Year end wrap up

I did not read as much I should have. That is my biggest quibble for 2013. The usual suspects of work and laziness are there, but inside me the feeling of my time running out continues to grow, and I hope (and the signs are good) that it will solidify in some kind of resolve. 

The early morning winter journey I alluded to last year continues, but I was not able to come up with a better metaphor this whole year. So early morning winter journey will have to do, again. Sorry about that ;-).

On the personal front this was an eventful year. I am not exaggerating when I say that both unbelievably good and unspeakably bad came my way. Neither killed me, so hopefully I am stronger as a result. There was a fair amount of indisputably idiotic mixed in too, but (it seems) my sense of humor did survive.

The mid year journey down south, with its vast expanse of Kottayam backwater, twin cliffs of Kodaikanal, and the tea valley in Munnar is still vivid in my mind, and it will likely remain so for some time (and maybe all time). I plan to create more memories like that this upcoming year.

Lastly, I find myself feeling excited about the new year. I even feel like making resolutions. This is New. My earlier reactions to new year used to be much more stoical. Why it should be different this time I cannot fathom. Nonetheless it is a Good Feeling. I wish you a happy new year (yes it is quite early) and hope that it brings forth the best in you.

एका मुंगीचे महाभारत

गंगाधर गाडगीळांच 'एका मुंगीचे महाभारत' हे आत्मचरित्र मी नुकतंच संपवलं. एखाद्या लेखकाने केलेलं इतकं सूक्ष्म आणि तपशीलवार आत्मनिरीक्षण मी तरी पूर्वी नाही वाचलं. हे आत्मनिरीक्षण प्रामुख्याने त्यांच्या साहित्यनिर्मितीच्या संदर्भात केलेलं आहे, पण त्याने त्याची वाचनीयता कमी झाली असेल असं मात्र समजू नका. सामाजिक आणि वैयक्तिक परिस्थितीतून आपले विचार कसे घडले याचं गाडगीळांनी अतिशय उत्कृष्ट विवेचन केलं आहे. आपली साहित्यनिर्मितीची प्रक्रिया त्यांनी तपशीलवार सांगितली आहे. एका विचारी तरुणाच्या मनात उठणारी आंदोलनं बरोबर पकडली आहेत. काही मोजक्या साहित्याचं रसग्रहण केलं आहे. आणि याशिवाय त्या काळातले साहित्यिक वादविवाद, वेगवेगळे मतप्रवाह याबद्दलचं बरचंसं सांगितलं आहे. मी पुस्तकं जरी बरीच वाचली असली तरी साहित्य या गोष्टीविषयी फार विचार, निदान जाणीवपूर्वक, केला नव्हता. साहित्य, त्याचं जीवनामधील स्थान, त्याच्या चांगुल-वाईट पणाचे निकष, त्यामध्ये सामजिक जाणीव असलीच पाहिजे का, ते नेहमीच लेखकाचं जीवनविषयक तत्वज्ञान सांगत का, साहित्य अनुभवातून जन्म घेतं, मग लेखकाने  मुद्दाम जाऊन नवे अनुभव घ्यायला हवेत का, हे आणि असे अनेक  प्रश्न, आणि गाडगीळांचे त्याबाबतचे  विचार यांची ओळख हे पुस्तक वाचताना झाली. आपले विचार हवे तसे कागदावर उतरवणं किती  कठीण आहे याचा थोडाफार अनुभव मला आहे, गाडगीळांना सुद्धा हे म्हणताना पाहून मन जरा सुखावलं. आयुष्य ज्या काही गोष्टी लादून आपल्याकडून करवून घेतं, त्यांची माझी नावड देखील मला तिथे आढळली. पुस्तक वाचता वाचता त्यातल्या आवडलेल्या ओळी अधोरेखीत करायची मला एक सवय आहे, या पुस्तकात अशा ओळी आणि परिच्छेदांचा खच पडला आहे. या सगळ्या गोष्टींमुळे हे पुस्तक वाचणं हा एक समृद्ध करणारा अनुभव ठरला. गाडगीळांच मी वाचलेलं हे पहिलंच पुस्तक. पण हे शेवटचं नक्कीच ठरणार नाही.

