geneticist at the University of
Cambridge, UK.
"Amongst
Australian Aborigines and Native Americans, the cultural resistance to
co-operating with scientists is very strong. "For example, many
Native American communities are strongly advised by their elders not to give
samples." Ajay Royyuru, IBM's lead scientist on the Genographic Project
was optimistic on the issue. "We want to attract their
participation by being extremely clear about what we do and do not do. For
example, we are very clear about not trying to exploit their genetic
diversity for medical uses," he told the BBC News website. Project
directors said they had already sought advice from indigenous leaders about
their participation.
IBM says
it will use sophisticated analytical techniques to interpret the information
in the biobank and find patterns in the genetic data. The IT giant will also
provide the computing infrastructure for the project. Kits sold to the public
contain cheek swabs used to scrape the inside of the mouth for a DNA sample.
The swabs can then be mailed to a central laboratory for analysis. After four to six weeks,
the results of the analysis will appear on the website behind an anonymous
password contained in the kit. The exact budget available for the study
will depend on how many test kits are sold to the public. The net proceeds
will go back into the research and into a "legacy project" to
support indigenous peoples. The Genographic
Project's directors emphasise that the information in the database will be
made accessible to scientists studying human migrations. "We see this as
part of the commons of our species. We're not going to be patenting anything
- the information will all be in the public domain," said Dr Wells.
|
|
|
|||||||||||
9th April: Sideways: I have been watching movies
at a prolific rate these days. This was an Oscar acclaimed movie. Miles is an
aspiring book writer and nothing is going this way and his friend, Jack, is the
lucky guys how pretty much manages to get every thing he wants.
The excruciating detail in which Miles rates his wines is also
any eye opener, though Jack never gets the hang of it. How would I rate it?
6.5/10. Mayank
One more movie, (I forget the exact date I got it although it
was in the last two months.)
“Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself”: How much selfless
-mayank
8th April: From BCC
Science
shows how malaria 'hides'
|
The malaria parasite is carried
by mosquitoes |
Scientists
have worked out how the deadliest malaria parasite is able to "hide"
from the body's immune system.
The US-led
international team said Plasmodium falciparum constantly changes the appearance
of a protein it deposits on infected cells.
This meant
the human immune system did not have enough time to begin making antibodies
against the protein before the parasite changed its appearance. The discovery
could lead to new avenues for drug research, the team told Cell.
|
|
We don't yet understand enough about the mechanics Professor Chris
Newbold, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine |
Malaria
causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths
each year, most of them in developing countries. The P. falciparum parasite has
evolved to have a long life because it has to be around long enough to live in
a mosquito before it is transmitted to a human. It does this by
continuously changing the version of a protein known as PfEMP1 that it deposits
on the surface of infected cells. By the time the human immune system learns to
recognise the protein and starts making antibodies against it, the parasite has
switched to another form of the protein, and the game of "hide and
seek" starts again.
1st April:
25th March 2005:
Did I miss something?
The best part is this
Mr. Ereli described the sale as part of a wide-reaching effort
"to improve security and improve prosperity and improve development"
in the Subcontinent and surrounding region. He emphasized that the
Lets sell weapons to the
The last thing developing nations need is to spend 850million
dollars on fighter planes, so that Bush’s friends at Lockheed Martin get
richer. I am all for love between
-mayank
From
the NY Times
By
DAVID STOUT
Published:
March 25, 2005
The
Bush administration agreed today to sell Pakistan F-16 fighter planes in a
major policy shift that was meant to reward
President
Bush telephoned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from his ranch in
Crawford, Tex., and "explained his decision to move forward" on the
sale, a White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told reporters in Texas. Mr.
Singh expressed "great disappointment," a spokesman in
There
were conflicting reports on how many F-16's might be involved in the sale,
which would require Congressional approval. One Bush administration official
said the number was 24, but another said it was still indefinite, Reuters
reported. A State Department spokesman, J. Adam Ereli, said that both the
number of planes and the terms of the sale had not been determined. Teal Group,
an aerospace consulting firm in
With
Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, the administration may well
get its way on the sale, but probably not without heated debate.
Mr. Ereli described the sale as part of a wide-reaching effort
"to improve security and improve prosperity and improve development"
in the Subcontinent and surrounding region. He emphasized that the
Indeed,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited both
As
for any possibility that
"And
to the extent that we can contribute to
The
F-16 is made by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Operational since 1979, it
comes in both single-seat and two-seat models and is one of the premier weapons
in the Pentagon's air arsenal. It is designed both for air-to-air combat and
for attacking targets on the ground. It is by far the most common fighter in
the
People
opposed to the idea have said that
The
Then,
too, the commission that investigated the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,
recommended that Washington move beyond ambivalence and mistrust in its
attitude toward Pakistan and commit itself to providing aid for that country -
both military assistance and support for the country's public school system as
a counterweight for the sort of Islamic religious schools that foster
extremism.
But
the commission emphasized that American support should be contingent on
The
commission, headed by former Gov. Thomas H. Kean of New Jersey, a Republican,
and former Representative Lee Hamilton, Democrat of Indiana, said, "It is
hard to overstate the importance of Pakistan in the struggle against Islamist
extremism."
It
added, "Within Pakistan's borders are 150 million Muslims, scores of Al
Qaeda terrorists, many Taliban fighters, and perhaps Osama bin Laden."
President
Bush has courted
But
Moreover,
despite their decades of enmity,
24th March 2005: Ray: “If
you think pennies you make pennies, if you think Dollars you get
Dollars”.
21st March: I Love Huckabees:
Quite a movie I must say. The title says that it is a comedy. But it is quite
thought provoking movie. Why we try to conform to standards set by other?
