Zero and One

When I was taught about computers I was told of how computer understands everything in the form of Zero and one (0 and 1). At that time I just mugged it up as Computer understands binary language. This binary language came back to me while I was doing my graduation in IT, there during some of our classes we were explained in detail what that exactly means. During the course of last few days I have encountered situations and things where I noticed the binary language creeping in the surroundings and in my life and made me think of some thoughts (obiviously) that I thought i’d put in my not-so-widely-read blog .

The shouting man at the Vodafone stores these days is no rare sight infact in all of my visits to them I have seen people shout or heard my own voice raise as I speak to the so called ‘Happy to help’ customer executives. So the man shouting that day kept saying ‘that I have lost my wallet and so all my identity proof including my driving license, PAN card are lost. It takes 15 days to get a replaced one and in the mean while i lost my phone and want a new SIM card of the same number as my clients are going mad trying to contact me” for which the not-so-happy to help customer executive kept telling him that if you have no identity proof how do i believe that you are the real owner of the card”. Now I got thinking if it was some 10 years ago this man could call some of his influential friend who would have told the lady that the man was telling the truth and he would possibly get the SIM card immediately. But because of the computer system which stood between the Vodafone lady and the customer she had to abide by the binary rule: 1 means he has the documents and he gets the SIM card and 0 means he doesn’t have the documents so tell him to stop impersonating.

Our country is known for Jugaad but this computer fella in the middle makes it extremely difficult to do any of it. Like in the passport office it is no longer enough that you are an MLA’s son you have to produce all the documents to get your passport. You might have it easy when you have to break the line for the passport but when the computer sits between the passport office man & the MLA’s son binary language again kicks in (kappaw!!).

Of the profound knowledge that I have gathered watching some really cool movies I gather that the world is not all black & white there is a grey area that we all live in. For the lesser movie buffs it means that not everything can be judged right or wrong as there is always an area where this perceived right or wrong has a reason that could make even the smartest man ponder if the situation is wrong or right. Let me give you an example, so that I feel like I have passed on my knowledge properly, imagine if you got barely passing percentage in your 12th grade board exams and the reason for it was that your father had a heart attack a day before your exam started. Now tell me are you bad that you failed or are you good that you tended to your father and he is now getting back to his feet. I hope you got it.

Anyways, human brain has a room for compassion and empathy but the binary language in front of him makes him behave in a uni dimensional way. So as our world is taking up the ways of a computer in their functioning I see that we would be very heavily dependent 0 and 1 and with project like UID in India one pick pocket by a thief may cause you to be ‘anamika’ the no-named & non-existent. To be very frank I am all for this binary-isation of my being but for the less initiated hope you get your act together.

And by the way you favourite college just turned down you application into the degree college. Tough luck!

 
 
 
 

Listening

Some songs hit just hit the chord so right with us. I wonder is it just the word or the melody or the music in the background, I am still to decipher that, though all I can say is that these songs make me smile or feel sad or make me head bang. I am currently listening to 'Abhi Nahi Aana' by Sona this song is about how this singer doesn't want her beau to come so soon as she wants to enjoy the distance between them, it is strange how I just cant smiling as Sona sings those notes.
There are songs like 'Gimme some sunshine' from 3 Idiots which I can totally relate to and so when I like such songs there is no surprises but I remember listening to Rabbi and his 'Bulla ki Jaana' again and again even though I didn't understand what he meant in most of the part of the song but I listened and felt happy and heard it again.
Singing acording to me is one of the most difficult arts to master as emotions are expressed through not only the words that they read from the lyrics sheet but in the voice, the pitch, intonation and what not that makes that song great listen. Try listening to some Sufi songs they kind of get a grip on the concentration part of your brain and all you do is stay in raptures without possibly understanding a word but still understanding what cannot be narrated.
I can confidently say that good breed of musicians make our lives pause for a while and take us through a ride of emotions anytime, any place voluntarily or involutarily.

Humara Bajaj

Bajaj will phase out its last scooter, Chetak, next month. I for one feel very nostalgic about this scooter. This was the first vehicle that my father owned (not counting the bicycle) and was very proud of. I still remember back then, when my Chetak was brought home we all very so happy. I used to feel very proud when the Bajaj Chetak advertisements of ‘Humara Bajaj’ ran on television.



My father learnt riding it with a neighbor's help on the 100 feet road in Bangalore and how when he first went to office on it, we all were thrilled to wave bye from our first floor balcony. That was the time when all the members in the family were thinner than and smaller than now, so we all fit on it well, with my younger brother ahead of my father as I sat between my father and my mother. When I think of it now, I just can’t imagine how we managed. We were always so thrilled to travel on our Chetak!