जाता जाता ज्यांनी पुस्तक सुरु होतं त्या ओळी द्यायचा मोह आवरत नाही,
"आपलं जीवन ही एक महाभारतासारखीच कथा आहे अशी उत्कट जाणीव प्रत्येकाला असतेच असं नाही. पण मला मात्र थोडं जाणतेपण आल्यापासून माझंच नव्हे तर माझ्या आसपासचं सर्व जीवन ही एक महान कथा आहे, नव्हे, कथासागारच आहे असं उत्कटतेनं जाणवत राहिलं आहे. या अनंत कथासागरावर माझ्या जीवनाच्या इवल्याश्या होडक्यातून मी केलेल्या मुशाफिरीची ही कथा आहे." 

First Jeeves Book

Jeeves is one of those immortal characters. I first came to know about him in a story by Jayant Narlikar when I was in school, though the reference was not central to that story. In later years I came to know that P.G.Wodehouse, creator of Jeeves, was held in the highest esteem by such greats of humor as PuLa and Douglas Adams. Naturally, I had to give it a try. Ladies and Gentleman, I am happy to announce that I finished reading my first Jeeves novel yesterday.

Now when you approach a great name, you are excited of course, but also a little anxious. What if you don't get him/her? But that fear did not materialize in this particular case. I was hooked from the first page on. I chuckled, smiled and lol'd almost on every page. Let me quote a couple of examples to give you the flavor, 

It may have been a short time. It may have been quite a stretch. Despair was gripping me, and when that happens you don't keep looking at your watch.

I drew myself up censoriously and shot a sternish glance in her direction. Absolutely wasted, of course, because it was pitch dark. 

Perfection is a word I have seen associated with Wodehouse, and one sees a little of the why in this book. The plot keeps branching out ever wider, but in the end all pieces come together beautifully. I recommend it wholeheartedly to everybody.

Dust

Just finished reading Dust. The Silo saga ends here. In time, I will move on to new worlds, but the silos have certainly taken up a permanent residence inside my head.

Shift ends

Just finished reading the third (and final) book of Shift. Superb storytelling once again. While Wool introduced us to the Silos, Shift focuses on how they came to be, but it is not a story set into the past. The third book joins to the last (fifth) book of Wool. And as with good science fiction, it leaves you clamoring for more details, both for the people and the world in which it takes place. I had planned to take this series slowly, so as to make it last a while, but then I am not (and have never been) good with things like that. Thankfully, Dust, the conclusion to the Silo saga, releases next to next Sunday.

Shift arriveth

I bought the prequel series to Wool yesterday, and the first book is already over. I need to be careful with my supplies, there are not many books in this league. To iterate what I have said umpteen times both on and off line, if you have anything to do with science fiction, Wool and now Shift are not to be missed.

अवधाने

१. दोन दिवे लुकलुकणारा सिग्नल
२. समोर नागमोडी डोलणारी बस
३. ज्याना डोह म्हणता येईल असे खड्डे
४. उलट्या दिशेने येणारी चारचाकी
५. आपल्या तीर्थरूपांचा रस्ता समजून दुचाकी चालवणारा कार्टा 
६. स्वतःला पी टी उषा समजून दुचाकी पळवणारी कार्टी
७. डोक्यावर कोसळणारा पाउस
८. आपल्याच तंद्रीत फिरणारा पादचारी

आणि या सर्वाना एकत्र सांभाळत गाडी हाकणारा मी गाडीवान….

सामान्य माणूस अष्टावधानी बनतो तो असा….

Myths

From time to time, one feels the need for a mythology. I prefer Tolkien's because

a. It's rich, unlike most others.
and
b. No one has killed in the name of it, again, unlike most others.

New developments

It's happening again. Just like my engg. folks, now with M and C moving, except for one minor (haha) exception, the entire old office gang will now be residing in US/Canada. While I feel good that the members are moving on to better things and was never great with keeping in touch anyway, the loss of the occasional meeting to bring me out of accumulated lethargy is something to miss. The time with the gang was certainly one of the happiest periods of my life (see towards the end). Apart from the outings, books, blogs and puns united us. I hope the members will go on to more bashes there if not here. People, if you are reading this, Thanks and may you all live long and prosper \\ //.