13th March: I personally think that Adobe FrameMaker
is the best word editing software out there. It has a long list of special
characters, which are not so easy to find more than often. I found these two
pdf documents that elaborate these special characters, bullets and arrows:
Tip2:
FramMaker 5.5 character and their default HTML mapping
-mayank
10th March: Shabdh: Frailty of the human
being. Ok movie, could have done much better if the irrelevant out of the blue
songs were cut off. The underlining message: Despite knowing the eventual
consequences, we make mistakes in life. Friendship, love, honor, we sometimes
do things that we know can lead things astray, but then what is life with out a
little surprise? If ever thing was to be played by rules, what would the thrill
be?
9th March
2005: Bourne Supremacy: Best Car chase scene ever, hands
down. I though I had seen it all. Right from the nadir of film making in
Mission Impossible II to the enthralling Highway chase in Matrix Reloaded. And
then I saw Bourne Supremacy… Never seen any more real life like that.
Period.
2nd Mar
2005: Proof of Evil: This was like déjà vu, I have seen this situation happen
in those ghost movies, supernatural events, inexplicable chain of miss
happenings, and I always managed to laugh at them. Heck how can all the things
go wrong simultaneously? What is the statistical probability? One in a
gadzillion? This is what happened this morning.
I started
investing some money in the stocks some time back, and usually when I wake up
6:45am in the morning, I watch the market action, and make a move only if
things are drastically bad.
I turn on
my compi and the wireless lan is down, (chances: only twice in last six
months), I reboot the machine and in the mean start checking the prices on my
cell. OS was down 6%, shit I need to get rid of this. Yesterday it dropped 5%
and today another 6%, it had already wiped out all my gains and now the stock
was simply caving in. Right at that moment I get my yahoo alert, “Your
stock OS is down more than 5%”. Ya ya I know that, by this time I am
getting the panic virus. By now my m/c is up, I hit the firefox icon and I
swear to God that thing didn’t come up until 1whole minute. Usually it is
up is just a fraction of second and today one whole minute. Finally it opens, I
login in to my Scottrade account and check the streaming quotes. OS is down a
further half a point (6.5%). I immediately hit the sell button, the regular sell
window pops up and asks me for the amount of shares to sell. I double check the
number of shares that I had and then go to the # of shares to sell field and MY
KEYBOARD FREEZES. What the hell? Here I am watching the streaming quote show
that prices plummeting and my keyboard has to freeze now? Now in the last two
year this has never ever happened that ever thing else is functional and my
keyboard in not responding. And today when I needed it the most this had to
happen. Coincidence? I would say some really evil superpower.
18th Feb 2005: New Vegetarianism: Had a
lunch at the Thai Orchid, with a group of company colleagues. Since I had been
eating a lot of nonveg off late I ordered a vegetarian entrée this time, making
sure that the usual vegi suspects (broccoli and bamboo) were not there and it
had cashew nut in it. The dish came and I completely forgot what I was eating
in the usual banter. Once the food was over and there was brief moment of
silence on the table, I realized that I had plenty of left-over in my plate.
Wait they looked like Broccoli, hmm what is broccoli doing in my plate? Ohh
also I never had cashew nuts either. We summon the waiter; the dude arrives and
after considerable thought and consultation with his manager declares.
“You had ordered vegetarian, so we added broccoli as the vegi and removed
the cashew as they are non-vegetarian”. God, have mercy on this idiot,
for he will go to any length to save his skin. Amen.
-Mayank
15th Feb 2005: Read a good joke today: A mother
complained to her doctor about her daughter's strange eating habits. "All
day long she lies in bed and eats yeast and car wax. What will happen to
her?" "Eventually," said the doctor, "she will rise and
shine!"
10th Feb 2005: “I think; therefore I
am”
A statement by the seventeenth-century French philosopher René
Descartes. “I think; therefore I am” was the end of the search
Descartes conducted for a statement that could not be doubted. He found that he
could not doubt that he himself existed, as he was the one doing the doubting
in the first place. In Latin (the language in which Descartes wrote), the
phrase is “Cogito, ergo sum.”
Now the story behind this wise saying.
I have a colleague in office who is a fantastic story teller,
Tom Raymond. He can tell you even the most mundane story in way that you end up
doing ohh aah.
So here I am sitting on the lunch table having my lunch and
suddenly Tom say, “You ever heard of the saying ‘I think; therefore
I am’? Isn’t that from a French philosopher, Descartes
something?” Well I had heard that saying, but I had no clue as to who
said that. So I passively node, “Probably it was a French philosopher but
it could be a Greek philosopher or anything”. Before I could allow my
chain of thought to begin, Tom came up with this funny story.
“There is this guy standing in long Queue at Starbucks and
waiting for this morning cappuccino. Like most of us he had subconsciously made
a of habit of drinking one kind of drink and not fooling around with other
stuff. Seeing this huge line, one of the waiters walks to him and say,
“Sir would you like to have a mocha instead of a cappuccino today? That
way you won’t have to wait in the line for ten minutes.” The man
thinks for a moment and says, “I think not”. AND PUFF, HE VANISHES
INTO THIN AIR.
4-6th Feb:
"Laissez les bons temps rouler," that is French and it
literally translates to - let the good times roll…
Ajay and Chinky had also come all the way to this place, we
1) Ate an Alligator, (well an alligator tail, but still it was a
gator, yuck)
2) Ate Oyester, (the south is know for its cajun sea food, so
this had to be done)
3) Ate Beignet (French pastry) at Café du Monde.
