Extended Amygdala

History of Flying Carpet - Origins

2011-06-26T13:49:00.001-07:00

Before we start going to pre-history of India, it should be noted that modern boundaries of most countries were defined in 20th Century or later and there had been a greater variation in their existence, as we traverse back in time. India is no stranger to it and for completeness of the topic at hand, the history would be included for areas near modern India including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Srilanka..

Written records on History of early India is rather limited. There are records of past termed as "Itihaasa" ( history ) but they seemed to be a blend of actual history and mythology. It is very hard to corroborate the evidence with modern scientific tools. But, there are very good analyzing mechanisms which can help us understand.

Even though various sects of Hinduism do not agree on course of creation and aftermath, all of them do agree on the existence of "HrnyaGarbha" and consider it as a start of existence.

On digging deeper ( literally :) ), we learn that, India as we know today started as Neoproterozoic India as part of Gondawana in Mesozoic Era (~180 Million yrs ago). By Cenozoic Era (About 45 Million yrs ago), Indian Plate started moving towards Eurasian Plate and fit itself onto its approximate current location and this movement started the creation of Himalayan mountain range which is growing even now.

Some of the Dinosaur fossil found in India are found in the following areas,

Kota Formation - with fossils from Lower Jurassic period
Lameta Formation - with fossils from Upper Cretaceous period, Rajasaur being significant species found
Maleri Formation - with fossils from Upper Triassic period
Shivalik Fossil Park - with fossils from Pleistocene period

There has been a lesser finds of dinosaur fossils as the archeological society has been active only in last century as well as due to wider land use in plateau to support burdgeoning population.

Homo Erectus arrived in India during Pleistocene Epoch (~2 Million yrs ago) and some migrated to other parts of South Asia. But, these were not the final residents of the subcontinent.

Finally arrived the thinkers!, the Homo Sapiens in about 50,000 to 70,000 BCE. Here starts a colorful story of how a collage of thoughts was created.

As menioned in the previous post, the philosophical history of India starts about 4000 years ago in about 2500-1700 BCE. In the early days of India, it was crimnal to write down literature(but we do have some interesting exceptions). So, most of the knowledge was shared orally. When the old thoughts were written down finally in later years, there had been many influences of later day philosophies and what we have today is a current intrepretation of old thoughts..

This nature of re-defining assumptions based on current problems is very true to modern day theists as well. Sometimes, it just is little weird to find self-proclaimed godmen to explain their yogic techniques with quantum theory and electromagnetic wave theory, to appeal to growing literate mass.

In this series, I would like to include philosophies of all Faiths that had an Indian Flavor added to them on reaching subcontinent shores. i will add them chronologically as they got rooted in Indian hearts.

In the next blog, To understand older philosophies in India, we will travel out of the subcontinent and head towards middle east asia where the first known Hindu literature was drafted.

History of Flying Carpet - Prologue

2011-06-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

I like to read History and Philosophy. Specifically, I like to learn history in general - Big Bang Theory, Evolution, Early history, Antiquity, Medieval Ages, Modern Era, World Wars, Cold war, to present day jasmine revolution..

In my quest to learn the anthropological and philosophical origin of India, my journey through available literature had been very fulfilling. I want to document a summary of my learning through a set of blog posts. I would like to present them as facts and exclude any opinions in them, for a historian should never blend facts with personal perspectives. Also, i find myself as a student, yearning to learn more about the world i live in and often perspectives/beliefs tend to segregate us. Lastly, Life is too short to quibble over opinions & beliefs.

Even though, I have named this series "History of Flying Carpet", as a parody on earlier occidental perception, quite a lot of our understanding on Oriental philosophies should be attributed to unbiased reports from western scholars. The use of Linguistic, Archeological and Scientific tools that these scholars have provided us, are immensely helpful in understanding the culture in all perspectives. For e.g- Archeological society of India was well-trained in the craft by British comrades who helped in ground breaking discoveries like Indus Valley Civilization, etc.

The present day learning in the western world has most of its origin from Greco-Roman principles which were well preserved by Moors of Iberian peninsula in Arabic texts after the end of Roman Empire, until Crusaders translated them back to Latin. The stability in the post-world war era has given us opportunity to stand up and look back on the orchestration of events that brought us to this point and help us choose our path ahead.

In the next post, i want to start my exploration of early philosophies of India. Ironically, even though these tenets are often attributed to Hinduism, they differ quite a lot from the current understanding on Hinduism. Evaluation of these offer better understanding on the evolution of Hinduism and transformation in India as a sub-continent, due to its influence.

Stay tuned for next post --- History of Flying Carpet - Origins :)

Miss you appa..

2011-03-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

its like being in a dark forest and Sun has set with no light around.. we knew it would happen but its painful nevertheless.

realize now that Dad was the Axle.. nothing seem to move around now.. we are stuck in a quagmire.. its both, we cannot move and do not want to move, fearing we might leave him behind.. our eyes still search him inside the house.. every time we lock the door while leaving the house for an errand, it still feels like somebody is left behind..

Life looks little distant in a suspended animation.. wonder will there be moments of satiating happiness anymore.. would our happiness ever be complete.. he had a very low threshold of expectation to keep him happy, extolling even a simplest achievement.. any achievement would always be incomplete henceforth..