The partial bash list:

Birthday party

Tekadi

Diveagar

Water Kingdom

Vapi

Kaas valley

Sinhgad

Existence

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

Painfully simple.

Surprise.js

A random collection of surprises after a couple of days of wandering.

>> var a = [1, 2, 3];
>> 3 in a   // returns false
 

 

>> var a = [1, 2, 3];

>> delete a[0];
>> a.length; //returns 3

 

>> var a=1; 
>> function f() {console.log(a); var a=2;}; 
>> f();  //prints 'undefined'


>> var aa = new Boolean(false);
>> !! aa; // returns true

2/3rd of a marathon

Because it takes three movies to make a marathon. Without further ado, here is the आँखों देखा हाल..

First movie: After Earth. Seems this movie is getting a bashing it doesn't deserve. At least going by a couple of newspaper reviews I read. Here is setting the record straight

a. Will Smith has little role and is not expressive - Jaden, not Will is hero. And Will Smith is as expressive as a stiff military general, which he portrays, needs to be.

b. The film is somewhat naive - Though it talks about such unfashionable things as courage and discipline, I'd rather that not everything be devoted to reminding ourselves how corrupt and smelly from the inside we are. 

The movie certainly could have been made better, but that is no argument against it. Certainly worth a watch.

Break: Had our lunch at Rajdhani, which was my first visit there. They have these elliptical plates with 12 bowls inside, and at least 20 items. As is natural in such settings, I actually ate very little.

Second movie: Now you see me. Was waiting for this one for long. Interesting but somewhat complicated and patchy. Performances are good, especially from Woody Harrelson. And I am fan of Mark Ruffalo's diction. Michael Kane should have been given more scope though. The movie reminded me of Talaash where piling mysteries finally resolve into a surprising conclusion, but it was better integrated than this one. Nonetheless full पैसा वसूल. 

The Invisible Man

Over the weekend, instead of doing something that would result in career advancement, a gas connection or at least some clean clothes, I read H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man. I liked it even better than The Time Machine. It was a while since a book gripped me so strongly, and all the better for it.

Life of James Clerk Maxwell

I recently read Basil Mahon's short biography of James Clerk Maxwell titled The man who changed everything. Maxwell, of course, is considered the greatest physicist of the 19th century for creating the field theory of electromagnetism, which retains its central place in physics to this day. Electromagnetic waves, which are the bedrock of much of 20th century technology including Radio, TV, Radar and WiFi were purely theoretical consequences of this theory; nobody was looking for them or had even suspected their existence before Maxwell came along. And of course that is not all. Among other things, he was the first person to show that combinations of R,G,B suffice to create any given color and to take world's first color photograph; he showed that the rings of Saturn cannot be solid/fluid, they must be made of fine particles; he worked out a way to assign velocities to molecules in kinetic theory of gases; and he was a founding director of the Cavendish laboratory, later a powerhouse of science. Some of these achievements I was familiar with from reading other popular science accounts; the high points for me with this book were Mahon's narration of the path Maxwell followed while arriving at his great theory and the picture of Maxwell the man that emerges. In the former we see that Maxwell first tried to create mechanistic models of electromagentic phenomenon, first in terms of an incompressible, weightless fluid and later in terms of spinning low density cells (vortices) spanning space before finally settling down on the equations based on dynamics. In the latter, we meet a person who is not only immensly gifted, but also generous, good humoured, helpful and a witty writer. Not the popular conception of Genius! I can't resist giving a couple of examples of the 'wit' part.

In an essay titled 'Is Autobiography Possible?' he wrote when he was a member of Apostles he says, "The stomach pump of the confessional ought to be used only in cases of manifest poisoning. More gentle remedies are better for the constitution in ordinary cases."

And in a letter to a friend he says, "He that would enjoy life and act with freedom must have the work of the day continually before his eyes. Not yesterday's work, lest he fell into despair, not tomorrow's, lest he becomes a visionary - not that which ends with the day, which is a worldly work, nor yet that which only remains to eternity, for by it he cannot shape his actions. Happy is the man who can recognise in the work of today a connected portion of the work of life and an embodiement of the work of eternity."

