Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A Beautiful Mind - Book review and afterthoughts

A beautiful mind is the biography of a genius mathematician and Nobelist John Nash - who was at his mathematical best till thirties, then became paranoid with schizophrenia, was hospitalized, suffered shock treatments, pseudo-recovered (forced rationality on himself), was hospitalized again and again, recovered fully with passage of time, and was awarded the Nobel at the age of 58 for his work on game theory that he had done in his late-twenties - and now continues to work in the field of mathematics. Meanwhile, he also had a child, married (at 29), had another child, divorced, and re-married (with the same woman at the age of 60).

What a life. And what a mind. Really beautiful. All geniuses are somewhat insane, but this one beat insanity with a concious effort - and - without medication. (he gave up all psychotic treatment at 42). He himself, with the power of his will alone, very carefully avoided delirius thoughts from coming to his mind. To exert such a control over one's own brain must have required tremendous strength and will power. Hats off. Hats off for his wife as well. Alicia had such great belief in this man's genius, that even after getting divorced, she remained with him.

So the question that obviously comes to our un-genius-not-so-beautiful-minds is that is it really possible to control mental illness with the mind itself while it itself is sick? i think we are in an infinite loop here - control your own mind with your own mind by programming your own mind to function properly using your own mind - when it is going out of control. Guess i'll now stop writing in case my own mind goes out of its premises...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

India and Olympics - why cant we?

Kudos Mr. Abhinav Bindra. You showed the world what can be done when a capable individual sets off determinedly to achieve something. But why cant our country of a billion people excel in sports overall? Here's my analysis -

1) Ours is a poor developing nation, so expecting the government to spend loads of money in sports will be thought of as extravagancy (not that corruption or heavy military expenses are justified) - we dont put much funds even in science, technology, r & d, etc - a trend which is slowly changing though - sports would be the last thing they can allocate national funds to. Imagine what would happen if we had our film industry run by public sector.

2) In our country, from early childhood we are fed science and maths textbooks. We have a saying - "padhoge likhoge banoge nawab, kheloge koodoge banoge kharab". This mentality needs to be changed - actually rooted out. Lets hope our generation achieves it.

3) Like they did to cricket this year, privatization can be done in all kind of sports. India can definitely produce champions in all games. Maybe reality TV shows can help here..anyways music/dance/acting talent hunt shows have reached saturation. Maybe we need a Gajendra Singh for sports as well.

4) India can do it. High time it starts...n then i hear they are including chess from 2016 Olympics..we'll be definitely much better off then :-)

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Getting bored on a wednesday afternoon...

Getting bored is the worst kind of humiliation one can offer oneself - of course its not me who has said this..but some other greater personality (ha!).

Coming to think of it, its really the worst mortification that one doesnt have the ability to entertain oneself..but still everyone keeps getting bored everytime. So some write blogs - and when they have nothing to write, then too they just keep writing. Like i have got loads of work to do, but since i dont feel like doing it, so i m writing.....crap!

Some people say work is fun (i'd really like to meet such people). In this respect, one has to agree with Mark Twain - Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and...Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. That makes me wonder whether players, actors, singers, etc also get bored of their work. Guess they must be more frustrated than bored..thats y so many of them r also blogging :-) and actually using their blogs to gain publicity and fight their frustration off with so-called rivals - its really ironic that they want to avoid media and connect directly to their fans via their blogs, but ultimately its the media that is gaining the most...what AB writes in his blog is the latest page 3 headline, that AK named his dog shahrukh is all over gossip magazines and news channels.

So the point is, blogging is surely a near perfect away to pass time, express or explain yourself and in some cases, gain publicity. That ways, i m dying to read Rakhi Sawant / Mallika Sherawat / Sidhhu / Sajid Khan's blogs. May God give them the wisdom to start blogging soon - what better way to pass time than reading them :-)

Monday, August 4, 2008

The Promise (Short Story)