He was there for us at every moment.. every time our steps wavered, he was there to steady our course...

Earliest memory i have of him was the day he left me at kindergarten and came back to pick me up later in the day.. i wish i could have just that one moment re-lived.. Our minds are filled with his images at various stages in our life, the one image i wish to forget is that of his cadaver..

cant we circle back in time to re-live the past.. i feel we missed telling him so many things in past, we missed asking him so many things in past..

There are so many thing i wanted to do, ask all his childhood stories, his mischiefs and achievements.. write it down.. write down every experience he had, good-bad, pleasant-painful, elating-embarrassing.. write down missing moments from past years when i was not around him... write down every experience we had together with his perspective.. record his voice speaking everything , common words, uncommon words, his usual repertoire.. record his picture in all his favorite clothes... record every cherishing experience we had together..
it feels like our whole past with him was just a rehearsal.. we wish we had one more chance..

he is gone.. we did not lose a father, we lost a part of our self, making us incomplete.. aeons of time and galaxies of worlds cannot replace this loss.. we still wonder how life would be henceforth.. it still feels like a prisoner with weights on his leg dragging on.. hope we find peace that unlocks this weight someday..

Dad we miss you..

Ranges, Mountains, Hill, hillocks ….

2010-03-06T00:34:00.001-08:00

They stand high, They stand tall. Its been hard for sky scrapers to match their grandeur..

They stand as we pass, silently observing, with wisdom that only comes through ages of ruminations. These are those super structures that we interpret as part of the landscape and tag it as something that had existed and would exist. but , as with anything that we see as permanent, mountain too has a life-cycle.. it was born, it raises high among its peers, touches the zenith and slowly erodes itself to oblivion.

Be it a tectonic shift or a wizards hand, Mountain was a level land before, the one that farmer conquered and domesticated, that emperors wanted to own, that an average human desire to earn, transformed slowly but steadily. learning to adorn itself with nature as it grew, provide and protect the flora and fauna, climbing to new heights. Even wearing a white cap of serene beauty.

Unlike other nature’s wunderkind’s , mountains take hold of you on seeing it in close quarters.It starts with deafening you by barometric pressure changes. Then fills you with all colors, ever changing with seasons, as a visual treat. Comforting chill hugs you bringing you even closer to your loved ones ;). It does not scare you, make you fear of survival but amaze with diversity in nature.

Mountains may provide shelter for lesser number of fauna when compared to ocean, but doesn't stop in publicizing its marvels. Ocean looks very desolate from surface where as, even it were to be a lone panda, mountain amplifies even the noise of a fumbling occupant.

Randomness is ranges prove that variety in life can still have a commonality in its mission. Its the right attitude that while keeping our heads held high ,can bring happiness not only to self but to others around us as well.

Time – Paranormal!

2010-02-18T11:24:00.001-08:00

i had heard people quoting time flies, time waits for none etc.. it sounded rhetoric. but, i guess i have reached a state where i will acknowledge it whole-heartedly!!!

This whole blog may sound rhetoric on being the first one this year.But, i did hit a “w00t” moment with this. I have heard the adage - “Penny wise Pound Foolish”.. i don't know if there exists , "Day wise Year foolish”. i can understand how days are moving.. how they are transforming me , my life, my surrounding.. but, “Years”.. hmm..

I consider myself a calculated risk taker.. i had at least professionally taken some “risks” that had taken me to different state of existence.. i did enjoy the changes and transformations i had to go through due to the decisions/choices i made.

But, when it comes to smaller things, hmm… For e.g. If i go back to a restaurant , i prefer to order the same dish as before for fear of getting something unpalatable… it does limit me from trying new things.. Fortunately, this is where , my better half has helped me improve.. but, to introspect, this does fit in my previous statement of adage.

Paretto principle – is that what governs this.. [At least this is filibuster proof .. chuckle :) ]

I do see a pattern.. we live our life ready made for an Biography ( if we are that lucky ;) )… Different Acts, different chapter, protagonist remains the same,(there is always a better half ) , environment changes , expectations changes, the definition/meaning of accomplishment changes.. but ironically the pain of failure remains the same…

ACT II

2009-11-19T00:05:00.001-08:00

I never understood why some classics had ACT’s.. i always thought probably the author wanted to give an excuse for the reader to take a break..

But, here i am , proposing one :)

It had been such a transforming phase, all X-men would have been flabbergasted looking at what i had been through.

Metamorphosis! may be.. i see i am what i was, but on the whole my life is different. have moved on to believe in a new arithmetic 1 + 1 = 1!

There is a new brain to pick, new perspective to contemplate, new dreams to be desired, new quirks to be smirked at :)

What i love the most is the opportunity to re-live the best moments so far … with desire to share better moments in future..

i would like to suggest to ye bachelors to be brave and take a step, its transforming multi-dimensional!

I hear rhythmic notes...

2009-03-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

I keep hearing rhythmic notes .... let me close my eyes (and the media player) and concentrate bit more... ya i do hear it now... interesting , it does sound like something humans call as clanging - a sound made by a finely wrought metal when struck with force... in short, bells.. hmmmm.. the bells have unique identity on their own.. they announce something, dont they!.. they grab ur attention and present you with an information.. hmm .. wat could this bell say? let me hear more clearly...

