Vishy's Scribblings

Worst of the Both World

2008-10-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Story 1:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89344381

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/08/freddiemacandfanniemae.subprimecrisis

Story 2:

1) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/American_dream_ends_Indian_kills_family_self_in_LA/articleshow/3568703.cms

Wall st. privatizes the social profit and socialize the private loss, and business schools socialize the private profit and privatize the social loss; both are bad.

Nationwide Relocation Services: A Cheat and Fight Business Company

2008-06-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

Recently, we moved from Austin to Atlanta as I changed my job.

As per the contract Nationwide Relocation the moving company agreed to provide me household shipping scheduled on Mar 12th/13th 2008 and gave me an estimate of $2359.04 and the two transactions above (totaling to $1570.82) took place as initial deposit for the agreement. The movers did not show up on either of the date mentioned in the contract; instead another company called ADS Moving and Storgae packed and shipped my apartment. They told me that they were sent by Nationwide Relocation. However, ADS Moving and Storage charged us $3099.87 and refused to adjust $1570.82 I gave to Nationwide Relocation. They in fact refused to deliver our stuff until I gave them $3099.87 in cash. Upon contacting Nationwide Relocation about $1570.82; they told me (for the first time) that they are not shipping company but a broker firm and my initial deposit was their fee/commission. This is outrageous, if they were broker firm then they should have:

1)told me this to see if at all I am interested
2)fixed the commission from both the parties
3)taken the responsibility of overall move
4) paid our initial deposit to the actual moving company. They did none of this except charging my card for $1570.82.

There is absolutely no reason that they could keep this money. It is ridiculous that now they are telling me the charge of $674.21 was the initial deposit I agreed on and $896.61 was for updating inventory on their papers. None of this makes sense. ADS Moving and Storage made its own list of inventory and bill of lading and they had their own billing system all independent of Nationwide Relocation. We were repeatedly told by Nationwide Relocation on phone that they are the moving company and the money given to them is the initial deposit? towards the overall cost. Even in their response to our dispute they refer the amount of $1570.82 as our initial deposit . Later on they call it their fee. Nationwide Relocation claims of making bills, preparing list of inventory, updating inventory list, giving 76% discounts, taking deposits etc. has absolutely no meaning at all. We never got any 76% discount mentioned in their response. Nationwide Relocation never ever did anything related to our move, delays, lost and damaged stuff, and excess charges. They just kept the initial deposit and stand aside, and now suddenly they are a broker company. We can almost see that Nationwide Relocation showing us terms and conditions, and telling that they have recorded our conversations on phone etc. but they will not answer the question: how initial deposit of $1570.82 became their fee including $870.61 just for updating list of inventory.

Chronology of events:

1)Nationwide Relocation salesman contacts us about our move and gives us an not to exceed estimate and take $674.21 initial deposit.

2)They send us deliberately incomplete? list of inventory that troubles us, so we contact them back about it and nothing happens for several days and moving date is coming close.

3)Finally another salesman updates our inventory and updates our initial deposit to $1570.82.

4)Nationwide Movers never show up, moving date is a history of 48 hours without the move.

5)ADS Moving company comes 12 hours prior to our flight time (we had an apartment lease ending on the same day).

6)Three movers of ADS company, my wife, 3 of my friends, and myself pack the apartment for 8 tireless hours and we rush to airport.

7)ADS moving company prepares its own inventory, bill and refused to adjust the money given to Nationwide Relocation.

8)Upon contacting Nationwide Relocation their representative tell us that if we do not give money to ADS of their billing they will not deliver our stuff.

9)Things get delayed by a day and ADS charges us another day of storage cost.

10)We give $3099 (the complete moving cost) to ADS and take delivery to avoid any further storage cost.

11) Now if we are asking the question where is our initial deposit? What wrong with that?

12) We contacted Citibank to cancel the credit card payment to Nationwide Relocation and they happily did that but Nationwide Relocation responded with a threat letter of going to court and charging us court and attorney fee. And Sending collection agency to our place.

13) We decided to take the case out of Citibank and contacted Better Business Bureau in Florida they closed the case without ever reading our complain and the Nationwide Relocation's response. I did not know that BBB is so powerless when it comes to repayment of fradulant charges on consumers.

15)We have decided to take the case to court in Florida.

Nationwide Relocation is a fraud company that does nothing except fighting with the people who they have cheated. They will write detailed report and rebuttle if you contact credit card company for cancelling the payment. Essentially, thats what their core strength is. They are not a moving company but a cheat and fight business company. Stay away from them. See how many people have complained about them:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/movers/nationwide_relocation.html

http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=Nationwide+relocation+services

Book Review: The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D Sachs

2008-06-04T09:34:00.001-07:00

Coming up:

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

2008-02-21T12:17:00.001-08:00

.....the last straw!

2007-04-17T08:17:00.001-07:00

If you could kill...would you kill?

2007-04-10T09:54:00.002-07:00

Coming up...

All that glitters.....

2007-04-10T09:54:00.001-07:00

Coming up post....

Activities

2007-03-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Ancillary

1) Marriage
2) Buying a house
3) Having a job
4) Cooking
5) Cleaning
6) Socialization

Sufficient

1) Reading books
2) Knowing math
3) Running
4) Driving
5) Money
6) Camping
7) Biking
8) Hiking

Necessary

1) Good health
2) Exercising
3) Swimming
4) Balanced diet
5) Control

Thomas Cook thieves at New Delhi Airport

2007-02-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

I came out of aircraft at New Delhi airport and saw some Thomas Cook counters for currency exchange, I needed just Rs. 2.00 for making a local phone call at a PCO, I didn't have any Indian currency. I approached a Thomas Cook counter and asked for $10 exchange. The guy said he doesn't have change. So I said keep the change give me the rest. For $10 he was supposed to give me Rs. 434 instead he gave me Rs. 400. Rs. 34 isn't "change", a family can eat whole day in Rs. 34. These people sitting at airport are thieves and make use of travelers urgent need for exchange and deliberately don't give the right amount of money. Basically, they start robbing you even before you step out of the airport.....this is how your India trip starts.