Out of the excitement of buying a Chetak, I had developed a special skill of sorts. I could, from a distance, just hear a two-wheeler and tell exactly which vehicle it was. I agree there were very few two-wheelers back then, but I as a 9 year-old took great pride in my skill.


During those days I tried and successfully rode a Kinetic Honda, a gearless scooter, but never dared to ride my own Chetak. Not until I was 13 year-old (that was in 1998), when my friend Balaji told me that he could take the responsibility of teaching me to ride it (his elder brother had taught my father to ride the scooter). I knew all the theoretical knowledge one needed to know to ride the bike except for actually riding it. So when I started to ride it the very first time, I thought it would be too easy. But it was far from easy, and anything but a smooth ride.


It all started with my friend Balaji explaining all the procedures (which I've said before I already knew and thought of him as a sucker ;)) in the presence of my father. He told me all the small things -- how to release the clutch and accelerate and stuff -- and then I started the scooter. My first few attempts to get the vehicle in motion failed and I once even managed to do an involuntary and scary wheely (damn clutch!). I finally got the scooter in motion and after going a little ahead, there came the big issue of changing gears, which I could hear Balaji screaming at me to change, but I decided to scream back at him, “Balaji, I will ride only on first gear for now”. I was so scared thinking I would have to start the bike again in case I screwed up that I stuck to the first gear all through. I rode the entire circle of about 300 meters on the first gear.


After that, there was just no looking back. I would take my scooter with a very springy seat to any place around my neighbourhood. I rode this vehicle till 2006, by then my younger brother also had learnt to ride it and we also had a car and a Royal Enfield Bullet as alternative modes of transport for the family. I don’t remember the price we sold it for second hand. I think it was about 7 – 10 thousands rupees or so. Since I had a new Bullet to my self I didn’t feel much of a pain to part with it but now when I think of it I remember the good times we had on it. There was this one time during school, when I took a triple seat on it and I can guarantee you neither me nor the other two will ever forget the pain and the joy of that ride.


I started riding really early in my life and take pride in saying that not once was I ever caught by the Traffic Police (like a true Indian can never pass a chance to boast about how we break the law and get away). All said and done, I am sure the next generation is definitely going to miss a trust worthy vehicle which uncannily needed a 45 degrees tilt before kick starting it.


Humara Bajaj!!

Day Dreaming

There are 9 zeroes in a billion and Slim comes with double digit ahead of those 9 zeroes. 1-2-3-...9

Looking at the list of the Uber-filthy-wiping their face with dollars-burning cigars with dollars-cleaning their ears with Rupee earbuds-coating their cars with Gold rich people like Carlos Slim from Brazil made my mind boggle for sometime like a TV not receiving reception but I recovered soon being a strong man. And while I tried to get back to normal a flood of thoughts came to mind, please continue reading I didnt pen down all of them but just a few, as only very little made sense anyways.

Stream of my thought went through how I first my first cycle made me feel like the luckiest person in the world to now where I am writting down my thoughts on a blog with little food, money or shelter (compared to the uber-filthy..... rich). Without further digressing into some inane topic I will get to the point. Some of them.

Flashback (imagine thundering of clouds)

I started following the richest people list only by the time I reached 10^th standard. I remember this was possibly the first time I wanted a lot of money and felt like my hard work for something might just get me lot of money (How Naive I was stressing about 10^th standard result).

Well that was the time I was a fan of Mr. Gates who made my OS (Ok I’ll accept I didn’t know properly what OS meant back then but what the hell! At least I knew that Mr. Gates made My Computer for me) Also at the time there was this whole thing about how many dollar can Bill Gates give to every person on the Earth and still have some left for himself. I can’t remember the amount but I do remember how awe struck I was to know this little trivia. Till this day I have not tried to confirm the authenticity of that claim but I seriously don’t care now as I am not getting any ;(.

Digressing from the topic, so pulling my self back to what I actually came to write. And it is about how I am proud to be a world citizen in this era and time. How is that related to my start of this blog, well not very but little, I’ll admit. So to take things ahead I used my special powers granted by Google & searched for 2000 list of Forbes most rich people & compared it with the current 2010 one.

I keep 2000 as the point of reference simple because this was the time I started growing my intelligence repository (it has been filling for 10 years damn!! I still feel dumb at least once a day on most days) any ways!!. To me this is an indicator of shift of wealth from Just USA to the rest of the world. From 8 out of top 10 richest people in the world coming from st="on"USA in the year 2000 to only 3 people in 2010.