4) Did the river walk besides the
5) Smoked a Cigar. (even 1/3 of it was killing)
6) Watched Super bowl at Pat O’Briens, with a bunch of
Patriot and Eagles fan.
Some very sober pictures are here.
29th Jan 2005: I friend of mine came to visit me form
SFO. We were discussing how to go up on Google rankings and he told me Bush bashing
is the sure shot way to get a lot of hits on your page. Now I could really care
less if some one read my blog of not, but then I remember the days when typing
“mayank gupta” on Google to give my home page as the first link. Of
late that has taken a lot of beating. I think I don’t even stand in the
top 15. Damn all those mayank gupta’s out there. For the records Google
gives 1130 links to “mayank gupta”, but to console my self the
number of hits for “
Oh yes back to Bush bashing, now that I already have a grudge
against his policies, I might as well write them. This is what I wrote to a
friend who wanted my views about how Bush’s 2nd term would
affect
My
view is that the euphoria among Indian with the return of George Bush is really
uncalled for. While most of the world is horrified with the results of the
[Ref http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4185205.stm]
Here is why I think so
a.
W thinks that Pakistan is US’s strongest ally in southwest Asia and the
coming 4 years will just reaffirm this believe of his. Aid to
[Ref
http://india.news.designerz.com/pakistan-rejects-indian-objections-over-us-arms-sale.html].
This would also mean that it is virtually guaranteed that
b.
The war on
c. Bush is so engrossed with this war on terror that he forgets the role which as the leader to the only super power on the planet, he has to play. Although India has always opposed the intervening of US in Kashmir, this also means that the border dispute with China or Bangladesh are not going to be solved in the next four years.
d.
The national security act which was vehemently opposed by W’s opponent in
the election makes racial discrimination almost legal. This means that any
Indian in
e.
The only reasons that Indian favor George Bush is the fact that that under him
the whole BPO flourished. We should remember that the BPO was not something
that W came up with. The BPO is a natural result of the cheapest and best
ruling the market. Isn’t that why the
Those were my 2 cents, hope it helps.
warm regards,
Mayank
22nd Jan 2005: There is this girl I loved so much. I
grew seeing her and she grew on me. Ever year four times for two weeks I would
see her. Looking at her mesmerized. Transfixed as she would win my heart again
over again. Enraptured as she decimated her peers. She is the only girl whom I
sent a get-well card when she got hurt. Yes, I paid international postage for
it. In fact I had to pay more than the regular postage since the card was too
big. And then she got married…
Today I saw here again, there she was on the TV. Impeccable,
flawless as ever and I felt my knees wobbling.
Ohh the side note: Andre Agassi withstood a record 51 aces from
Joachim Johansson to beat the in-form Swede 6-7 7-6 7-6 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals
of the Australian Open.
21st Jan 2005: Google goes a step further
Google changed its default word search from
http://dictionary.reference.com/
to
Now how does that help? For starters you get the meaning,
synonyms and the translation in other language all in one page. Then there are
links to other pages that have useful information about that word. I have
always wondered how can one company in all its motives and efforts, work to
such an extent for the betterment of its products and the satisfaction of its
end users. I guess there is a lot of learning to be done. Either the world is
not as bad a place I think it to be or some people are simply too good.
4th Jan 2005: Keeping the tradition of doing something
extraordinary while traveling back, this time was no exception. I was visiting
the famous
We
went to the temple and frantically searched the wallet to no use. In fact one
to the pandit’s curt remark was this “Baba Vishwanath ki ye hi
marjee thi” (“The Lord wanted this to happen”). Brilliant!
Thanks for the supportive words, Sir. Any way we registered a FIR with the
temple police, knowing fully well that nothing was going to happen, at least
not from the police side. We returned from the temple with glum looks on our
faces. I was totally upset and even shouted at my folks for living in a place
that was so abundant with thieves (I certainly regretted that remark later).
I called
up the ever faithful Dk at 00:30hrs (Pacific Time) and asked him to call up all
my credit card companies and cancel the cards. Dk as trustworthy this chap is
woke up in the middle of the night, went to his lab and called up all the
3rd Jan 2005: Another name has been added to mine.
More pictures and details to come.
31st Dec 2004: New Years party: Despite Ma’s
poor health she managed to be present in this Party. With all the songs and
dance, the New Year party was real fun.
30th Dec 2004: Ma gets sick: I had never seen more
blood in my 26year life. As diagnosed later, she had an ulcer in her nose and
one of the veins had ruptured. And so the crimson blood gushed out, when we
closed both her nostrils it started to pour out of her mouth. I was standing
next to her and was about to faint. There were 4 doctors attending her (now I
realize how helpful it is that my dad is a doctor, every one shows up when he
calls). When nothing changed 5 injections later, we took her to the
nearest hospital and admitted her. As usual I panicked, while following her to
the hospital I crashed in to the iron door of our house. Results, bruises and a
really swollen right foot (When it rains it poursL). Ma was hospitalized for a day and
told to take strict precautions. The good part was that my sis, who is about to
finish her MBBS, made sure that all the tests were done and the seniors Doctors
didn’t miss any thing.
22nd Dec 2004: I was in
18th Dec 2004: Papa had an accident while coming back
from the hospital in Azamgarh. Luckily for him he was wearing a helmet and his
head was saved, but he did get bruised in both the legs. We were scared. We
reckoned that life is so fragile and delicate.
14th Dec 2004: Milind’s Marriage and the Old
memory Lane: I visited my both my old schools St Mary’s (after two) year
and
St Mary’s: It was same as before. Had a chance to meet Tr
Jaya (Hindi) and Tr Raevis (Drawing) and even Tr Saroj Paul.