Aha! it says there is an union very soon of two willing minds.. well thats lots of words.. i dont have such huge memory or vocabulary.. let me listen again... yay!! it told my name ... it said Balaji Gururajan ... its mee mee mee.. Narcisst in me is shaking hands with Venus.. but wait why Venus!! let me hear again... SShhh people! dont make noise... i hear prosperity... i heard "Sri"... but dude wats with venus??? SShhh...

Wow.. congrats me! hee hee :) i heard "marriage" "Balaji" and "Sri".. ppl word is out then .. it is my wedding bell and would get louder as we get to June 11,2009.. Epicenter being Coimbatore , India... Please plan ur vacation and start working extra hours to save some time to be off and gift me generously hee hee :)

But, wats with Venus? Sshh.. u idiot go figure it out :)

Music - Modern Archaeology

2008-06-29T18:09:00.001-07:00

Music, the synchronized sound ranging in freq - 20 to 20K Hz, has created so much difference in humanity as a whole!!

its amazing to note the effect music has on an individual or enmasse! its amazing to see that we are attracted to a pleasant (definition varies!) to an intolerant one.. the amount the effect it has in our psyche is unbelevable and perhaps a larger field to investigate..

Recently,i had this interesting experience which i wanted to share.. i was travelling in a friend's car and he played a song from yester-years.. i was immediately surrounded by profound memories of those times when i had first listened to those songs..

i still remember those days with fondness and despair (??!!)
It was when i was in 3rd grade.. i was going to my school in auto ( a shared mode of transporation with 3 wheels) .. Auto-wallah( the driver) used to come to my house in the morning at ~8.30AM to pick me up .. My mom used to get me ready by 8.20 with me all dressed up and fit to go. and then i used to sit in the stony steps in front of my house,patiently waiting for auto (rather impatiently - as always i hated school)
8- 9 AM was new songs segment in local radio station and we had a movie buff family as neighbour.. they used to play the radio aloud and i usually was entertained by it till shaken from the sullen stupor by the auto.. so, whenever i listened to those songs, i knew my time at home was over and i will be taken outta this comfort zone.. so invariably, from then on, whenever i listen to songs from that era, i become moody and all these times flash onto me..

Regardless, there are songs which specifically take me to specific time and incite emotions depending on my emotional state during the time i was introduced to the song.. emotions frozen in time..

Baby doll songs - used to hear it in Wipro shuttle.. the time when i started my career.. the time of hope and inspiration.. strangely got attributed to this raunchy number!!
"New York Nagaram" song reminds me of my first time to US.. a time when i was least clear about my future.. but was willing to take a big step
"Unnale Unnale" - when i was settled in California but was really thinking about moving on in career.. needed to think about lots of risks and mitigations!!
Azhagiya Tamil Magan - my dear car!! the good times with.. unsure lane changes ;-)

White water in Hell!

2008-06-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

It sure sounds good as a topic :-)

I recently went for a road trip to Hells Canyon in Oregon with a colleague of mine. His wife was out of country. so it was only 2 of us on road for 3 days.

It was quite amazing to experience. It was the most unplanned trip ever so far in my life.. My initial plans for the long week end in May'08 bombed due to inclement weather in Yellowstone National park predicted for that week end. i was bit disappointed that i was gonna miss that.. it was then i met this ex-colleague of mine in a farewell lunch of our mutual friend.. he was telling us about his long road trip.. Just then , it struck me , i had never been in roadtrips that lasted more than a day of driving.. i asked him if he was interested in one for the long weekend.. he just was excited for a roadtrip as i was..

But, we had no clue as to where to drive.. i was clear on my requirement -- drive in car in unknown land as long as i can.. ( i was in fact planning to take my car for such a drive if nothing works out).. Just a day before the start of long week end, he suggested Hells Canyon, i just googled the name and it was listed as a scenic drive... Thats all the motivation i needed.. Unfortunately, rest of my friends were unavailable.. so it was only 2 of us and all we had was just a name of the drive...!!

It was really exciting as we had absolutely no expectation and so anything was better !! we rented a Camry, keyed-in the destination "Hells Canyon Recreational Area" and blasted off I-90

It turned out to be really awesome drive

Day 1
Seattle,WA -> Lewiston,OR -> Enterprise,OR

Enterprise had population of 2000!! i was really amazed with the small town (village?) we halted in a small inn to recharge ourselves..

Day 2
Enterprise,OR -> Joseph,OR -> Imnaha,OR -> Enterprise,OR -> Baker City,OR -> Halfway,OR

Morning break fast was unforgettable, we had it in a one of the local cafes, where "Every body knew every customer"!! we were the only non locals but still i felt so much at home!

Halfway turned out to be smaller than Enterprise!
it was so nice to see banner commomerating the High school graduation in all the light pole with the poster of the students!!

Day 3
We headed for the Hells Canyon dam.. it was really nice drive following the snake river up till the dam. We then walked a trail that was following the river beyond the dam..

Coming to the topic, it was a gushing swirling water, even though dam was not fully open. Water is so calm but can stand up to heavens with a roar when it matters! we saw water in one such manifestation.. it was pure white with agitation.. thats when i noticed it.. it was in its most unruly form, unpredictable..