IES

2007-02-25T13:32:00.000-08:00

Ideal Education Society

Recently after my graduation from the University of Texas at Austin, I visited my hometown and happen to visit a society called Ideal Education Society (IES) in Bareilly, UP, India. I was impressed to see the kind of work these people have been doing for last 6 years. They run a school in a poor village where tuition fees are encouraged but are not mandatory. Everyone involved in this work has a separate job for living. They run this school from Nursery to 10th grade. They have run it successfully for last 6 years, however in recent times they have been facing much crisis which is due to the rampant inflation, unemployment, and volatile state governance. When I visited them they were in desperate need of immediate help to run the school which I provided but I realized that this is kind of work many of us would like see being done at many more places. I suggested them to become an NGO (i.e., registration etc.) and get the FCRA clearance so that I could write a project report for them get it funded from organizations like AID, ASHA, or Vibha etc. I learned that these volunteers are highly motivated and skilled people, however, they don't even know about the word NGO, foreign funding, donations, and possibility of replicating their effort in other villages etc.). I ordered few books for them (written in Hindi) to learn about NGOs in general but most literature is available only in English.

In addition to the above mentioned school, IES also runs a computer center for the kids enrolled in the school where they could learn computers. I was appalled to see the effort they are putting to run their computer center, their computer center, however looked like a ramshackle laboratory but it has a great potential in it to teach its students. Although, I gave them my laptop; but it could be developed into a much better lab if we could give them some computers. After I came back to USA I decided to arrange 50 computers for them, it easy here to collect old computer but their shipping cost kills all the effort. Now I am looking to buy/collect 50 computers in India so that I can ship and donate easily.

Organization Profile

Name of the organization: Ideal Education Society (established in 2000)

Contact: Lalit Kumar Agarwal 54 Macnair Road, Bareilly, UP 243003 +91 9897904414

1) Brief description of the long-term objectives of the organization:

The society was formed to provide free education to kids in poor and backward villages in outskirts of Bareilly City in Uttar Pradesh. The society wants to run its schools in minimum resources and running expenses (in long term) while providing quality education.

2) Brief description of last three relevant projects and how they were funded:

Although overall work was not done in a project specific manner but can be broken down in three major components.

Project 1: Founding the school (2000-01): School was first founded in 2000 with a generous support for the land and building from Smt. Ramlata Agarwal (widowed in 1998) and Smt. Usha Garg. The furniture and other necessary stuff were also donated by the other school in city which had it in excess or the one they wanted to retire.

Project 2: Running the School (2001-02): Getting initial enrollment and finding motivating teachers who are willing to teach at almost no salary was a challenge but with the donations and personal funds founders did start the school. Founders went each and every door personally and asked the parents to send their kids to school. Later on with the help of Mr. Latafat Ali Khan they secure the registration and the school was recognized by the government. It was necessary step in the overall development since UP government gives scholarship to all those poor kids who are enrolled in a state-recognized school. For most parents the scholarship money was the initial motivation (catalyst) to send their kids to school (who otherwise will work on tea stall or in households and earn some money). Although most stuff was bought with the seed money of donation, they also ran a drive to collect old books and teaching material just to get started.

Project 3: Scaling up (2002-2006): Slowly over the last 5 years school has done lots of its own development in parallel; like: more space, better rooms, electricity, furniture, fans, lights, bathroom, reading room, small library, a few computers etc. The school recently started offering 10th grade education with the help of another school in city where from the students can write State-run exams.

The school mostly runs on the tuition money they get from those kids who get scholarship from the government. Tuition and fees are not enforced but encouraged since that is the only sources of income to run the school. Most parents in the village realize this and offer anything they can from time to time, but this remains an uncertain and unreliable source.

3) Brief description of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the area

Extremely backward and poor area most families are laborers or farmers without land. A typical family earn less than Rs. 60 a day (which is a daily wage for a laborer but they don’t get work everyday).

4) Target population in terms of age, sex, number

The project is directed towards the next generation that will come out of village: The kids. Girls are in majority when compared to boys and the village will have around 450 - 500 kids in the age group of 5-15 years.

11) Criteria for:
a) Selection of students for admission.
The only criteria is the commitment from the parents that they will not discontinue kids education for the year under consideration.

b) Graduation from the school.
Standard criteria in line with official requirements government puts for recognition.

12) Scope for further education/vocation of students after graduation:

The school provides TCs (Transfer certificates) and recommendation letters for further education. If the interest for further education is shown either from students or their parents, in most cases teachers or principal are able to find admissions to higher education providing schools in city.

Finger Bone Pain and Therepy

2007-02-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

Problem: I recently realized that I have been ignoring a pain in finger joints, yesterday it became unbearable and couldn't make a fist. I didn't like that so I search web and called up people who I know had had similar problems and came to know that it is a the keyboard of my laptop; which isn't good. IBM notebooks have very small keyboard and long working hours in long term can cause some sort of pain in your finger bone. Therepy: Squeeze lemons, wash dishes and clothes by hand (twist them to squeez water off them). Additionally, I have bought a wireless keyboard, laptop riser, and a big mouse (Microsoft Ergonomically designed stuff). It helps. I am interested in knowing other things I could do.

Vishy's graduation Party at gateway complex

2006-12-25T09:18:00.000-08:00


The group must have smoke some real stuff...

Mayank's Slide show

2006-12-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

Conversations....

2006-12-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

Monday morning...Vishy in office...

Friend: Hey vishy, how was the weekend?
Vishy: Terrible...I fell and hurt my knees bad and my ex-girlfriend called for lunch..
Friend: Uh Oh...

Vishy and another colleague are discussing something....after a while:

Colleague: Did you understand what I said...?
Vishy: No.
Colleague: Am I making sense?
Vishy: No.
Colleague: Shall I try again?
Vishy: Hell no....

Vishy and a girl are talking...

Girl: You are so weird!
Vishy: ! :-?
Girl: No, that was supposed to be a compliment !!
Vishy: I will see you later....

Vishy and Interviewer...

Interviewer: So you are a PhD?
Vishy: Yes, I still can't believe.
Interviewer: Why not?
Vishy: You have to do a PhD yourself to understand that!
Interviewer: !!
Vishy: Am I hired?
Interviewer: No...

Vishy trying to raise funds for his marathon running...

Person: So you are running?
Vishy: Yep!
Person: Why are you running...
Vishy: I don't know!
Person: I thought you were running to raise funds which will support poor kids' education in India.....
Vishy: I wasn't sure if you will believe that, anyway, now give me $100.

Vishy and Apartment manager...