St John’s: Tr Sangeeta (Chemistry), Tr Champa Rikshit
(English), Tr Kelly (English), Poggy Sir (Commerce), even the games sir Manoj
Shukla remembered me. The school had changed and its surrounding area were all
transformed, the basket ball court had moved, the playgrounds had grown much
bigger. Girls 9th standard onwards are supposed to wear Shalwar
Kamiz.
That day I also had the chance to meet Krishna Kant, a very old
friend of mine from St Mary’s after 8-9years. Though single, he looked
like a father of twoJ, big tummy, solid mustache.
Another reasons for my staying back in
13th Dec 2004: Got my H1B visa. Yet another step in
the dreaded folklore that ends in the Indian getting a Green Card and settling
in the
11th Dec 2004: Met my family at
9th Dec: Flight to
6th of Dec: “The Psychopathology of Everyday
Life” by Sigmund Freud
I took up an interesting book of late: it underlines how the
subconscious mind unknowingly directs some of our actions. The most trivial
slips of the tongue or pen, Freud believed, can reveal our secret ambitions and
worries.
I have a very potent example to tell. Of late I got PJs for my
self, something that is not very strange for anyone. What makes this something
out of the way, in my case, is that fact that I never got PJ for my self in the
last 5-6years, so why suddenly now? “Analysis” of the event opened
a new window in to my subconscious. A close friend of mine got a gift for her
boyfriend for Thanks Giving. Now since I was the one who had to spend nearly an
hour with her the days before the Thanks Giving weekend, trying to figure out
what to get for him, I had a pretty good idea of the ideas that were floating
around. Even after spending an hour at the store when we could not arrive at a
suitable choice, I left her and headed home (to the point as usual J). Now all this
while, I was plotting within my self to gift myself. Only when she returned
back from her trip did she tell me that she had eventually decided on an
appropriate gift. PJs!
This is not a just one singular event. I think I might have been
able to place some other simple actions/slips in to their context. But all this
raises one important question. If we know what our subconscious is planning,
can we change the course of things as our inner being desires? Would that mean
that the mind is over the inner being or still beyond all this there is a
thought that reigns supreme? Or will our action/slips/mistakes forever be a
function of our subconscious? For that I must finish the book and see if I can
find any answers.
11th Nov: It is not very often that I hear something
on the radio and then care to follow it up. Not this time. I heard this on
National Public Radio (NPR) on my way back to home from office and it almost
moved me to tears. Read on and you will find why.
The emotional letters from fallen soldiers in
Some background : On May 1, 2003, Pfc. Jesse A. Givens of
A
letter arrived a few weeks later for his family -- pregnant wife Melissa and
young son Dakota. Pfc. Givens had written an emotional and touching
"goodbye" letter to be opened only if the worst happened. About the
time the letter arrived, Melissa gave birth to their second son, Carson.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
My family:
22-Apr-03
I
never thought that I would be writing a letter like this. I really don't know
where to start. I've been getting bad feelings, though and, well, if you are
reading this ....
I
am forever in debt to you, Dakota, and the Bean. I searched all my life for a
dream and I found it in you. I would like to think that I made a positive
difference in your lives. I will never be able to make up for the bad. I am so
sorry. The happiest moments in my life all deal with my little family. I will
always have with me the small moments we all shared. The moments when you quit
taking life so serious and smiled. The sounds of a beautiful boy's laughter or
the simple nudge of a baby unborn. You will never know how complete you have
made me. Each one of you. You saved me from loneliness and taught me how to
think beyond myself. You taught me how to live and to love. You opened my eyes
to a world I never dreamed existed. I am proud of you. Stay on the path you
chose. Never lose sight of what is important again, you and our babies.
Dakota,
you are more son than I could ever ask for. I can only hope I was half the dad.
I used to be your "danny" but no matter what it makes me proud that
you chose me. You taught me how to care until it hurts, you taught me how to
smile again. You taught me that life isn't so serious and sometimes you have to
play. You have a big, beautiful heart. Through life you need to keep it open
and follow it. Never be afraid to be yourself. I will always be there in our
park when you dream so we can still play. I hope someday you will have a son
like mine. Make them smile and shine just like you. I love you Toad. I hope
someday you will understand why I didn't come home. Please be proud of me.
Please don't stop loving life. Take in ever breath like it's your first. I love
you Toad. I will always be there with you. I'll be in the sun, shadows, dreams,
and joys of your life.
Bean,
I never got to see you but I know in my heart you are beautiful. I know you
will be strong and big-hearted like your mom and brother. I will always have
with me the feel of the soft nudges on your mom's belly, and the joy I felt
when I found out you were on your way. I dream of you every night, I will
always. Don't ever think that since I wasn't around that I didn't love you. You
were conceived of love and I came to this terrible place for love. I love you
as I do your mom and brother with all my heart and soul. Please understand that
I had to be gone so that I could take care of my family. I love you Bean. I
have never been so blessed as the day I met Melissa Dawn Benfield. You are my
angel, soulmate, wife, lover and best friend. I am so sorry. I did not want to
have to write this letter. There is so much more I need to say, so much more I
need to share. A lifetime's worth. I married you for a million lifetimes.
That's how long I will be with you. Please keep my babies safe. Please find it
in your heart to forgive me for leaving you alone. Take care of yourself,
believe in yourself, you are a strong, big hearted woman. Teach our babies to
live life to the fullest, tell yourself to do the same.
I
will always be there with you, Melissa. I will always want you, need you and
love you in my heart, mind and soul. Do me a favor, after you tuck Toad and
Bean in, give them hugs and kisses from me. Go outside look at the stars and
count them. Don't forget to smile.