When i was sitting over the rock in the bank, i saw the gushing water as a we humans with our life in fast forward.. there are so many of us, yet we are all same.. we travel in same direction through time.. some of us wanting to move faster than the rest, while some refusing to move forward but nevertheless pushed forward (by time) .. and some of us scale new heights while some face new troughs!!

Frost , Wordsworth and Mr. Britto

2008-04-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

I apologize to every literature lover for any misrepresentations in this post.

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-- Robert Frost

I could not resist my temptation to quote these words of Robert Frost.(PS-> this has nothing to do with snow in Redmond today) These are not just one of his best words but these invoke pleasant memories in me. I still remember my english teacher Mr.John Britto reciting these words to us enjoying every word while doing it. He was one of the best teachers i have had who taught me how to dream.

I always loved to dream -( not the ambitious types :-) ). i always liked to dream while reading a book or listening to music. i loose myself into a fantasy world where i'd be a great singer, a poet walking along fields (Solitary Reaper). or a romanticist admiring a flower (Daffodils)....

i still remember the day when Mr.Britto introduced us to Solitary Reaper.. i was in the last bench that day and it was post lunch session. i could not resist myself delving into dream world.. i imagined myself walking with a bowler's hat looking at a lone reaper having a lone corn stalk in hand and nibbling its end. It was like a magic. i was in this wonder world with Mr.Britto's words building the world before my "inward eye".. it was quite a pschedelic experience.. (ps-> i had curd rice if u must know :-) )

My dream world was suddenly disturbed when Mr.Britto notied my glazed looks. he asked me what i was doing. i stood up and confessed my dream. i expected to be punished but instead told me that it is good for creativity. but told me to concentrate in his words and then dream about later in the day.. i was embarrassed but was also amused at the encouragement. i have not stopped dreaming from then on.

Do try this next time you are stuck in an airport with a delayed flight or in a long bus journey with no friendly travel mate.. they really refresh your soul and bring in a new zest for life..

Maya - The illusion!

2008-04-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend mentioned about Maya to me.. (PS-> its not the software!).Its the "Illusion"!!

Maya - check out wat wiki has in store.

Signal conditioning!
This is part of every human activity..
e.g. Food - we like to bake, boil, grill or fry and eat with a garnish. Real ingredients conditioned beyond recognition.

Precis writing - a branch evolved just to limit conditioning
why does a verb need an adverb, a noun need an adjective?
i am not limiting the creativity but pointing out the exaggerations. need for limitless details.. this blog being an example!

Let me stop the digression, getting back to Maya - eternal conditioning of(/by?) senses!
we have seen that condtioning is way of life as far as humans are concerned.

we depend on all our senses (visual,aural,vocal,olfactory and tactitory) to feel the universe.. its like we sit in a room with an amazing home theater system to know wats happening outside. Quintessential question is , does this Home Theater system do any conditioning. If not, how do we disprove it?

i wear spectacles, a common conditioning we know of. What if there are non physical conditioning. Conditioning pertaining to processing the signals or transformations done to damp/amplify the signals.

What if our senses cannot detect signals beyond a certain band of frequency or dimension? spooky!
para-normal, quasi-normal, abnormal - are they conditioning gone berserk??

Matrix - this movie brought in a modern outlook to an old concept. What if? we are victims of mass delusions!

Since, it deserves a blog on its own, let me get back to current hypothesis. we have heard of various psychedelic drugs. What if? we do delude in such a hormone that keeps us unaware of the reality.

What if? the world we see is a world that we actually imagine.
What if? Balaji did not write this blog, but you imagine it to be written in the imaginary world that your senses project before you!!

i will now leave you to ruminate on that!

Past year !!

2008-01-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

Wish u all a Happy New Year (intentionally leaving out the year!)

Past year had been a whirl wind journey. It was really an exciting year on the whole.. i had been through a roller coaster ride of my life..
It is pretty amazing to see myself get through such a dynamic phase and still survive ( excel??!! let me be modest ;-))
It all started with me quitting Philips and at the start of the year.. my experience in Philips was quite rewarding.. i do cherish the memories of those idiosyncracies..
Then came the time to move for the big apple.
It was my first time to US.. Unlike europe trip, this time i was not sure, where i was heading. Pursuing wat our ancestor prescribed, Thirai kadal odi thiraviyam thedu (Cross oceans to acquire wealth)
it was a pleasant surprise to find US more like a home away from home...
For once, i could get a decent vegeterian meal outside india!!

As soon as i landed in Pittsburgh,PA, my priorities kick in, bringing me to reality.. Soon, i leave to Sacramento,CA to start my industrious career ;-)
I cant forget those exciting trips to San Francisco,CA and Oakland,CA for customer meetings.. i have met more people by then, than i would ever imagine!!

it was exciting to interact with people from different culture and different profession sitting together to define an application that was directly impacting the general mass! the passion definitely is contagious.. i couldnt resist outrunning the mid night oil..

also, those exciting group trips to Yosemite and Bay area which we squeezed-in .. is unforgettable.. my haunts as a new driver would sure light me up on any dark day ..

Even though, it was an amazing time, i still was sane enough to reassess my priorities and move ahead to be-fitting opportunities...