This list has not yet hit the equilibrium as people from all continents of the world do not figure on the list but I am sure it will once be true. Very importantly my country men figure twice in the list NOT that it makes me swell with pride but makes me happy that wealth is been distributed around the globe. I fail to understand how people from rich European countries do not figure in the list considering they are high on individual wealth like st="on"Norway which figures 2^nd on the list of highest GDP in the world. These countries also claim to have the best living standards but do not have anyone amongst the top 10 richest people in the world. They surely figure somewhere down the list but the top 10 is the place all the billionaires want to be in.

That brings me to this question. ‘Are people in the happiest countries so content that they fail to figure on top slots of richest people in the world or are these countries a classic example of Inclusive growth?” I request you to answer this question in the comments please.

Anyways all I wanted to tell you all is that I wish for a world where the richest people in the world come from all points on this round earth. Imagine the 3^rd richest man in the world from the flood hit country like Bangladesh or the 7^th richest man in the world from the genocide infamous st="on"style=""Republic of Rwanda. When this happens the wealth would have possibly percolated to the perimeter of this world. Then I am sure I would be glad I am in this country working my part in improving the economy of st="on"India (every drop makes an ocean) and not for development of some other country (at my patriotic best).

As I stopped my diahorea of thinking I was with a anxiety if I would ever figure on that list..even if not i'd be happy (not).

(There are many more thoughts from where this came if you want a piece of my mind dont ask me I possibly might bug you with it if I met you..So long folks!)

Click happy - My first DSLR Canon 1000d

1st Feb 2010 would probably be amongst the most memorable days in my recent life. On this day I have got my camera which i have been yearning for so long. My wallet has become so light but I am filled with excitement that cant be contained in me.

I got the delivery of my Canon 1000d in my office and just cant wait to reach home and start clicking my way through.

Fantasti-click!!

My first Mumbai Marathon

"Damn I didn't realise my legs have become so stiff," I told this to my companion while climbing down the Mumbai CST station's subway stairs.

The day -- Jan 17, 2010, big day of Mumbai Marathon, I woke up at around the same time that the half and full Marathon runners of began their tryst towards reaching the CST station enclosure; where the run ended. I got ready and was thinking whether I should carry Glucose water or Relispray or some bandages when I got reminded that I was running a measly 6 km and not a 21 km or a 42 km, so my carrying all of these aids would be unnecessary.

So with my mind clear of any confusion, a camera, my wallet and my friend -- newspaper in my hand, I headed out for an experience that I yearned for, for so long.


When I saw the sea of crowd at Azad Maidan, I was happy that so many other people also share the same passion of running on a Sunday despite being very well aware that this walk/run would lead to at least two days of body-ache. Anywho!! I began my walk with few of my office colleagues and after sometime of just walking got bored and split to make a dash and a run a while. I didn’t define 'run a while' even to myself, very well aware that I hadn’t ran for at least 2 years (except of course to catch a train or a bus but I am sure that doesn’t qualify as a run). So when I finally began to find my way through hordes of people walking, I found a friend of mine by chance. After exchanging pleasantries, we found our way through the crowds to run, sometimes on the extreme left of the street, sometimes on the streets and sometimes behind the very crowds, which had come down to cheer us through.


People on the streets cheered on while we made our way through and it felt as though our running and reaching the end made a difference to the society. With this in mind I strode ahead. On my way I saw a few people returning and bumming out of the race. And let me add, they were not the oldies but some middle aged aunties. The oldies in this gang of runners were the most energetic. While the old folks passed by, they hooted, cheered and even gave out a kind of war cry to the runners. In a line I would say that the atmosphere amongst these energetic people was electric. So I went ahead smiling and panting.

After a 2.5 km exhausting run, 3.5 km walk and many people past, we reached the end. I thought of going back to the Kayanis for a heavy non-vegetarian breakfast but only to be stopped by the thought of losing some weight. So, I continued to the refreshment area where I fell in absolute love with Horlicks Nutri bar, I had two of those. After all the water that I gulped down with fruits and snack bars, I headed back home. While I walked, I didn't feel much of a pain but the stairs at the CST subway made me think otherwise.

As I sat in the train and started, my encounter with the pain cropped up from all the thinkable parts of my body. This continued all the way, even as I slept almost the entire day till the next morning. Today is the day after and as I sit writing this my tail bone hurts and I can't put my finger on what could cause my evolutionary evidence to ache so much but all I know is -- I can't even run for the trains, which I must say I am or rather was good at. Enough cribbing!!

And now time for some long-shot promise to self.
I don't mean to make you laugh out mocking me when you read the next line but I think I am going to run the 21 km Half Mumbai Marathon next year on January 9, 2011. What the heck I'll choose better shoes for next time ;)