Manager: How the hell this window broke?
Vishy: Yeah, I am wondering too!!

Vishy and Traffic Cop...

Cop: Sir, you were speeding...
Vishy: I was? What are the numbers?
Cop: Sir, this is a 15 mile/hr zone, you were driving at 40 mile/hr.
Vishy: But you followed me at the same speed.....if I were to slow down you would have hit my car....

Vishy gets the speeding ticket and then in defensive driving class

Instructor: 25 miles above the speed limit...in school zone!!!! Please come in front.
Vishy: You mean I am going to teach the class...?

Vishy and his friends were driving and stopped at a Mexican restaurant...

Vishy: (Looking at the colorful Mexican sweets and cookies) can I take a picture?
Girl: (She is beautiful) Mine? :)
Vishy: No! The cookies...

Vishy and Mom are trying to talk....

Mom: Are you dating these days?
Vishy: Yes.
Mom: Do you like her...
Vishy: You mean--them?

Vishy and his sister are talking...

Sis: Are you planning to marry...?
Vishy: Yes.
Sis: When is that?
Vishy: When is what?
Sis: The marriage?
Vishy: Oh, you mean the wedding?

Vishy in a cafe...

Vishy: Please give me a tea.
Girl: Which blend?
Vishy: I said TEA.
Girl: Sir, we have 20 types of tea blends, which one you want?
Vishy: Give me the one you like most.
Girl: I don't drink tea.
Vishy: Give me a coffee?
Girl: Which one?
Vishy: Can I see your manager?

Vishy and Wal-Mart helper...

Vishy: Where can I find a mouse trap...
Girl: It should be in house cleaning section.
Vishy: Thats weird, I was told that it should be in cat-food section.
Girl: Who told you that.
Vishy: My cat.

Vacuum cleaner.....

Vishy: hey, can I borrow your vacuum cleaner...
Friend: Yeah sure, but why suddenly cleaning and all?
Vishy: My computer's hard-drive crashed.
Friend's wife: I wish that happend to our computer.

Vishy and another girl are talking...

Girl: You just don't know anything about me :(
Vishy: That is why we are still seeing eachother... :)

Vishy TA office hours...

Student: I have a difficulty in Q# 4.1
Vishy: Leave it.
Student: How about my grade?
Vishy: I will give you grade for that one?
Student: What if it comes in exam?
Vishy: Don't leave it.

Student: In Q# 3.7 of HW#5, I got less mark than I deserved.
Vishy: What makes you think so?
Student: I did the integration; it just wasn't correct.
Vishy: Can you do it correctly now?
Student: No.
Vishy: Get out of here...

Student: Can I see you after office hours...
Vishy: If you are a girl, yes!

Vishy and a friend.....

Friend: Hey, can you read and review my paper?
Vishy: Sure, I would be glad.
Friend: Just don't do a lot of changes, I mean, I know there are things that could be done better, but as long as things are acceptable the way they are now. I'll leave them that way, ...what I mean by a LOT of changes is something like this: "delete this whole section, it is garbage and write a whole new section about this" or "you should rewrite this whole section", or "delete that section", its too complex ot too obvious" etc. You know what I mean?

Friend talking to Vishy on MSN chat window....

Friend: Now, I'm planning to work a little bit on the time series things, like try to understand the concepts, matlab and such. And maybe I should also study for the revenue management test. But probably I'll end up watching TV, I'm tired.
Vishy: ?

Vishy and His employer....

Employer: I didn't see you for last few days?
Vishy: I had gone to Pittsburgh for a conference?
Employer: What did you do there?
Vishy: I interviewed for new jobs.
Employer: Did you get any offers?
Vishy: Don't you see: I am back here....

Ajit and Robert

2006-12-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

A friend sent this over....hilarious stuff !

AJIT: Robert, isko Great Wall of China le jaakarphansi mein laga do, great 'wall hanging' ban jayegi

AJIT:Robert is ko microprocessor may daal do! Bit bybit mar jaayga gaa saala!

AJIT:Robert is ko liquid oxygen may daal do ! Liquid issay jeenay nahi day gaa, oxygen issay marnay nahiday gaa!

AJIT:Robert, Dayna (Diana) ko thoda khatta khila do,yeh dayna se daynasour bhi ho jayegi, phir extinct bhi...

AJIT:Robert, isey thodi shampane pila do, paheley shame sey, phir pane sey mar jayegaa...

AJIT: Robert, isey peekak paisan pila do, yeh more seyno-more ho jayegaa...

AJIT: Mona daarrling, tum Toni ke saath ghuumna bandkar do, nahin to bahut MonaToni ho jayegee...

AJIT: "Robert, Harshad Mehta the Bull ka stool testkaraao"
ROBERT: "Kyon boss?"
AJIT: "Pata to chale akhir ye Bullshit kya hota hai"

AJIT: Maikal, ise liquid helium mein daal ke 440 Vpass kar do. Phir yeh superconductor ban jaayega, aurzindagi bhar ticket kaat-ta reh jaayega.

Maikal: Baaas, yeh aadmi to kuch bol hi nahin rahahai. Kya karen ?
Ajit: Ise revaalving chair mein daal do. Pata chaljaayega chakkar kya hai.

Robert: Boss , Sona kahan hai ? ( Where is the Gold ?)
AJIT: Kahin par bhi so jao Robert !!

(Scene - Robert gets a sidey to Ajit.)
Robert: Boss, humne sidey ko pakad liya
AJIT:Ise maar ke pulees station ke saamne rakh do. Auriske badan par ek sui chubha do.
Robert: Par sui kyon, baass!
AJIT:Bewakoof! Pulees yeh samjhegi ki sui-cide hua hai!

East meets West

2006-11-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

A friend sent this over: heehau

http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-1/115208556396780.xml&coll=1

Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli)

2006-10-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Listen : http://www.twango.com/media/adicta.public/adicta.10012

You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
Pardon the way that I stare.
There's nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it's real.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay..

I am running ATT marathon with Asha group

2006-10-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.ashanet.org/austin/soh/runners/vishv.html

hmmm.....

2006-10-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

“There is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.”
— H.L. Mencken

Zen aha!