Although a rhetoric by now, Seattle,WA turned out to be more exciting than anything so far.. with is plush green ambience, all too beautiful outdoors, Hands Down best place to live (Statutory warning: Sun appears only 7 days a year ;) )
Redmond,WA sure has complimented me on my skills.. working for Microsoft sure is an experience of life.. its not just exhilirating to see the birthplace of IT revolution so near but its more honoring to be a part of..

It was not just a year of work but also a year with more travel than i had ever done.. would always relish those trips to Dayton,OH, Niagara and Los Angeles,CA...

Overall, it had been a year to be marked.. Would never have imagined a dynamism so profound yet fulfilling!!
Wish every year be so enriching as this...
Good Bye 2007, u will always be my past sweet heart :-)
Welcome 2008, i do wish you are as exciting..

Art of Dosa Making!!

2007-10-20T22:47:00.000-07:00

One of my recent successful engineering marvel is making of smaller gauge dosa. This blog will not get into the nitty-gritty of preparing batter but rather explore the nuances in making a delicious crispy dosa.
It is interesting to note how dosa preparation matches our reality. i will go in steps as to how i perceive it resembles our life.
a) Scoop dosa batter in a ladle whose volume would be lesser than the surface area of the non-stick pan. (we are all product of a same cast, our experiences mold us, as we are.)
b) Quickly spread the batter as a thin layer by pressing the ladle in the middle and making a spiralling action towards the outer rim. (As we understand that world is bigger than what we perceive, our ego is humbled and we widen our persepectives)
c)Wait till its cooked and turn the dosa upside down. (multiple percepectives bring a clarity of thought every time and aids our overall growth)
d) As dosa turns golden brown, scoop it up and wallah! delicious dosa is ready
( With an all round developement, our purpose is complete. we are now an example of an all round developement and if not influence , at least inspire the same within others)

Omnipresent Fungi!

2007-09-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

guess it had been quite a while, since we met. There had been lots of change in my life.. i am in US working as a contractor to Microsoft in Redmond.. will post my past year sometime.. i had an opportunity to go around Europe - Hamburg, Munich, Neuschwanstein castle, Leipzig, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Berlin..

No matter where i went there was one culprit who followed me vehemently. Vegeterians have a tough time everywhere.. depending on region you are in, the check words vary.. "i want vegeterian, no meat, no egg, no fish, no oyster sauce, no mayonnaise, no gelatin".. list goes on.. but after all these specification, when waiter brings the meal, this omnipresent fungi(Mushroom - for the uninitiated..) pops up spoiling the who meal... this fungi has a signature taste that makes the food unpalatable , even if it has been fished out from it.. unfortunately, its not just that i hate the taste of this fungi, i consider it as non-vegeterian food.It makes my vegerterian friends give me a sharp look - "Dude,y do u wanna spoil our fun!!"

Metaphorically, i have waged a abstinence from this pungent smelling fungi.. let's see who prevails..

Bus - Train !!

2006-06-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Guten Tag ppl

Guess it has been really long since i blogged.(i will definitely work on not making this my statutory first line ..)
I was bit busy in the project work. We have nice time with Test Driven programming and Domain Driven design here in our team. (probably would need a separate blog)
Recently , i went to my colleague's wedding in Vizag by train. This brought back floods of memories. I had traveled by bus more when compared to train.
I went to my uncle's place in Coimbatore on every vacation when i was living in Trichy. Coimbatore is a nice place with weather similar to bangalore (Trichy has very hot and humid weather all year round). My family usually took the bus to coimbatore(it takes 5.5 hrs).

Bus

I used to like the bus rides more for the solitude that i get. Being the eldest kid:-) (may be most troublesome!!), i always got the window seat. The (dis)advantage of the buses was that once u plug urself into a seat, it is difficult to pull urself out.. So , there is no physical movement for couple of hours until there is an intermediate stop. I have one great virtue(Vice?) , i day dream a lot.. so these bus rides excite me a lot..

I sit and watch the scenary as bus goes along the beautiful shore of River Cauvery(dry for most part of the year!!) and dream all sort of things,.. from goin to mars to entering an atom.. being next Einstein to next Prime Minister of India.. there was no limit to imagination..

I believe Bus travelled more close to people than train did.. there always was some hustle-bustle enroute.. there were always countless villages, towns, cities or just remote farmin ranches on the way.. it was very rare to find a stretch of road say 10 KM without any settlement of one kind or another!! also , sitting in the bus i felt closer to outside world but with a safe distance without spoiling my solitude..

Train

The trains gave totally different experiences. The train always awed me with its larger than life image. It was always special becoz of the long wait in the station, it demands. As with other families, my family too believed in reachin the railway station atleast 2 hours before the scheduled departure time(it was rarely on-time). Since , train offered better mobility (leg space) , it was a favorite choice of transport for the younger kids.. the preparation for train journey is quite religious. A separate bag would be alloted for packing eatables, lunch , evening snack and dinner, boiled water(the elixir of life), fruits, biscuits and a flask of cofee!!! Though loaded with enough food to feed a Third World country , we kids always liked the eatables sold in the platform.. but even in the world largest democracy minors dont have a say :-(..

As against bus, getting a window seat is difficult in trains as there would be only 2 for every six passengers.. the middle and the aisle seats are really boring seats .. u never get to watch the scenary outside and also u cannot relax properly in ur seat.. i was a bit introverted kid, so unlike others, was not ready to strike up conversation with the co-passengers.. also if i start gaping in the window and start day dreamin, ppl around me get concerned and ask me if i am feelin sleepy!!