There are many such gems. The book was an interesting, fruitful read, and getting to know Maxwell was certainly a joy.

Two new detectives

Z recently introduced me, by way of the DVD section of the British Council library, to Agatha Christie's Poirot and Jeremy Brett's Holmes. I had found the recent Sherlock movies and the TV series to be quite good, and am eagerly waiting for the third season of the latter, so was not that keen on Jeremy Brett's Holmes, to be honest. But I gave it a try and it turns out to be very worth the while. This series follows the book much more closely, and the Sherlock pretty much looks like the description in the book (except that he wears a felt hat in place of a dearstalker). The most remarkable thing I found was Jeremy Brett's effective use of a maniacal twinkle in the eye. Simply superb. As for Poirot, I had heard his name, but had never met him before, through books or movies. I liked David Suchet as Poirot even better. Poirot provides a good contrast to Holmes, and as I was unfamiliar with the stories beforehand, the watching was even more enjoyable. So far, these two detectives have turned quite a few dinners more pleasant, and it looks like it will stay that way for a while.

The big vacation begins

My current state is hard to define. And because I am not able to find the words, taking a cue from Wittgenstein, I pass it in silence.

(non-obvious) Moon and Venus

Here.

In praise of manual labour

I washed half-a-rin-bar worth of clothes today. Now that is nothing unusual in itself, I have a been a hostelite for close to 13 years now, and I am not noted for my punctuality. But before today (and maybe yesterday, when also I washed half-a-rin-bar worth of clothes) I always looked at these chores as a pain in the behind. This was a tax to be paid, in order to live a life. I had read before about manual labour of this kind being held in high esteem by many great thinkers (names of Gandhiji and Tolstoy immediately come to mind), I think I saw the point this weekend. I tried to think why this should be so and give pleasure, here is what it seems to be

a. It gives a sense of new beginning, of washing away the old crud that has accumulated, and starting afresh. 

b. The flow from chaos to order, the apparent expansion in space as you collect and put scattered things in their place has symbolic value for the unconscious mind.

c. Doing these small thing manually gives a sense of accomplishment (that might seem absurd).

I don't think I will be switching to doing everything manually right away, but I will certainly try to consciously preserve an element of manual labor in my life.

Samay

Have you watched Samay? It's a really good investigative thriller. If I remember correctly, the lead role of the cop was written with a male protagonist in mind, but Sushmita Sen took on a role not written for her and delivered superbly. I had watched and loved this movie sometime during the college years, today I somehow stumbled upon it on Youtube. Recommended.

Shubh Arambh

What makes Oblivion the best movie of the year so far is the balance between narrative and world building. It is science fiction, so maybe I am biased towards it, but many movies lose themselves in just one or the other. Or if they somehow manage to balance it, they fail to make you think. Oblivion has achieved that delicate balance. Good story, well done special effects which support the narrative, and some thought provoking material. 2013 is going to see the release of a number of promising sci-fi movies (Into Darkness, After Earth, Now you see me and of course this one) which had made it exciting at the end of 2012. Oblivion is the first one delivered, and is indeed a Shubh Arambh.

It seems my question has been answered

In the affirmative.

Here is the question I asked a while ago.

And here is the answer. [Here's where I first heard it (search for "second news item")]

Unfortunately, much as I would like it, I won't be able to read the answer right away. Rest assured to get an update when I do. Or feel free to send your update this way.

Demons of old

In our modern, cozy lifestyles it is easy to forget the troubles our predecessors had to put up with. Some did not have cooked food, others lacked clothing, still others had to huddle under trees when rains came pouring down (which was not a wise thing to do anyway). I had to live through one such horror recently. Namely, the lack of autocompletion in a command shell. A remote access tool that I am currently living "inside" of, uses "tab" to switch context and I had to feed carefully prepared command lines to this ancient demon all the time. I cannot be too grateful that I was not born 30 years ago.

My version history

The name of my upcoming autobiography.

[But apparently I am 19 hours too late].