2006-10-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.kwanumzen.com/primarypoint/v08n2-1991-summer-wkzm-whatisyouroriginalface.html

My favourite:

.............A famous Zen story is about two monks who were traveling together in the rainy season. They came to a small creek, overflowing with heavy rains. There they saw a lovely young girl in a silk kimono, unable to cross. One of the monks offered to carry her across on his shoulder, and did so. The monks walked on silently for a long time, until the other monk could not restrain himself and said, "We have precepts about not touching a woman. How could you so blatantly carry that girl on your shoulders?" The first monk replied, "Oh! I put that girl down a long time ago. Why are you still carrying her around?"..............

Those good old versions...

2006-07-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Everyone heard of "those good old days....." and related stories everyone else has. I too have several similar stories but I am going to bore you with those. Lets talk about the sister stories of those old days related to good old versions of the software products we use. Look at the following:

Old Versions Available of Yahoo Messenger
Yahoo Messenger 3.0 (1.3 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 3.5 (1.9 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 4.1 (2.3 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 5.0 (2.2 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 5.5.1228 (2.6 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 6.1922 (4.5 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 7.0 (8.2 MB)
Yahoo Messenger 7.5.0.647 (7.7 MB)
AT and T Yahoo Messenger 8.0 (21 MB)

Most of you already see the problem here! Right? The size of the installation executable
has been increasing exponentially lately for all the things that a messanger isn't supposed to have. The latest version of Yahoo messenger has a list 6 hide/show things (status chooser, people tabs, toolbar, content tabs and Yahoo search bar) in it. And it installs 5 other things (Yahoo mail, Yahoo toolbar, Yahoo manager, Yahoo blah, and one more blah) on your hard drive along with the messenger. It also has an annoying and flashy advertisement bar in it.

Increasing the size of the installation exe just doesn't make sense, not everyone has a
highspeed internet and compared to 1.3 MBs to the latest version of 21 MBs is almost 20 times
increased in the size, has Yahoo messenger become 20 time more useful? At least I don't think so!

I am using the older version of Yahoo messenger and it works just fine without any of those people's tab and blah..

MSN messenger, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Winamp, Window Media Player, and most other things its the same story ....those old good versions.

Real Economy of Fake Gold

2006-07-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Internet has invented its own virtual gold which has a real economy. This gold is called WoW Gold. WoW Gold is mined, refined, sold, bought, traded, auctioned, and monitored online. WoW (World of Warcraft) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. In Wow thousands of players adventure together in an enormous, persistent game world, forming friendships, slaying monsters, and engaging in epic quests that can span days or weeks. In such games thousands of players exist in the same game world at the same time. This creates an incredibly rich and active environment in which interesting things are constantly taking place. Often online multiplayer games provide thousands of hours of game play and nearly infinite variety of goals to achieve across a vast world covering miles of land and sea—all virtual. WoW Gold in such a game is like a weapon that puts a player in advantageous position. In fact, possession of WoW Gold is absolutely necessary in the game. WoW Gold is really an unknown memory location on a Silicon disk(s) on thousands of servers around the world on which game is programmed and played. It is left to players to discover the WoW Gold and continue to be a player. It is much fun to be a player than a “gold miner” so if you do not want to mine your own WoW gold—you can buy it online (in real dollars) and keep yourself engaged in WoW which can last several weeks. The WoW gold mining has been outsourced and there are hundreds of thousands of people in China who are employed in this WoW Gold mining industry and all they do is click click click and click using there mice on computers mining WoW Gold in Silicon fields. Search "WoW gold" on your favorite search engine on internet and see the tangible economy of intangible gold. The size of the gaming industry has been estimated larger than the film industry.

Men's Rules

2006-05-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

Good stuff! I am not planning to rewrite the whole thing and give reference, read it from the source.

http://leeds-faculty.colorado.edu/Laguna/funny/men_rules.htm

Junk Mail Solution

2006-05-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

I must admit, my roommate is a genius. He recently suggested me a brilliant idea of getting rid of junk mail senders especially banks and credit card companies. Everyday I am getting tonnes of paper mails telling that I have been pre approved for their most wonderful credit card they recently released. Hack, I have two credit cards and I don't need anymore. Every month we have two full big buckets filled up with junk mail papers that we have to take to recycle center.
Anyway, coming to the idea: Every credit card offer has a prepaid envelop and if you get more than one offer than just tear the stuff except the prepaid envelop and swap the teared stuff across various banks and send back. All those people sending offers must get to spend their time getting rid of torn papers from other banks. Eevntually they will get tired of such junk and will stop send junk. I am even sending all other stuff that came without prepaid envelops back to those who provide us such envelop. Hopefully, we wouldn't have to go to recycle center this month.

My main problem is this: once I actually applied to one of those pre approved offers and later the send me another letter saying that my application for the credit card has been declined since I don't have sufficient credit history. Give me a break, who wants your credit card anyway, you only pre approved me and now telling me otherwise. Are you stupid?

My favourite Hindi song

2006-05-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

Film: Saudagar
Singer: Kishore Kumar
Lyrics: Ravindra Jain
Music: Ravindra Jain
Year: 1973

Har Haseen Cheez Ka Main Talabgaar Hoon
Har Haseen Cheez Ka Main Talabgaar Hoon
Ras Ka Phoolon Ka Geeton Ka Bhimaar Hoon
Ras Ka Phoolon Ka Geeton Ka Bhimaar Hoon
Har Haseen Cheez Ka Main Talabgaar Hoon

Saara Gaaon Mujhe Rasiya Kahe
Saara Gaaon Mujhe Rasiya Kahe
Jo Bhi Dekhe Mannbasiya Kahe
Haaye Re Jo Bhi Dekhe Manbasiya Kahe
Sabki Nazron Ka Ek Main Hi Deedaar Hoon
Ras Ka Phoolon Ka Geeton Ka Bhimaar Hoon
Har Haseen Cheez Ka Main Talabgaar Hoon

Koi Kahe Bhanvra Mujhe Koi Deewana
Bhed Mere Mann Magar Kisine Na Jaana
Koi Kahe Bhanvra Mujhe Koi Deewana
Bhed Mere Mann Magar Kisine Na Jaana
Rona Maine Kabhi Seekha Nahin
Rona Maine Kabhi Seekha Nahin
Chakha Jeevan Mein Phal Pheeka Nahin
Haaye Re Haaye Chakha Jeevan Mein Phal Pheeka Nahin
Main To Har Mol Dene Ko Taiyyaar Hoon
Ras Ka Phoolon Phoolon Ka Geeton Geeton Ka Bhimaar Hoon
Har Haseen Cheez Ka Main Talabgaar Hoon
Ras Ka Phoolon Ka Geeton Ka Bhimaar Hoon
Ras Ka Phoolon Ka Geeton Ka Bhimaar Hoon
Har Haseen Cheez Ka Main Talabgaar Hoon

kids

2006-04-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

Animal Hoarding

2006-04-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

If you got some time to kill, just type "Animal hoarding" in your favourite internet search engine, and you will see some interesting links viz. a lady with 500 kittens, a lady with 273 creature in her house (83 of them dead), 67 dead kitten in refridgerator, etc.. It all sounds so disgusting, but it just tells you that animal hoarding is a disease often found in lonely and widowed americans mostly females, such ladies are often called "cat-lady."