Trains offer a different view of the country. it always gives a detached and distant view of the outside world. As against bus, you get to see agricultural fields, factories and smaller home steads.. its rather peaceful perspective of a bustling civilization ..

The sides of the railway tracks have sign boards with some numbers.. for long time i tried to decipher it .. but finally concluded that it must be a puzzle for the engine driver to solve, to stop him from sleeping :-)

As opposed to other views on travel, i see it as an opportunity to have a peaceful solitude... with changing view instigating wildest of dreams.. this is one and only single factor that makes me love traveling no matter what the means is :-)

Cartoons and Science

2006-04-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

I recently saw this website which has 2 best things i like - Cartoons and Science(it's actually Maths but i dont like math as much as science but science is toothless without math )

http://www.msri.org/ext/larryg/

Check it out!!

Domain Atom!

2006-03-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

I was recently introduced to domain driven design. It means - "Ur design should be made up of building blocks that are existing as it is in Domain of interest and u should finally be able to explain the design to the domain expert/Req. Engg( must hav no tech slang) "

Check out http://domaindrivendesign.org/index.html

This is so different and this has totally changed my perception. till now the major problem was language of communication between the developers and the domain experts. now that agreed upon glossary is available, the language is common to both the developers and the domain experts. The developers' design only uses the agreed upon glossary and one of the design verification check is
- is it understandable by domain experts who have no technical knowledge?

This led me to compare the software developement with Physical world.

Consider the following scenario...

Any domain can be broken down into indivisible part. i.e. a smallest unit beyond which it loses its purpose.. for example, Customer in a banking domain.. it is a basic unit that defines a person/entity that can be subjected to various work flows in the banking domain.

We can consider such units as DomainAtoms. DomainAtom is an indivisible part of the domain and has some meaning that completes the domain definition.Another example of Domain atom would be a SavingsAccount.. we can quote lotsa such examples.
When we want certain logic to be implemented using these DomainAtoms then we get something called DomainMolecule. DomainMolecule would be made up of two or more different DomainAtoms. This DomainMolecule will internally use individual atoms properties but for outside world would expose totally new set of functionality also. this leads to similar such comparisons with physical world..

Collection of DomainAtoms/DomainMolecules -- DomainPolymer

DomainAtom/DomainMolecule that needs to broadcast message(event) all around -- DomainRadioactive Isotope ;-)

sometimes there may be partial implementation that need to be completed in later stage (more like Ions) which can be done using Partial classes!!
further, there are these properties and fields which are like matter paricles and events,methods which are like force particles..
and C (velocity of light) equivalent would be machine cycles for an instruction..

and strangely, both Class and Carbon have "C" as first letter.

Further, as atoms and molecules are bound by rules of physical world, the DomainElements will also be governed by these rules. these rules can be inherited or contained rules which are generic and have global definition..

Further, these DomainElements should be directly be consumable, i.e. they should be ready to be used in whatever form of UI or logic that might require it.. conversely such knowledge can be created else where and contained within these elements.. Even though ,the atoms are bit complex, they are very much user friendly...

this then leads to another possiblity.. havin got intelligent atoms and molecules .. we can program any new logic that needs these by just combining them into a new molecule or polymer!! may a RAD UI can be created(like VB) which will generate code for this..

i donno somebody would surely have tried this out.. but the computers can understand only finite set of rules and logic.. it just asks us to build our logic outta them ... so y not hav one more level of abstraction...

March 24th

2006-01-12T04:31:00.000-08:00

Your Birthdate: March 24

You understand people well and are a natural born therapist.
A peacemaker, people always seem to get along when you are around.
You tend to be a father or mother figure to friends, even to those older than you.
You enjoy your role, and you find that you are close to many people.

Your strength: Your devotion

Your weakness: Reliance on others for happiness

Your power color: Lilac

Your power symbol: Heart

Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Thoughts - Inventions Dissected

2005-12-22T03:29:00.000-08:00

Thoughts!
They distinguish us apart from all other beings. They give us the identity.
They are us even without we realizing it.
They are the wizards that create something outta nothing. but is it truly so.

if i try to think(?!) about that i am absolutely amazed.

A thought is a by-product of thinking. it is a past-tense implying something that happened because of a process called thinking .People create something new that had never existed? which is AGAINST the LAW of CONSERVATION of statin nothing new can be created, only one think
can be modified to another thing
how come something be created outta nothing ? Poor Einstein gave his life trying to convince us that this cant happen...

but these "thoughts" are breaking the rules. or is it my ignorance that makes me believe that thoughts are something outta blue??

Thinking..

Each second we are bombarded with zillions of data but its amazing that brain meticulously records it and processes it. the very screen that u r lookin at is nothing but a 1024X768 Matrix but brain picks it up and gets a meaningful information outta this data...

but what is more spectacular is the way brain puts together a seemingly unrelated data into a new set of information that leads to dynamic data generation to realize the same..

thinking process may be
- putting a set of related/unrelated informations to generate new set of data
- re-process the existing data to interpret it as a new information by applying a known pattern to modify the data
- also hav a prediction based on expected pattern and when there is a close match , refine it to get a meanin outta it. now use this as new set of data
- to combine the above steps recursively in any order and any number of times

i donno whether there are any inventions that happen without any inspirations..
they either happen outta inspirations and or out of misinterpretations!! but does it mean i can plan for an invention. . any process would have defined steps and following them would lead us to goal.. so , are these inventions not reachable by anybody..