We are here

In Dark Eden there is a character named Jeff, a boy really, whose response to all kinds of new, strange situations is to say, "We are here, We really are here". Soon others have enough of this, and ask him why he keeps saying it when everyone knows it. I really liked Jeff's answer to this, "To remind myself, or otherwise I will forget". That is a problem. I forget, and This is it (which is another way of saying Journey is the Reward) is a fact too important to be forgotten. It seems I will be making this chant my own.

Dark Eden

There are lots of different stories branching away all the time from every single thing that happens. As soon as a moment has gone, different versions of it start to be told and remembered about. And some of them carry on, and some die out, and you can't know in advance which version will last and which won't.

Dark Eden takes place on an alien world. Where there is no sun, where trees pump heat from the bowels of the world to grow shiny lanterns on tops, where creatures have green-black blood, two hearts and six limbs. Generations ago two human survivors got trapped in an accident, and now their descendants are waiting for Earth to pick them back. It is about how these people cope. And it is strange and shocking. <-example-not-given-> The remarkable thing about the writing is, despite all the weirdness and shocks, the people are still people, they are not turned into aliens or animals; the things shock, but don't disgust, not at least without cold reason. That, combined with the relatively simple plot, leaves a deep impression. Strange worlds are needed from time to time to keep your sanity in this one. If you agree, give this one a try, but this is not a book for everyone.

Neat

Let
x = 0.9999.....           (1)

Multiply both sides by 10
10x = 9.9999....        (2)

Subtract (1) from (2)

LHS: 10x - x = 9x
RHS: 9.9999... - 0.9999.... = 9

as LHS=RHS, 9x = 9
so x = 1
but as per (1)  x = 0.9999....

So 1 = 0.9999.....

[No trick. This is actually important].

OO

Java: Everything is an object.
Java Developer: Object to everything. (OK, one Java developer :p).

Update

Ring: A circular doubly linked list.

Ring: One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, And in the darkness bind them. The LOTR chant.

Ring: A field without multiplicative inverses. eg. Integers form a commutative ring.

Ring: A science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. I encountered the idea of the world-as-a-flying-spaceship here first.

This list can be extended, but that is not the point. In human affairs there is a ring which is more concrete, more fundamental and more far reaching; it made its appearance today. In a small, happy, family function Zarin and me were engaged. The life is entering a new phase and let me add that I am not unaware of, in addition to the happiness, the responsibility this represents. Like all new things this will take some getting used to, the first I can point to is typing with an actual ring in the ring finger.

Wool IV and V

The weekend was put to good use by, among other things, finishing the fourth and fifth installments of the Wool series (see I, II, III here). The books are longer than the earlier ones in the series, and inevitably less crisp, but they are good. The fifth part, while not ending the story, puts it at a logical milestone, and when I was done, I was left wondering whether I should give the rest of the books a try. It turns out books VI, VII and VIII form a prequel triology to the Wool series, and the series, while giving many tantalizing details, did not conclusively answer where it all came from. It is the logical place to go, and the triology promises to do it. To conclude, I am all excited again! It is rare for a series to keep the same level of excitement after five books. Wool succeeds! Do expect further reports from the Silo world!

26 has been special since long

You see, it is the only number that sits between a square and a cube. That notwithstanding, I watched Special 26 yesterday. An excellent movie. Everyone has acted well, with Manoj Bajpai getting top marks. The direction and plot development are nice too. The love angle is completely redundant though, and should have been cut, along with all the  songs.

Couple of new books

Issac Newton by James Gleick: A crisp biography of Newton. Focuses mostly on Newton's works, famous ones like gravity and light, and less famous (but no less serious) ones like alchemy and theology. Very readable.

Mathematics: A very short introduction: A superb math primer. Unlike other primers which give us elementary facts about mathematics, this one focuses on the process of mathematics, particulary how familiar ideas are extended to esoteric objects. Eg. why is a⁰=1 [The answer is, a^m = a^(m+0) = a^m . a⁰. So to keep this rule working, we need to define a⁰=1]. If you are (like me) trying to patch your imperfect mathematical training, this one is a must read.