Peacock (Mor)

2006-04-06T02:12:00.000-07:00

The most beautiful bird in the bird-kingdom, I took this picture last time when I went to Barsana Dham in Austin, TX. It was Shivaratri day, I wish I could have a picture of dancing peacock.

See the natural fear in innocent eyes

2006-04-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

This photos was taken during annual event at UT (Explore UT: biggest open house in Texas). More photos are available at the following link: http://www.utexas.edu/events/exploreut/gallery.html

Want to change the world?

2006-04-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Its really simple:

"Just by being nice to people around you, and helping a little bit here and there you are changing the world" --LLC

Desi Grub

2006-03-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

Necessary Vs. Sufficient

2006-03-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Background: Optimization class just got over and few friends are discussing the necessary and sufficient conditions (KKT conditions in nonlinear optimization) and blah blah... student A is quiet and whips out a ciggerett and starts smoking.

B to A: hey, how is life? You look quiet!
A: Yeah, I am good. Quiet? I? Perhaps. I am just like that.
B: Did you understand the stuff in class.
A: Yeah, pretty well.
B: oh! I am still trying to grasp. Anyway.
B: Why do you smoke? Is it necessary?
A: Its sufficient.

cell phone

2006-03-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

I saw a girl using her cell phone in swimming pool. It got me thinking. What the hell. I knew that cell phones have taken over our life so much, but cell phone in swimming pool is little extreme, well, at least to me. Actually, it is fun to watch girls with cell phone, they always have something to do with it (I wonder what!!). My observation is this: girls in general are more obsessed with cell phone than guys. They use their cell phone while: walking, driving, cooking, eating, jogging, shopping, and now swimming too. Cell phones these days takes care of most things: watch, diary, electronic games, radio, mp3 player, camera, calculator, weather report, video-camera, PDA, web browsing, directions (Google) etc. etc. (tell me more I am curious!).
Considering girls obsession with cell phone, however, weird it may sounds but I have few ideas about how future generation cell phone may look like:

1) Cell phone with a mirror
2) Cell phone with a lipstick case
3) Cell phone with moisterising cream/lotion
4) Cell phone with hooks/holders/cases for the all the weird stuff girls have in their bags
5) I am thinking about more...

One person, this morning asked me, wouldn't it be cool if cell had a coffee maker. Gosh!

How about:

Cell phone with a electronic car/house/office keys (lost one lost all :-))
Cell phone for kids that does math homework (hurray!)
Cell phone for Indian housewives, that can be used as a rolling instruement (balun)
Cell phone with a gun (I will buy that one!)
Cell phone with deodorant (goes with lipstick and other stuff)
Cell phone with alergy alert and vaccine (Austinites will love that)
Cell phone with language translator (talk to Spanish girls :-))....

Let me know if you have more ideas...

Plantains Vs Bananas

2006-03-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

My roommate introduced me to plantains, I never thought they could be eaten but really plantains are much better than bananas we get in USA. Bananas in this country have no smell, no taste, and no nutrients. Plantains are much better and they are organic by default, a bit over dose of starch though, but at least they have some taste and lot of nutrients. You must be real patient with plantains, it takes a while to get them ripe. When they look real bad (lookwise black and almost rotten) they taste the best. I think I am done eating bananas, I am competely shifting to plantains.

Totally lost?

2006-02-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

I found it somewhere during random websearch, I think its funny.

The revenge of two lazy bongs

2006-02-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

Sat: Hey Das, lets beat up Vishy
Das: But that would require energy ...
Sat: Truely. Ditch .....

Microwave Tragedy

2006-01-28T21:20:00.000-08:00

This is the recent tragedy in our microwave oven. Everyone is aware of consequences of boiling eggs in microwave. This was worse. It spoiled the last cup of soup I was planning to eat since I hadn't had anything since morning. After you soak them overnight it takes clsoe to 2 hours to cook a good quality soup and then before you eat you have to wait another day after cooking.

Townlake Jumping

2006-01-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

The Mahatma and the Poet

2006-01-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile I am writing it on my own, read the review of this wonderful book at the following link I don't think mine is going to be better than this :)

http://www.indiatogether.org/2003/may/rvw-gndhtgore.htm

Moving Apartment

2006-01-22T23:53:00.000-08:00

I hate moving but in this country if you are a student then you have to move almost every year. Look what happened to our loving place when we moved last time :-(

My Receding Hairline

2006-01-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

I was totally unaware of my receding hairline, until,
I heard hair care as an excuse for not appearing in court,
Well, I looked into the mirror and counted my age,
My hairline seemed to have aged faster than me,
So when I hold my hairs little back,
I look one thousand years older than I am,
This is bad, you know! I am not even married,
What the hell! When did I loose them?
I always thought hair care and all is girlish stuff,
My sister used to spend half of her pocket money,
Buying shampoo, oil and hair care tonic,
I bought caps, hats and sunglasses
Now I know she was smarter than I am,
Well, I am not going to worry much,
But I must warn those who have not lost hairs yet,
Take care of your hairs, unless,
You are planning an excuse for not appearing in court.

What is PhD?