Love always,
Your husband
Jess
The sad part in a war is that no matter which side wins, it is
the common man that always looses.
6th Nov: Saw “The Incredibles”
yesterday. Here is one line from the movie
"They keep finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity"
So grumbles Bob Parr, Mr. Incredible. Is this really true, in
order to get a conformal society we want to paint every one in the same color.
Do we glorify “being average” so that no one feels left behind? Do
people choose a dumb and stupid leader so that they can empathizes with him?
Ohh, the
movie, well it was really good, and worth all the jiggles and laughs.
2nd Oct: Put an all nighter to change homes. Was over
come with the usual feeling of gloom. I need to work on this, when ever I leave
any thing, I get so attached to it that I end up feeling bad for 2-3 days.
Dude, the day you die, you take nothing with you, so don’t get attached
to any thing. Life is a game, just play it beautifully.
10th Sept: Got my Sony DSC –V1 today.
Awesome camera, with all the pseud looks. Even got two books from Barns
and Nobel. This is gonna occupy me for quite some time.
10th Sept: Always remember that if you stick chewing
gum to some ones head and you think the only way out is to cut out hair, there
is a silver lining. Peanut Butter, takes of all the chewing gum in minutes!!!
(Thanks Christine)
4th Sept: Labor Day week end.
21st Aug: 20miles on the road!! Wow this was longest
I have ever run, I should say 32km that sound even big, but then I can always
say “I ran 32x1012nm”, but it would still be the
same. The bad thing is that I hurt my sole left sole, and I finished the run,
on two pain killers. Finally at the end of 3hrs, I was not tired at all but my
foot hurt like crazy. Probably I won’t be running for the next one month.
8th Aug: The 24 Mile biking trip. Keeping up with the
motto, "Enjoy summer while it lasts", it was 24miles on the streets
of
Some pics
a) My self and Frank 
b)
The Fremont Bridge 
31st July: Summers in
I really loved the adventure and though this was my first
attempt at windsurfing, I become quite ok at the end of 3hrs. I still have to
master turning and steering and get on a real pro board, but hopefully I will
get there. Here are some pictures.
(a)
(b)
(c) The Group
24th July: The run of my life.
Well when I say life, it means till this day, I have a much
longer way to go. But yes, yesterday I ran for like 17miles(~25km) in the
scorching 90F sun and that too in some 2:02hrs (off course there were the drink
breaks, but then they were in total <15minutes). Well credits goes to some
one who woke me up at 6:00am in the morning and dragged me along. It is a
totally different story when you run in a peloton, I couldn’t believe my
self when I looked at my watch the first time, it was already 45minutes, since
we had started running. This was one of the training sessions for the Portland marathon and the volunteer
group was so nice, they had set up water station every 1.5-2miles and finally
when I couldn’t run any more after 17miles they also gave be a ride to
the starting point. They say that you should only increase your distance by 10%
at a time, but I being the bull-head I am, I improved on my previous best of
10miles, by a whopping 70%. Off course I paid the price, I have 4 blisters in
both the legs and a toe which has turned blue, also an aching sore back, but
then I can’t complain. And after doing all this I went for a 6mile hike
on the Saddle mountains, (I was on pain killersJ). It’s has been fun pushing my
self. I just wish that I do this for other things in life too.
13th July: Life and other things.
On this trip to yellow stone, the night camp and the campfire
gave birth to many conversations. Off course the girl friend question came up
but then that is something that I have never been afraid to answer. What also popped
up on the starry night was the question as to where does one go from here. Big
dreams, higher aspirations. Where does it all culminate? The good thing was
that ¾ of us had no clue to this. This is something I would have expected as
5years ago I didn’t know that in 2004 I would be sitting in a desk on
Hillsboro Oregon and writing this blog. Well, but does this mean that you
don’t want to be prepared for what is in store, you don’t care to
even shape your futures? Na, define you short term goals and long term goals.
The long term goals are general guides lines, a very big picture, you might
eventually approach it from the North entrance or the South entrance, but that
is where you eventually wanna get to. The short term goals must be like the
short hikes/trails that you may take along the way, they are fun but by no
means the final destination. Off course there are food and toilet breaks, along
the way.
Also one thing very important is that even though your may start with some one
else at the same location, the journey will give totally different experience/
thrills to every one. It is just like when we where at school, every one was in
the same class but eventually every one chooses/is assigned something
different. Some of my peers will eventually end up getting much more than I
would ever dream of. I cannot complain that life is not fair, it never was. I
got things that I probably never deserved.
2nd July to 6th July: Like the 4th July's
in the last two years, this year too was a phenomenal trip.
The trip started with Dk almost missing his
flight and ended with every one (but me) missing theirs from Yellow Stone
National Park. The idea was a brain wave that had come to me back in 1988 when I
saw the Old Faithful (water geyser) in my school senior’s geography book.
I pitched the idea to Ajay and he jumped in, getting in Dk and Chinky
wasn’t too difficult either.
The beauty of Yellow Stone Park lies in the
fact that besides the spectacular views of forests, mountains, canyon and
falls, its geothermal geysers and hot springs are unique to this park alone.
We camped in the park for 4days (sorry the camp snaps are missing) and
cooked food on charcoal fire (all credit to Chinky for that). Ajay did a great
tour guide job, making excellent use of the two park guides and several park
maps we had and even arranged a couple of wildlife trails. Dk navigated us thru
hundreds of miles of roads. As for me, I clicked 363 snaps in 4day, which is my
per
15th June: The Los Angeles Lakers lose the NBA
championship to Detroit Pistons, 4-1. As some one points out the “Lakers
looked like ballerinas”. They pretty much had no clue to what had struck
them. I was so pissed of that I switched off my cell phone, I knew a bunch of
people would be calling me as I am such a vociferous Laker fan. Well we lost!!