Restrictions being,

-- sufficient data to interpret
-- suffictient Pattern/Template library to process data
-- ability to handle volumes of data

does it mean there is no intuition in intuitive sense? can anybody or every body make an invention through discipline and planning? Well all i can do is THINK aloud..

but if u know any invention that happened outta blue and whose inspirations cannot be traced, please do tell, i'll think over it :-)

PS-> This blog is not outcome of CMMI training that i recently underwent

i'm Back!

2005-12-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

Hey ! i'm back( visualize me saying it like Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire")

it definitely is a long absence. Should this mean i was very busy? NO!! .. its YAEOML( Yet another example of my laziness ;-) ). few imp moments in fast forward -

Lotsa things happened in between.. i had been to land of "The Lord Of Rings". It was a short and sweet escapade. Had to go there for some client site installation support. so, unfortunately the most i saw was the cluttered Nuclear Medicine room. and whatever i saw i hav frozen in this link
New Zealand Trip. As i had to stay in Singapore for a day to catch my connecting flight to Christchurch, i had some time to have a ride in Singapore river( i did not have Singapore Visa. but there was an offer wherein ppl without Singapore Visa were taken out for a ride by the Singapore govt.)

I have moved from my BTM house to Sanjay Nagar in north bangalore. Our company shifted to North Bangalore.( but currently am back in old office near MG Road as the new office's basement got flooded. We are plannin to move back to new office by Jan)

There had been historic rains in tamil nadu and my house in trichy got flooded. Thank fully, there was no major loss and my folks were safe all throughout. but, the house looked as though a giant blender had gone amok. It will take few more months till things become normal. i am not much bothered as we plan to move outta that place soon..

I hav finally started cooking. As of now, only curd rice.. ppl with experience in cooking with electric stove, please tell me the delicacies that i can try. and yesterday we had our first spill over the coil :-) i heard a rumour that electric coil was a device by aliens that automatically tranmitts the recipe !! anyway i certainly dont hav much to transmit as of now.

ok then adios amigos till we meet again and this time i will be back soon ..

Static Vs Dynamic

2005-05-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Guess it is a long time since i blogged..

i was a sort of busy ..i am getting shifted to a different cubicle in a different building.. i have packed my things up and am waitin for the facilities to pick it up.. so prob'ly i'll post this blog from new location...

the change is inevitable.. thats wat i feel now.. even if we resist , it does forces itself onto us.. but is change good or bad...

u do sth and coz u had been doin it for a long time, u wud hav got an optimal way of doin it.. as we do things , the process of doin it slowly evolves into a much better way.. the time it takes to evolve would of course depend on the experience in similar stuff, knowledge of the dependencies and overall picture of wats really happenin..

so, is it ok to break this evolution of sophistication?

answer may be, there is a period of block that every one would face in anything they do.. consider for example Writer's Block( i am tempted to say tat as a reason for long absence :) )

but, i do feel that this block which is nothing but mental burn out due to lack of interesting ideas, is the reason to look out for a change and break the evolution. we get new ideas only till we think in a zig zag manner.. once a regularity sets in, the thinking becomes guided.. its like u need to stir the pot time and again while cooking for equal distribution of heat..

change in a way is good.. it helps in re-dimensioning our perceptions which is really important for our mental hygiene..

now comes the question, is changing tasks good to be taken as a primary task or doin a regular task be a primary task..

this i guess is left for the individuals to decide...

the regular task lets u be more secure on what u do.. most of the time u would be in control of what u ought to be doing... thats lets u devote some amount of grey cells into some thing else rather than plannin stuffs .. but again the black out is round the corner so watch out..

the dynamism on the other hand will engage u a bit abnormally .. u have to constantly be aware of the ripples that u create so that they do not get back as Tsunami's! u will always be learnin new things and thinkin in new way.. but none will be ur identity..

but as it is our basic trait, we want the best of everything.. so, there is always a mix of both of these in our lives if u retrospect.. though it may not be in the proportion that we want it to be.

so it would be better if we adjudge the ratio of static and dynamic tasks and assign the priorities and work on it so that we get the proportion that we are happy with...

Promoted!

2005-04-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

I have been promoted to be Senior Software Engineer!!. I donno how i must feel but am really happy that i have climbed one step in a ladder..

This brings me to an important topic "Career".. guess it must be the most talked upon topic. so let me scribble something too..

Firstly, when i say " i wannabe this or that" .. i do not understand one thing.. does it mean that i will be happy only when i reach that "such and such" a post? i do not think so as it will be quite some time b4 i reach that spot and should i be gloomy till then?

This leads to an interesting thought.. i feel u must choose a career where in the path u take is what u like rather than the destination.. that way u'll be happy for a longer time.. but the best wuld be when both the path u take and the destination interests u..

the reason for this is that many guys may like to have a career in management .. does it mean would they hate their coding days?? i cannot answer that coz i wannabe in management ladder and i love coding !! quite a freak!

then there is this option .. do wat u like as a hobby (like what anuj does) and earn for what u hate to do!! (donno would jat like this)... waitin for ur dream job!! well thats good too !!

well this is rather a person specific topic and i cannot comment more .. let me leave u to ponder at this point!

for all poltergeist's!!!