Personal

Though not necessary that it happens, sometimes something comes along that shakes your very roots. What is one to do? My words have deserted me, so by the time they make up their mind to return, I call upon Wordsworth for help.

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;--
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the Rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound,
To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong:
The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep;
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the Echoes through the mountains throng,
The Winds come to me from the fields of sleep,
And all the earth is gay;
Land and sea
Give themselves up to jollity,
And with the heart of May
Doth every Beast keep holiday;--
Thou Child of Joy,
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Shepherd-boy!

And O, ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,
Forebode not any severing of our loves!
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;
I only have relinquished one delight
To live beneath your more habitual sway.
I love the Brooks which down their channels fret,
Even more than when I tripped lightly as they;
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day
Is lovely yet;
The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

--William Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality.

A little known place

 

And a cherished memory.

Start to Finish

The entire republic day (and a saturday) spent in office. ये जनता का राज कब आएगा :p 

Wool III

Bwa ha ha!! The third book of the Wool series is done too. The plot built in second is put to full use, and ends on a very exciting note. Superb again!

Wool II

Just finished reading Book 2 of Wool. While the first one was essentially a self contained story, the second makes it clear that there is more to come; there is less action and more plot building. But the writing remains excellent, and it succeeds in that the excitement for the third one is all built up.

Wool I

Just finished the first book of Wool. The Wool series, which has already become a classic of modern SF, began life as a short story in 2011, and which now includes seven books (with volume 8 and 9 in the works). Plus Ridley Scott has assumed the film rights. A terrific read, and I think it will appeal even to the non SF crowd. Thankfully, I have bought the omnibus edition with volumes 1 to 5, so there remains a good deal more to read. The book was originally self published through Kindle direct, so it is only appropriate that I read it through Kindle as well (though I did it mostly through the cloud reader+android app).

Enjoy!

Gift story

There are gifts and then there are gifts. A kindle that recently came into my our possession certainly fits the latter. As it happens my books have eaten a lot of space already, and even the accelerated expansion of universe has failed to add much space to my current 1BHK. So space saver it is. But apart from that, there are also quite a few books that I had wanted but couldn't find in any bookstores or on flipkart. That problem is also solved now. I am also impressed by the kindle app integration, this might be the first real integrated service I have used. Though it has never been a problem before, having the same book available on the device, phone and desktop adds a lot of flexibility. Here are the books I have added so far. And to end the list, the my vs our thing has already sparked some rows, so if the gift-givers harbored any evil intentions in that direction, they have come to fruition too :p.In short, and including this one, things are looking good.

Perfect Rigour

The Poincaré conjecture was a great open problem in topology, first posed by Henri Poincaré in 1904. It was an important problem, and was included in the list of seven Millennium problems by the Clay mathematical Institute; each problem carrying a prize of $1M for a successful solution. Most people thought they would not see a millennium problem cracked in their lifetime.

Then in 2002, Grisha Perelman, a mathematician from Russia, posted a solution to the Poincaré conjecture on the Internet, and it was verified to be correct. Incredibly, Perelman refused to publish it in a scholarly journal, refused to vet other's expositions of the proof, declined the Fields medal (the highest honor of Mathematics) which was  subsequently offered to him, and also declined the $1M prize. Perfect Rigour is his story.

The book offers a glimpse into Perelman's life and a light foray into his work. Perelman's is a story of mathematical genius, but also of the troubles a logical mind faces when the 'real world' comes calling. The situation was compounded by Perelman's unique, personal code of conduct, which nearly everyone failed to fathom. After publishing his proof, Perelman severed almost all human contact, mathematical or not, and the book is written based solely on interviews with those who knew Perelman, none with Perelman himself. The book is quite readable, and we are definitely indebted to Perelman for providing a major intellectual advance of our times, but ultimately, it seems a mind like Perelman's cannot find peace in the world as it currently exists, and it is hard not to feel but a little sad about it.

The Sentinel

Hard SF is the category of science fiction that pays at least as much attention to scientific accuaracy as to the storytelling. That might seem like a redundant classification, but genuine hard SF is actually massively outnumbered by other, softer varieties. 