2006-01-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

PhD is a crazy idea of spending youth in school,
PhD is a crazy idea of getting educated in 30s,
PhD is a crazy idea of learning cooking,

PhD is an Illusion of contributing to knowledge,
PhD is an Illusion of having fun in solitude,
PhD is an Illusion of living simple and thinking high,

PhD is an excuse from joining the real world,
PhD is an excuse from getting married,
PhD is an excuse from getting job,

PhD is a way of having costly fun,
PhD is a way of avoiding regular life,
PhD is a way of being weird,

PhD is an assignment of reading random,
PhD is an assignment of thinking random,
PhD is an assignment of writing random,

PhD is a period of being empty,
PhD is a period of being poor,
PhD is a period of being hungry,

PhD is an addiction of laziness,
PhD is an addiction of uselessness
PhD is an addiction of nothingness,

PhD is an art of making excuses,
PhD is an art of articulating procrastinations,
PhD is an art of feeling good out of nothing,

PhD is hunting for nothing,
PhD is hunting for fun,
PhD is hunting for more time,

PhD is timetabling unknown events,
PhD is timetabling unknown actions,
PhD is timetabling unknown procedures,

PhD is a planning not to do a thing,
PhD is a planning not to plan a thing,
PhD is a planning not to complete a thing,

PhD is a scheduling unknown set of tasks,
PhD is a scheduling unknown set of resources,
PhD is a scheduling unknown set of deliverables,

PhD is an unfinished project
PhD is an unfinished venture
PhD is an unfinished game

PhD is a project unmanaged as envisaged,
PhD is a project unplanned as planned,
PhD is a project unforeseen as seen,

PhD is an allocation of time to waste it,
PhD is an allocation of resources to drain them,
PhD is an allocation of funds (NSF) to live,

PhD is driving old cars,
PhD is shaving once a month,
PhD is eating junk 24/7,

PhD is denying existence,
PhD is denying society,
PhD is denying relations,

PhD is dreaming food,
PhD is dreaming money,
PhD is dreaming girls,

PhD is a philosophy of justifying unjust,
PhD is a philosophy of convincing inconvincible,
PhD is a philosophy of solving unsolvable,

PhD is a philosophy of telling untellable,
PhD is a philosophy of selling un-sellable,
PhD is a philosophy of relying unreliable,

PhD is learning how not be able to talk to mom,
PhD is learning how not be able to talk to dad,
PhD is learning how not be able to talk to sis,

PhD is learning how not to talk sense,
PhD is learning how not to think sense,
PhD is learning how not to listen sense,

Billy (cat)

2005-12-30T12:17:00.000-08:00

i don't like billies,
i actaully hate them,
they are so useless,
they are so dumb,
sometime I think they are cute,
but thats it,
something gotta be more than just being cute; right!
dogs are right in chasing them out of this planet,
we got one in out apartment complex,
thats worse,
she's itching,
always staring myteriously,
she's always looking for someone to stare at,
Maybe I should rediscover billies someday,
but as of now I don't like them :(

Supernovae

2005-12-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

Supernovae -- those mysterious stars which suddenly are born in great brilliance and, as quickly, become celestial cinders could be evidence that sentient beings in other planetary systems had reached the point in their scientific knowledge where we stand now, [and] having failed to solve the problem of living together, had at least succeeded in achieving togetherness
by cosmic suicide.

-von Neumann (On development of Atomic Bomb)

Dal, Chawal and Roti

2005-12-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

I often think that dal, chawal and roti is perhaps the best food that Indian ever invented. Its really simple to make and tests the best. Its has perfect balance in terms of nutrients requirement. Roti and chawal fulfill your need on energy and carbohydrates and some desired quality fats and several other minerals. Dals are known to have all kinds of protein and vitmins in them . Thats all you need in your diet. You could literally survive your whole life just by eating dal, chawal and roti. To make it more interesting, we always of have lot of other thing always going on. Dhaniya ki chutney, Nimbu or aam ka aachar, papad, lassi, desi ghee, Mattha, aloo ki subji, raw salad of tomatoe, onion and carrot mix with lemon juice and kala namak. Bus ho gaya. Wah wah, kya khana hai. Who need complicated recepies for chicken and lamb etc. Simple, pure and satvik food is the best food. Mummy!!!!! where are you? I am coming for the dal, chawal you just made.

Mummy!

2005-12-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

My mom is wonderful,
She surprise me everyday,
With her patience,
With her never ending love,
With her never tiring schedule,
With her ever smiling face,
With her productive age,
With her enthusiasm,
With her attitude,
With her cooking,
With her availability,
With her simple living,
With her no-requirements,
With her high morals,
With her multiple roles,
With her vision,
With her worries,
With her solutions,
With her no education,
With her cooking,
With her fasts,
With her devoteeness,
With her cleaning requirements,
With her promptness,
With her large heart,
With her uniqueness,
With her commonness,
With her dress,
With her little space,
With her management skills,
With her financial skills,
With her ability to shop,
With her list of TODO,
With her.........
I don't know,
I am afraid,
She is wonderful,
My mom is wonderful,
Most moms are wonderful.

A Chinese Poem

2005-12-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

I came across this Chinese poem somewhere, I liked it so much.......

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn't matter if you are a lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better be running.

My Reading list

2005-12-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the recent books I have enjoyed reading and rereading recently: someday I promise to write reviews for them….

Mahatma and the Poet; Letters and Debates Between Gandhi and Tagore 1915-1941 -- by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
The world is flat: A brief history of 21st century -- by Thomas L. Friedman
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies -- by Jared Diamond
Gorillas in the Mist -- by Dian Fossey
Critical Chain -- by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
The Goal -- by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
Small Miracles: Extraordinary Coincidences from Everyday Life -- by Yitta Halberstam
Ten Great Works of Philosophy -- by Robert Paul Wolff
The Rules -- by Ellen Fein, Sherrie Schneider
Lolita -- by Vladimir Nabakov
The Taliban Phenomena -- by Kamal Matinuddin
The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization -- by Thomas L. Friedman
The Art of War -- by Sun Tzu
The Crest of the Peacock -- by George Gheverghese Joseph
The Worldly Philosophers : The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers--- by Robert L. Heilbroner
Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers -- by Will Durant
The Selfish Gene -- by Richard Dawkins
Corruption in India -- by N. Vittal
Prisoner's Dilemma -- by William Poundstone
Game Theory for Applied Economists -- by Robert Gibbons
Glimpses of World History -- by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi
My Autobiogrpahy -- by Jawaharlal Nehru
Discovery of India -- by Jawaharlal Nehru
Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth -- by M.K.Gandhi
History of the Freedom Movement in India -- by R. C. Majumdar
Ancient India -- by R.C. Majumdar
Freedom at Midnight -- by Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre

How about a parable

2005-12-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

A Parable on Poverty:

Once Wealth and Poverty approached a merchant and introduced themselves as Goddesses. The merchant offered his salutations to both of them and said: "May I know what brings you to my humble tenement?" The Goddess of Wealth said: "We want you to judge and tell us as to who is more beautiful between us two?" The merchant was in a fix. He knew he was between the devil and the deep sea. If he were to declare wealth as more beautiful than poverty, poverty would curse him. If he were to declare poverty as more beautiful, than wealth, wealth would forsake him. However, he regained his composure and said: "I have great respect for you both. Would you please act according to my instructions? Then only I can judge properly." The Goddesses agreed. He said: "Mother wealth, would you please go to the entrance (gates) and walk into the house? Mother, poverty! Would you please walk from here towards the gates? I can have a good look at you both, from near and far." The two Goddesses did walk as the merchant wished them to. Then the merchant happily declared: "Mother wealth! You appear very beautiful when you enter the house. Mother poverty! You look very beautiful when you leave the house!" The Goddesses appreciated the wit and wisdom of the merchant. The Goddess of wealth happily stayed in his house while the Goddess of poverty cheerfully walked away.

When a serious problem confronts us, if we look within and think calmly, a ray of hope and light will beam forth and show us the way. One can argue, that he/she can maintain his/her composure in difficult situation like the one mentioned above but those two goddesses never show up to his/her place. True! Many of us may not have chance to talk to Goddesses, but the Goddesses mentioned above are nothing but the opportunities we often encounter with. We need to recognize them as Goddesses and we have to show the right ways to them in order to make best use of them simultaneously, particularly when they are of contradictory nature.

Medha Patkar

2005-12-17T20:20:00.000-08:00

Last year I met Medha Patkar, she was a very impressive person, we talked for long time and after she left I was wondering if I could write on her. I just wrote something that evening, just want to share.

Today Medha Patkar is not just an Indian name; it’s a terror in World Bank and name of a Didi and Tai of thousand of people in Narmada Valley. Medha has been an ace organizer and chief campaigners of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a people's movement organized to stop the construction of a series of dams planned for India's largest westward flowing river, the Narmada. While taking on footpath of Mahatma Gandhi, she almost died during a 22-day hunger strike in 1991. Unperturbed Medha underwent two more long protest fasts in 1993 and 1994. Today due to her continuing efforts and struggle for almost 2 decades now, the world community knows that Narmada Valley Development Project, one of the world's largest river development projects funded by World Bank. Upon completion, Sardar Sarovar would submerge more than 37,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land. The dam and its associated canal system would also displace some 320,000 villagers, mostly from tribal communities, whose livelihoods depend on the natural resources of affected area.

AID-Austin has been very fortunate to have her talk in Austin, thanks to Chandrika’s efforts to bring her down in Austin and our sponsors Saheli, Third Coast Activist Resource Center, UT Center for Asian Studies, and UT Department of Anthropology and The Sierra Club. Aid-Austin volunteers did a marvelous job in publicizing her talk “Who Pays for Progress?” The UT Daily news paper gave an half page article on publicity effort brought down by volunteers showing the picture of 3 AID volunteers drowned in water in front of Gregory Gym. On the day of the talk Nov 4th, LBJ Auditorium was full of audience.

Medha Patkar received long introduction, there was a continued silence during her talk. After an hour and half long intense talk she answered questions from audience for about an hour and was still available to talk to anyone interested. Calm and Serene and homely looking Medha when talks about Narmada and its people become a fierce lady like a Durga. Passionate, full of knowledge, confidence and courageous Medha has mixed characteristics of Gandhi and strategic leaders. It was rightly said in her introduction that current generation if wish to see Gandhi, it should see her.

The NBA under her leadership has been working to obtain just compensation for people affected by dams which have already been built on the Narmada as well as opposing other dams in the Narmada Valley. As an outgrowth of her work to stop dam construction, Medha has helped establish a network of activists across the country - the National Alliance of People's Movements.

Rainwater Harvesting

2005-12-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

A sufficient, clean drinking water supply is essential to life. Millions of people throughout the world still do not have access to this basic necessity. Moreover the groundwater as a dependable source and its increased use for various uses has is always reflected in the drastic lowering of water levels and subsequent disappearance of water locally cannot be ruled out, since the efficacy of surface water bodies (tanks, lakes and canals etc.) for recharging to the ground water has reduced drastically for simple reason that the local water levels are too deep to recharge. Today Even after decades of work by governments and NGOs to bring potable water to the poorer people of the world, the situation is still severe. Water problem has different reasons for different people and different areas but in general, when we say water problem we refer to the access of water to the poor people since they cannot afford water supply systems available for money, which are not scarce. We need to come up with an idea that works effectively and viable for poor too. Apparently Rainwater harvesting (not a noble idea though!) is an option that has been adopted in many areas of the world where conventional water supply systems have failed to meet people’s needs. It is a technique that has been used since the beginning of civilization. Today, all we need to do is to promote the idea and make the information available to poor around the world.

Rainwater is often used for drinking and cooking and so it is vital that the highest possible standards are met. Rainwater, unfortunately, often does not meet the World Health Organization water quality guidelines. This does not mean that the water is unsafe to drink. It is lot better than most of the resources in use. Also treatment of this water makes it absolutely acceptable as potable water. There are several simple methods of treatment for water before drinking.

Boiling water will kill any harmful bacteria, which may be present.
Adding chlorine in the right quantity will disinfect the water.
Slow sand filtration will remove any harmful organisms when carried out properly.
A recently developed technique called solar disinfections utilizes plastic bottles, which are filled with water and placed in the sun for one full day. The back of the bottle is painted black.

Examples of rainwater harvesting systems can be found in all the great civilizations throughout history. In industrialized countries, sophisticated systems have been developed with the aim of reducing water bills or to meet the needs of remote communities or individual households in arid regions. Traditionally, in Uganda and Sri Lanka, for example, rainwater is collected from trees, using banana leaves or stems as temporary gutters; up to 200 liters may be collected from a large tree in a single storm. Many individuals and groups have taken the initiative and developed a wide variety of these systems throughout the world. It is worth distinguishing, between the various types of systems practiced throughout the world. Rainwater harvesting has come to mean the control or utilization of rainwater close to the point rain reaches the earth.