2005-03-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

Hi guys.. long time no see ;-)

Statutory Warning: this is a long blog and may contain incomprehensible set of characters .Author also likes to mention that he may not responsible for full

contents as off - late he has seen a poltergeist roaming around.

One of the greatest debate that is applicable(guess only to Software) is - "Is Stayin late in Office healthy?"
i wish to discard the arguement that services company needs to come up with results in as little a time as possible.(will elaborate it later)

if i were to list down the possible reasons a person may stay back (including me who is typing this way after office hours) may be
i) Learn things beyond project(outside project scope)
ii) Surf net and get in tune with world outside
iii) For Gaming!!
iv) To impress the manager and to show that u r hard worker
v) Peer pressure( just b'coz ur team mates stay )
vi) really to work for ur project ( in fact it may be planned work but grossly under estimated)
vii) ppl comin late tend to go late

as i mentioned before guys(/gals) from services would say that (vi)(and some times (v) ) was the reason they stay..
Well then the real problem then lies with the work culture.. i recenty read a forward gist of which is

" Bachelor guy tends to stay long coz he thinks he has nothing outside office.. there would be no one waitin for him at home.. so he stays at office for time

pass... but managers equate this with guy's increased interest in the project and increases the expectation limit for the guy and thereby the guy had

involuntarily increased the expectation levels., same guy after marriage is forced to sit back to show that his productivity has not come down.. Victim of

his own action"

I guess thats how the evolution of this "Staying back Long" would have started..

So i feel it is the responsibility of managers to take care of staying this back business and not to give a damn if the guy stays too long. If the guy puts extra

effort in project then manager should reduce the work load to that person so that he does not have to stay back to finish it off. Whatever he does for the

sake of learnin the project would of course be indirectly reflected on his performance and so manager can disregard the extra effort put by the individual

beyond his allocated tasks but rather look at the quality in executed tasks.

(i),(ii) and (iii) will automatically be solved if the person has computer at home. i like the way Saravana( my class mate ) works.. he has got laptop(as his

workstation ).. he can carry it home and try out things he wants in a much relaxed way.. he can do reading and surfing too! and learn new things too...

i rather sort of like this idea .. take the PC back to home.. there are many tasks that we resent doing but are to be done.. one thing that i think of now is

documentation.. u can do it at home rather comfortably. think of leanin back in ur couch and listenin to ur favorite music, and havin Laptop to type in

all the junks that u want.. with some of ur family members around (or in case of bachelors, room mates or frnds of opposite sex) it would not be that

boring job ---- think of a date where in u share typing Document !! thats bliss!!

i am always late to bed.. i am used to that .. so either i read book(anything under sun but not Ayn Rand types) or chat with my room mate or watch

idiot box( i mostly end up doing this, as my room mates are poltergeists( they like to hover in office long)).. so i tend to stay late too ,to fight boredom

and also to do something meaningful..

Services guys need special mention.. i would say it is sole responsibilty of manager if a guy stays late.. they should have recruited more... one more trend

that i find is that there will always be one all knowing guy who will be required always.. such dependencies once removed, would make sharing work among all ppl and finish the tasks in time..
Since , i have no greater insight into services business, i cannot comment more..

so hi poltergeists start turnin back to humans!!

( for all those who cannot make out who poltergiest is --- poltergeist means sick soul that stays late and messes everybody else's life)

honestly, i started this blog 5 days ago and i am bit off track from my previous musings.. so i better not spoil the flow by adding anythin orthogonal ;-)

What is life?

2005-03-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

Well, firstly this posting will not relate to the title that i had given.

I feel a sort of vacant today! donno if u guys get this .. out of no reasons , u sometimes might feel gloomy!!

Let me think wat is one really upsetting thing that happened ... was it that bad coffee with a bug in it( the tea wallah said " you are a programmer, you can debug it ") !!mmmm.. ya i remember now , it must be that really gruesome accident photo that came to me as a forward..

i was no way mentally prepared to see that!! Yuk!! My only Nightmare ( its an interesting concept)

its silly as it sounds like my favorite song , my favorite color and hey this is my favorite Nightmare!!

From the time i remember , this accidental death is one thing that i fear the most.. hate it more than cockroach(?!)

its truely unfair! its ridiculous to kill someone with unnatural things.. Had there been no automobile the guy would have lived today (of course u may argue he might not even have been born) but yet the sole responsibility for his death is recent invention called Automobile... its totally unfair to say the guy drove badly.. people do make mistakes.. thats what they are meant for.. we are not robots.. the life is all it is now because of the mistakes we make.. but life is really dearer price to pay and someway, we have to stop this...

It still spoils my sleep sometimes..

well i will start with driving safely.. u guys do drive safe!

Got to drive home..wish me Luck...

Qua Qua!!

2005-03-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog. So, the first thought child has born !!!(note the phonetic in the title)

the vent for the pent up thought has been let open!!!

i feel really happy that i have now means to jot down my ramblings and ruminate it over! Guess what if u are reading this , i have a sane audience too!!