Another interesting thing
happened today. The yahoo email accounts we had, suddenly grew in size to
100Mb; that is like totally awesome. Well this was all in reaction to
Google’s Gmail, which gives a humongous 1Gb email space. In fact I read
somewhere that Yahoo and Hotmail had been blocking email of people sending
Gmail invites to their friends. That is downright shameful.
14th Jun: The Beast is Back.
Got back my car after two weeks, during while I was driving
a triple diamond (Mitsubishi). God, the two cars are a totally different ball
game. You have to slam the accelerator in the Lancer to get it anywhere whereas
the Volkswagen kicks butt. When you drive a 1.8L turbo charged engine, you have
so much torque to speed-up that the drive is just a pleasure. Logged in 30miles
on the freeway just for a joy ride, man it is so much fun.
11th June: This is what I wrote to one of the Laker
Hater:
Guys,
On the Lakers subject. (like I said I don't wanna work today so
please let me continue)
The Lakers were the best team coming in to the NBA finals but
with Malone injured and Gary Paton not doing nothing I really don't see a
chance that they can now win the NBA. But for the impossible shot that Kobe
made in game 2, the score would have easily been 3-0. That still doesn't change
that fact that Kobe is a genius and so is Shaq. But fact is that the Lakers
don't have enough bodies to defend or attack. All the Lakers wins have been
when one player had risen to the occasion, Fisher for 3, Rush for 18, Kobe for
3, you have to win basket ball by 5 players not One. And the Lakers can't do
that no more. When I look at the Detroit team, they play like a team. The front
five as well as the bench. That is what makes great team. That is why I feel
that they should probably win it; after all they have waited 14 years.
But I really feel bad for all the
Lakers Haters, cause they don't have one team they can love, instead they have
just one team they hate. That is not how sports fan are supposed to be. You
have a team to cheer in their victory, you feel sorry for their losses and at
the end to the day if they don't make it to the play-off/conference finals/NBA
finals they just watch the better team win.
May the best team win!
A big Laker supporter and a bigger NBA fan.
Monks
23rd May: Hmm the last fifteen days have been
maddening. First there was Ritudi’s marriage, which was on the 9th
of May and then the trip to LA the next weekend and finally the whole week stay
at San Jose. I love to travel but this was overkill.
The trip to LA was fun, but I lost
something. Something really precious, years later, when I will look back I will
feel funny about all this, but right now it just hurts. Going back to the
1st April resolution, cut the senti crap.
Then there were more words of advice. This
movie “Yuva” which I saw on Friday, had a dialog the essence of
which went something like this: All the love/”senti carp” is BS,
the whole thing is motivated by the simple fact (this probably is a crude way
to put things, but right now I am short of words and the airport announcement
are bugging) as a species we need to sustain our selves, the rest is just a
ritual.
5th of May: Ok now the things have gone out of
control. I went to the market got the Dhaniya, got the Hing, got the Tamatar
and planed to make a solid good dal. Some where between boiling the dal and
making the Tadka I put sugar in place of salt. One full tea spoon!! So I had to
call mom and ask her what salvage operation could be performed.
Easy put 1.5 table spoons of salt and what you get is a Gujarati
dal!!
1st April : Wow how time is gone by so fast. I turn
one more year on this day. I spent a lot of time on the phone. I must cut this.
Its really bad that some gizmo which is not even 100 years old should take away
so much time of your life. But the sad part is that the one person I hoped to
get a call, never called me on my Bday.
Which raises the next resolutions: I must
stop being senti and stuff, this just ruins every thing. Moto in life: Eat
Drink be merry, and cut all the senti crap.
31st March: Got the news that Anuj got in to Harvard
Business School. God I have really smart friends and I feel happy for all of
them. But this guy is a special one!!
26th-29th March : Spring Break 2004
On friday
I reached Boston and saw MIT. and there are a plenty of my friends at MIT ,so I
had a nice time with them at MIT. I saw the MIT campus and Ashdown, or Ashwin
Dham as they call it. Now MIT is in
Usually it is snowing and raining at this
time of the year in
That night we went to Montreal down
town and we roamed about in
30 minutes and won some 35$, and then stopped.
Then the
next morning, we went to the
After
that we went to see the old Montréal. This area has the most number of historic
buildings of any city in
After
that we went of the Olympic stadium in Montreal, that was built for the 76,
Olympics. It has this tall tower, and one can take an elevator to the top of
it, which again gives a phenomenal view of the city.
This trip
was followed by the trip to the underground market in the heart of
So on
Sunday evening we returned back from Montreal and drove back via New Hampshire,
which is another pretty state, but once you live in Oregon every thing looks
like a desert to you. We saw this
6th Feb 2004: I got my new car, the single most
expensive and huge “Worldly” possession of mine. Here is a link
2nd Feb 2004: Naren Rathod of H&H Auto’s.
The world is full of wonderful people and these days I get to meet so many of
them. I was searching for my new car and seemed to like one. I had to get this
customary mechanic check. Being new to
17th Jan: My Heroes for Today: This was
one of the most eventful days in my life’s last couple of years. (After
all you have to remember that I lost my passport and that was a lot more fun
but still). Last night I said bye to my parent which was rather an emotional moment.
My parents and sister were there and as always it was very hard saying them the
bye.