Its the last day of school. Sanya is sitting in her classroom sharing memories with her friends when suddenly her maths teacher Ms. Beck approaches her with a puzzled look.
"Ms. Thomas left for Delhi a few days back. She gave me this packet before leaving and asked to give it to you on your last day of school. Said she had promised this to you years back.....if you dont mind...whats the story? I mean I know Ms. Thomas is pretty attached to her students, but never before have I seen her do something like this.."
<Sanya's flashback>
Its the last day of primary school. Sanya goes to her headmistress' office to collect her report card. She's got third rank in her class this time - improvement from last year's fifth. Ms. Thomas is pleased with her progress but worried about her future.
<Ms. Thomas' flashback>
Annual day celebration preparations are going on. Sanya is standing in a corner of her classroom watching people silently. The dance teacher is very worried. The lead singer of her dance's playback is sick...who will she substitute with only 5 days to go? Enter Ms. Thomas.
"Ms. Rose, looks like you have'nt got a substitute singer yet...Sanya, come here..what are you doing just standing there? Cant you tell Ms. Rose you can sing? How will she get to know without you telling her for heaven's sake? Here...Ms. Rose, your problem's solved."
2 days later. Ms. Rose is worried again, its one of her dancers this time. This one's a real trouble - she could have managed without a singer...but what would she do without a dancer? She decides to ask Ms. Thomas, if she could help with a singer, she might as well know about a dancer.
"Ms. Thomas, problem again, one of our dancers has backed off. Do you know if anyone can replace her?"
"Well...lets try with your group of singers, they've been watching the practice sessions closely, maybe one of them can pick up the dance steps."
"You are right Ms. Thomas, I think its the best we can do with only 3 days in hand. Lets ask all of them to show whatever steps they've picked up so far."
Each singer from the band tries one by one. As always, Sanya is last one to come forward. And when she does, Ms. Rose is dumbfound. How could Sanya copy all steps without ever actually doing them before?
</Ms. Thomas' flashback>
"Sanya, my child. Here's your report card. So, now you'll be moving to high school...all set?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Sanya, before you go, there is something I need to tell you. Promise me you will try to live up to it."
"Yes ma'am. Promise."
"So, listen carefully. If you know something, you've got to tell it to the world yourself. Nobody is going to discover it by themselves. If you dont speak up for yourself, nobody else would. First you have to show the world what you have got, earn people's respect, their praise and then they will start recognising you. I know you are good, but thats not enough - you yourself should know it first, then show the world what you're worth. Thats called confidence, and thats what you need to build up. Got my point?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. So if you keep up your promise Sanya, there will be gift waiting for you when you leave school to achieve greater heights. And, mind you, you are third this time, you've got to be at the top that day."
</Sanya's flashback>

Sanya is all tears. Ms. Beck gives her the packet. Sanya opens the gift wrap with trembling fingers. And inside is a set of Parker pens.
All Sanya can manage to say is "Ms. Beck, I kept my promise, and Ms. Thomas kept hers."

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Is life a flashback?

Sometimes i get this weird thought...one day when i'll be very very old....i'll be sitting in a rocking chair on my terrace garden, thinking nothing (for a change) and then suddenly i'll realize....life has come full circle...today past meets present!! so this was the past....the flashback of my life (or the flashback of the life i dreamt??) - and i wont be myself then - > that is, i wasnt myself all along my life - > that is, i am not myself now - > that is, this is all a dream - > that is, i am actually living my dream (!) - > that is, that day, i'll meet reality - > that is, this is all unreal (maufactured maybe - by the real me) - > so which is really the real me????

(i've already mentioned this blog is gonna be full of crap..if u're still interested....read on)

Like they show in Indian mythological television shows - we've got some god telling his wife.."you are not aware...in such and such incarnation, i was so and so and you had this role to play then, currently i am going down to earth to play another role and you too will come after sometime"....and the wife still doesnt know what exactly is her role going to be this time. She goes to the earth, plays her part, comes back and then this fellow will tell her....."you know what were you in the previous incarnation?"...and again..the poor thing's clueless.

In the same fashion, could it be that we ourselves have made up our roles? But..oh..please...dont let it be that someone else has written my script...i want to be myself yaar...or least what i want myself to be...or is it what i am dreaming...or is it just happening, without any plan/purpose/role/script whatsoever...there i go again...just plain confused....to be or not to be....are you too?

Friday, August 1, 2008

Nothing is absolute


When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity. (an explanation of relativity which Albert Einstein gave to his secretary Helen Dukas to convey to non-scientists and reporters)

Theory of relativity applies everywhere. Not only in the laws of physics, but every damn thing is the world is relative..the grass is greener at the other side; success does not count unless one is more successful than one's neighbor; happiness and sorrow are also measured by comparison...its always about being fastER, highER, strongER - better - better than the best - bester than the bestest - its limitless.

Even morals can be relative. Dr Isaac Asimov once said (and i agree to it) - "Never let your sense of morals stop you from doing what is right" - so if one wants to do what (s)he thinks is right, then relative to the situation ethics change. Honesty is the best policy - but is it? is it always correct to be honest whatever the circumstances be? doesnt dishonesty become the best policy at times? We say the Sun rises from the east - but does it? Isnt it the earth that rotates from west to east? A mother gives birth to a child - but wait - isnt it a child that gives birth to a mother? Theft is immoral - but is it really? even when Robin Hood is the thief?

Perspectives matter. Opinions matter. Situations matter. Justifications matter. Contradictions do not exist - but are there some exceptions here as well??? ;)