That is why The sentinel, a collection of short stories by Arthur Clark brought so much a joy. Among its pages you will find the stories that later grew into novels 2001: A space odyssey and Childhood's End, both of which I had enjoyed tremendously (short stories growing into novels is rather the norm for SF). And there are others which are no less impressive. Wind from the Sun describes a race of spaceships using solar sails, something which is slowly turning into reality. Meeting with the Medusa explores the fantastic possibility of floating life in Jovian atmosphere. And just to give an example of 'hardness quotient' (to coin a phrase) of the stories, Clark mentions in the introduction to Jupiter V, a story which describes a journey to the inner Jovian moons, that he did 20-30 pages of orbital calculations to get the details right. How many SF writers can beat that?

In the introduction to the book Clark calls science fiction 'the only genuine consciousness expanding drug'. This book is surely a concentrated dose.

आत्ता समजलं

माणूस मरायला टेकला की त्याला 'घर घर' लागली अस का म्हणतात :p 

Matru, Bijlee and Mandola

When I first heard of Vishal Bharadwaj making a comedy, I was not immediately excited. Changing genres successfully is not that common. And so I did not make any plan to go watch Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola (I will shorten it to MKM in case it is needed again). Fast forward to yesterday: I was returning home from my endless search (don't ask of what), when I missed a turn and suddenly found myself in front Esqaure Kharadi. Now when I had first heard of this multiplex, I was staying some 15km away, so had marked it as 'too far'. In subsequent years, I myself had moved 15km, so in fact it was quite near now, but had failed to update my database. So I was little surprised, and a decision was made on the spot to go watch the movie (there were no other choices anyway). 

MKM is branded as a romantic comedy, and it is fair to call it so, but more than that I found it to be a satire/commentary on the life in and present condition of our country. As such, the story is not outstandingly tight. Things happen apparently without reason and then vanish (in that manner it mimics life well), but each event in itself holds something of importance. The dialogs are subtle and intelligent, and there are enough 'Gulaabi Bhains' jokes, so the movie has mass appeal too (bwahaha). Pankaj Kapoor as always is outstanding and Imraan Khan is good too. But personally I found Shabana Aazmi to be the best. The subtle villainy she has portrayed is just outstanding.  All in all, it appears that Mr Bharadwaj has made the transition quite nicely, and we certainly expect more good movies from him. Meanwhile, this one is definitely worth a watch.

Unexciting Developments

Actually they are a little painful, so I will try to be done as soon as I can.

1. The landmark bookstore in camp (SGS mall) has transformed itself into something else. There is electronics, toys, sports gear, games, but apart from the a few trivial ones almost no books. It had been a savior these last four-five years, but now it is gone. The one in Phoenix still has some bones, but I am not sure for how long.

2. Manny's in camp closed down. I had found quite a few rare books there.

3. Try searching for a book on flipkart. Earlier, 'Books' used to be the topmost category. Now it is in some corner, lumped together with 'pens and stationary'. Wow.

I am not good with library schedules, a book might be a single night's affair but it takes months to find the appropriate night. Crossword always seems to pack only the best sellers (a category I fastidiously avoid), but given the state it seems to be the top choice. Life for serious book lovers in the city has gotten tougher. The only consolation is that I have built my personal library of some strength. But I will be missing wandering through the shelves and stumbling upon pleasant surprises.

We know the numbers

Or at least have known them at some point, but a bit of occasional visualization goes a long way. Like in this fragment.

On a diagram of the solar system to scale, with the earth reduced to about the diameter of a pea, Jupiter would be over 300 meters away and Pluto would be two and half kilometers distant. On the same scale, Proxima Centauri, our nearest star, would be 16,000 kilometers away.

More music (and dance too)

The new year parties at office went musical in the recent past. This was occasioned by the arrival of some actual musical talent, and it is a change we all welcomed. Today was the second iteration of this recent tradition, and only better because in addition to singing and music, there was dancing too. I tend to be a little in awe of those with musical talents (because I have none) and the cadre did not fail to impress this time too. But in the end, it also makes one feel like an ingrate. I mean these guys did all the hard work, while I just sat back and enjoyed. This is my Thank You note.