So I had this Air
India flight from Delhi to Mumbai and it was scheduled to leave the Indra
Gandhi International Airport at 1800hrs on the 17th of Jan. Keeping
in mind the fact that I was still in
A rude shock was in
store for us and the train did not come till 2.5 hrs later. I was waiting for
something that had to happen, just like a patient his death bed, waiting for
the final moment to come. We watched trains go by, Shatabdi Express,
Shramjeevi Express and finally my train came at 0120hrs. Now another funny
thing happened, when I reached my berth, it seemed that someone else was
sleeping on my reserved seat. My father reflexively woke up that guy and even
after his vehement protests that the berth actually belonged to him, and made
him leave the berth. Well moments after my parents had left and the train
started to move, did the train attendant come to me and told me that actually I
was on the wrong bogie and I had evicted the rightful owner of the berth!!
Since that guy had already gone to sleep in the opposite berth, I figured it
would be better not to wake him again and I could settle this in the morning.
Besides I was already lonely and depressed. One of my worries was that when I
reach
0830hrs, morning of
the 17th Jan 2004: The train had stopped for the last 30minutes
at some vague town called “Khurja”, 80km away from
While
we were stuck there for another hour, we came to know that there was an
agitation going on against the ruling Samta Party and all train en route to
So we started our
journey in the Samta party car. This helped us a lot in getting of the town
fast, `cause this place was pro Samta party, but little did we know that this
“Passport” of our would serve as a death warrant later. We stared
moving toward
Now, I had
heard/seen such things on the TV but nothing had prepared me for what was about
to happen, right in front of my eyes.
We were scared to death. I felt horrible; it
was because of me that this family was traveling on a day when it was safe to
remain in the shelters of ones own home. This family had literally risked there
life to get me to
So we were spared, but the human sprit has a never die attitude, and that saved
the day for me. We decided that now that we can not take the roads, we will
drive thru any thing that is going in
(a) Angels in life 
(b)The
Ditch 
(c)The
road less traveled
(d)The Car that did it All
(e)The
Real India, 
I finally reached
1st Jan: Happy New Year 2004. After 1997, seven
years, I was celebrating the New Year with my parents. This was one great
feeling!!
27th Dec 2003: Journey Back Home: Air
26th Dec: The Big Fish: After a lot of bashing of the
Indian cricket team by the Australian team, we had no other option that to run
away from the TV and watch something face saving. Of the various movies released
after Christmas, we narrowed down to the Big Fish. Well the name may suggest
that this movie has something to do with a Fish (after all the biggest hit of
the year was Finding Nemo). Surprisingly enough, this movie had less to do with
a fish and more with a 70 year old man and this life. “Edward
Bloom” had a rather eventful life, but unlike most of us he chose to look
back at his yester years in a more colorful light rather than just black and
white. To what ever that happened to him, he chose to recall and tell just the
good part. His stories were so full of good things that his son thought that
his father was living a lie. Turns out that when he tries to confirm the
stories his father told, they do turn out to be true. The unwavering love
Edward had for his wife is simply touching. There were people in the theater
that would have died for the love he shared with his wife.
Message:
You make your own choices, choose to remember only the good and you will live a
better life
4th of Dec: Now if any one of you has been keeping a
track of this web page, he is bound to notice the big lull in the whole web log
thing!!
I mean 19th Oct and 4th Dec … that
is more like an age for a free graduate student. Well guess what? I am no
longer a free graduate student!! Ya Ya after all that crying and cursing the
faith, I got all I would have killed for two months ago. Live is full of twists
and turns.
This is
going to be one big web log. So October 2003 was a nightmare, thesis work was
just not coming to an end, job interviews were turning sour. I had already
requested
Bottom
line, at the end of the day, the law to averages does catch up. You will get
your share of joy and the cup will not just runneth over with misery alone.
Being in a full time job does take up a lot of time, but then I asked for it
and so can’t complain. I still will update this page once in a while. Oh
yes I will do that.
19th Oct: Visit to the Veteran’s Cemetery in
After a long time I snatched time from my life to ramble on my
bike. And there is what I got (actually I also got a flat tire on my bike after
the trip).
The Veteran’s Cemetery (also the Los Angeles National
Cemetery) is next to UCLA and this is the place where veterans for many of
the American wars rest. The oldest grave stone that I saw was one dating back
to 1906. In the center of the park is the metal plaque bearing the address by
President Lincoln, which he gave on
Some Pictures.
Then as I was returning back to school, what I saw on my way was
something people on the west coast are not very accustomed to. The sight of a
tree with fall foliage!! Right in the heart of
Here are two snaps that I took.
a) 
b)
18th Oct: Will the Law of Averages ever catch up?
Last 5-6 months have been a nightmare. Never has laughter lasted
more than a few seconds before which the cast of the surrounding gloom over
taken the charge. Each month starts with the hope that things might turn out
well, but alas they just get worse… and the downturn continues unabated.
Which brings the obvious question, is light at the end of this tunnel? Is there
a silver lining to this monstrous cloud of melancholy?
I just hope that some day, I will look back and read this web
log, and wonder how things went so bad…
08th Oct: One of my close friends has been scanning
this page for updates every next day!!! I must oblige him; it would be very
unfair on my part if I didn’t do this now ;). I read this quote on the
www.timeofindia.com, and it just struck me …
“The evils of mankind are caused, by the
individual’s self-transcending identification
with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and
high emotionality”— Arthur Koestler
I am not sure about the “low intelligence” and the
group theory, but the high emotionality is certainly an issue. Whole of my life
I have run to problems, being over emotional. Sometimes not everybody is as
passionate about a thing as I am (ever one has a right to choose!). Not
everybody thinks the way I think, (that is why they are “them”
instead of being my mirror images). While I am quite aware of this short
coming of mine, I just can’t help it. :(( … I get attached to
things, places and people… (Come on I should not get attached to people,
they don’t always feel the way I do, for them, of them. I just end up
hurting my feelings, feeling blue) you know what I mean, at least some of you
do!