A question that can be raised is: are we not blocking off run-off water from reaching downstream? There are two explanations possible: One, in most of the villages around the urban area and urban areas, run-off water “goes down the drain” becoming contaminated and useless. Two, the harvestable run off is just a very small percentage of the total rainfall. Thus, there is no question of totally blocking the run-off water nor there is a scope for real upstream-downstream conflicts.

It is worth bearing in mind that rainwater harvesting is not the absolute answer to household water problems. There is a complex set of inter-related circumstances that have to be considered when choosing the appropriate water source. These include cost, climate, hydrology, social and political elements, as well as technology, all play a role in the eventual choice of water supply scheme that is adopted for a given situation. Rainwater harvesting is only one possible choice, but one that is often overlooked by planners, engineers and builders. The reason that rainwater harvesting is rarely considered is often due to lack of information

Don't let an end to come!

2005-12-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

i am sharing no secret with you,
it's known for centuries,
if you are in love,
you feel great,
and you have a feeling,
that you have won the world,
love is great indeed,
base it on feeling,
sustain it on faith,
grow it on sharing,
brighten it on surprises,
enjoy it on every moment,
spread the message of love,
love is great,

now I am sharing a secret with you,
its not so known,
if you are in love,
you are made feel great,
i am not sure about having
won the world,
love is great as long as,
it sustains,
be ready for an end,
it arrives eventually,
you may feel devastated,
you may learn a lesson,
however, a useless and unwanted one,
because, love is great as long as,
it sustains,

a poem is never completed,
it is always abandoned,
i leave it saying
love is great for sure,
don't let an end to come,
base it on true feeling,
keep it naive,
grow it, brighten it,
enjoy it, spread it,
but don't forget,
love is great as long as,it sustains,
don't let an end to come,
don't let an end to come,
don't let an end to come........,

Poem for babies :)

2005-12-17T20:12:00.000-08:00

“Welcome to Planet Earth”

I don’t remember,
which planet,
I was on,
in my last birth,
There are many,
I don’t know
which planet
You were on,
in your last birth,
There are many,
I don’t know,
which is the best one,
I don’t know,
if you would like the one,
We are on,
There aren’t many,
Whatever is the case?
You are welcome in any case,
Welcome to Planet Earth,

Love and Math

2005-12-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

I am sure, I am in love,
alas! I don’t know ways,
to express my love to my love,
she doesn’t believe me,
she wants a proof,
an evidence, an empirical evidence,
some support data, some math,
perhaps a deal with numbers,
a plethora of theorems,
love doesn’t know math,
it’s based on axioms,
it doesn’t prove anything,
it doesn’t seek any proof,
it is defined on feelings,
it cares, doesn’t seek care,
my love axioms are simple,
simple for simple man,
harder for heartless,
perhaps hardest for mathematicians,
I ask a mathematician,
what is infinity? how can I feel it?
he says, infinity is a concept,
it is an axiom,
anything beyond calculation,
is believed to be infinity,
universe is infinite,
no one has proved it,
you axiomize universe as an infinity,
this makes astronomy simple and interesting,
math embraces infinity,
infinity beautifies mathematics,
makes it easier and attractive,
same is the case with love,
it is an axiom in life,
when life embraces love,
love beautifies life.
O’ Jesus, what do I do,
I can teach math,
I fail to teach love,
I fail to prove my love,
perhaps love is never taught,
it can’t be taught,
can only be felt,
I don’t know a way better,
than to write a poem,
to express my love to my love,
I am sure, I am in love,
math in my love is simple,
perhaps amusing too,
what mesmerizes me,
is a complex combination,
of her intellect, beauty, simplicity,
maturity, talkativeness, patriotism,
braveness, feelings and body language,
my objective is to minimize the distance
between hearts, there are no constraints,
I guess, problem is simple,
solution exists and,
it is well known,
decision are simple,
and have beautiful interpretation,
this is why, I am sure, I am in love,
but don’t know the way to express
my love to my love.
I am sure, I am in love,

Can we eliminate the poverty by law!

2005-12-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

Poverty of Indians must be studied with a significantly different perspective than the poverty of other societies due to the deep religious faiths of her people. Sadhus such as Nagas may be poor by the Western definitions, but for them, it is a chosen way of life, which is infinitely richer. Many of the beggars in India do so to follow family traditions, and to fulfill vows made to a deity.

While colorful literature is available on past glories of a great land but in contemporary India, of whom the poverty remains a Himalayan problem. Most will agree with this that we haven’t been able to solve this problem for more than 5 decades now. Although, lot of research has been done to understand poverty and researchers have come up complex plans and schemes to eliminate poverty. But one has succeeded so for because people forget the fundamental fact of economics essentially saying “You can’t legislate poverty away!!” The one very naïve idea is, why not raise the minimum wage high enough to put everybody above the poverty line? It sounds so simple, elegant and painless. Alas, it will not work because of the law of unintended consequences, if eradicating poverty was so simple, people would surely have done this centuries ago? There is an interesting tale teaching the same thing. The Emperor Tughlak tried something of the sort by decreeing that silver was equal in value to copper. He thought poor people holding copper coins would instantly become as rich as those having silver. Instead rich quickly submitted copper coins to the treasury and demanded silver in return. Soon the treasury was empty of silver, the rich had got richer and the poor were as badly off as ever. Tughlak had not thought through the unintended consequences of his decree. He failed to realize that the fundamental economic fact - that silver is relatively scarce and copper relatively abundant - cannot be changed by mere legislation (this parable is taken from Swaminathan's original article in TOI 2003).

Many of the policies implemented so far in India suffered from the same disease, they lacked the vision and were merely focused on legislating poverty away, farm-subsidies, loan Melas, controlled rates and rationing of food grains and kerosene and many more, all of them actually benefit the rich and marginalize the poor, for the simple reason that by the time poor recognize the benefits (intended for them only) in a policy it turns out that our “rich-poors” have already tapped all the potential and policy has becomes a fiasco.

It’s been a while, since we have seen a new idea coming up to eradicate poverty, seems that we have actually ran out our think tank and waiting for a miracle. Remember! Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Poverty is but the worst form of violence." Yes! It is. Everybody needs to contribute to solve this problem otherwise you are actually ignoring the violence that is happening around you. Start thinking today.