So aim one à Don’t get Sentimental … not on people you
have no control over...
??th Sept: There is this hindi song, from the movie "Chalte
Chalte", if you don't know Hindi, then my friend
you just missed on one of the better songs known to humanity.
Chalte Chalte Mere Ye Geet Yaad Rakhna
Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna
Rote Hanste Bas Yoon Hi Tum Gungunate Rehna
Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna
Pyar Karte Karte.. Hum Tum Kahin Kho Jaayenge
In Hi Baharon Ke.. Aanchal Mein Thak Ke So Jaayenge
Sapnon Ko Phir Bhi Tum Yoon Hi Sajaate Rehna
Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna...
Beech Raah Mein Dilbar.. Bichhad Jayen Kahin Hum Agar
Aur Sooni Si Lage Tumhe.. Jeevan Ki Yeh Dagar
Hum Laut Aayenge, Tum Yoon Hi Bulate Rehna
Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna...
This is as I am today...
4th Aug: So let me do a complete volte-face from yesterday.. Ever wonder why the movies always end on a good note. The protagonist wins the competition, or gets his/her beloved or makes big in life.. This isn't real life... Correct?? No Wrong!! Well you see, when you are seeing that life of full of misery and hardship that is only partly correct, because the good part is yet to come and the whole story is not over till that good part comes.. So some one can not just tell you half the story... The story line must be complete... and the fact is that more often than not, there is a nice end to all stories...
3rd Aug: Life is too full of disappointments and misery and as such we really don't have any thing to be happy about. People lie, betray, kill and eventually die... Delight, like the twinkle of a star is evanescent, before you know it is gone, leaving behind clouds of melancholy ... Perhaps the only way out of this world, this vicious whirlpool is, as the hindu religion puts it, "Moksha" (freedom from cycle of rebirth on this planet of mortals). Till then we have to toil in the dirty and pay for our sins.
21st July: Sign on a Pharmacy Shop in Eagle,Colorado: "When you see Temptation, turn Right". How appropriate for a small town, which made to the global map, thanks to Kobe Bryant. Sad, Kobe never got to read it ... But now that you have, keep it with you for ever.
13th June: Good Comes Back: Some times the good we do comes back in a
truly unexpected way. Now look at this, over the last two years I have tried my
best to maintain good and continual relation with my friends and faculty
members. This includes writing them emails on a special occasions, keeping them
updated with what I had been doing or asking them what they had been up to?
Some times, I never got back a reply, (let this not deter you, unless the other
guy is hell bent on ignoring you, then there is hardly anything you can do),
but I persisted. This is what I believe: “If
tomorrow I am gone, will it affect any one? Will there be ANYONE, who would
miss me? Will there be somebody who would recall a good deed I once did?”
If the answer to any one of these is No, then I better rethink the way I live!!
Wait, this is not we were talking about; back to the Good Comes Back…
So, this is what happened today, three of the very senior people I know out
here, and one old friend tried to help me! Yes, despite the fact that they are
hundreds of miles away, or in 3 cases thousands of miles away, they knew that I
was in trouble and they tried to do what they could best do. That I think shows
the real strength of the fabric of society we live in. They were not my
parents, who I was related by blood, but Friends/Professors, who went out of
their usual routine just to help me. Now even if things don’t work out
and their help doesn’t fructify, I would, despite all my shortcomings, be
happy with the fact that there are people, who have faith in me, who trust me
and are willing to back me up.
13th June: If you are betrayed once, think twice
before you put your trust in the same place again. Life is a mixed bag,
sometimes you can’t get all you want and at these moments think of all
you have and cheer up.
22nd May: The Truly Global Human Being: As I write
this, simultaneously I marvel at the fact that how the human race has cut
across all the barriers of race, culture and geographical locations. SARS
started in a province in China and the next thing you know, some one half way
across the globe in Canada, has it!! But it is not SARS that I want to write
about.
Today I experienced what could be called, a
truly international exposure. 11:00am I check my
Here comes the interesting part, after the
play, I was introduced to the brain behind all this: The lady was german
by birth and had lived in India for quite some time and now she is in Los
Angeles, teaching dances from India. The play though comprising students mostly
of Hispanic origin had a japanese student as well as an afro-american. So
the whole globe shrinks to this 20ft by 20 ft stage, where a german teacher
directs students from Mexican origin, African origin and east asian origin,
acting out a story in USA, which happened in India some 3000 thousand
years ago ( or probably never happened). So the next time you meet a human,
don’t judge him by the color of his skin or the language he speaks,
because who knows, he might know more about your country/race than you do!!
Pics à
(a)
(b)
18th May: Was at the La Brea Tar pit in LA, wonderful
place!! Saw some really awesome extinct mammals. But it was a Holocaust museum
near the Page Museum that intrigued me. 6 million people were killed, people
who not just died, but died a gruesome death. Nothing corrupts like
power… pic from the museumà
12th May: Some times when you love people, you have
to express it explicitly. Just a small, “I love you” or “I
miss you” can make a lot of difference. It’s a short life, if
you care about some one, telling him/her that is the least you can
do…
|
Why the BLOG?? Well it is true
that for 24-25 year of my life, I never cared to maintain any kind of log, then
the obvious Question: Why now? Frankly it is more influenced by an article
that appeared in the New York Times on
18th May 2003, but then it is new too late to LearnJ . The New York
Times puts is more beautifully: This is for people like me “who draw
from their per |
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