Anand's Blog

A Long Shot

2011-03-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

I was under the impression that nuclear power was mature enough to be considered safe. unfortunately, I was wrong like many other advocates of what was thought to be a clean source of energy. The on going Japanese disaster should make countries think twice before expanding their civilian nuclear capabilities.

Fossil fuels cause steady damage to the environment. We perhaps have a tendency to let the next generation take care of their problems. It cannot be so when there is a disaster at a nuclear plant. It causes immediate and sustained damage to thousands. Even if we evacuate nearby populations, what about lives of the hundreds of thousands of animals, at times like these especially, we don't care about? I needn't recall the damage we did to marine life during the Gulf Oil disaster last year. It is wrong to treat the earth like a business in dilution.

If there is a time people in powerful positions, keeping aside their selfish ambitions just for a little while, should consider investing in forms of energy which do not affect our environment, it is now. Solar and wind are excellent examples of clean energy. Manufacturing and installing solar panels and wind turbines is a one time cost which is insignificant compared to the pollution they can not cause. In hot countries, heat from the sun could be concentrated to boil water and run turbines.

One of the biggest reasons for pollution is that we travel and move goods. It is for us that oil companies have gone to the extent of digging up ocean floors. The cost of fuel when we include the damage it causes (yes some people have tried to calculate it), is about 5 times what we pay currently. We need a better transportation infrastructure. Battery technologies have to improve. Charging stations need to gradually replace gas stations. Moving stored electricity needs to be made cheaper than moving dirty fuel and an inefficient engine. Electric vehicles should dominate our streets.

Electric vehicles are useless if they use electricity generated using fossil fuels. That may work out to be even more inefficient. This movement must start with our generation (yes, pun intended :-))

I cannot stop thinking that a good kickstart would be a weapon that is powered by solar or wind energy. Governments will invest billions to run ahead of each other in getting better. In the end they will all decide to restrict use for only civilian purposes.

Then there will be world peace.

Electrical Engineering and us

2009-09-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Was watching a program on Discovery about creation of low and high tides. Moon's gravitational 'field' pulls surface water up as it rotates. Rotating field; something moving; and lag between the two: that's SO MUCH like a synchronous motor!
The next step is to compare the torque equations....gr...won't get to that.

We Indians in the US are like diodes. We stick by the golden rule of (try to) 'be an American in America'. (I know the actual rule is 'be a Roman in Rome' - heck, I just changed it). When we are on a visit to our wonderful homeland we forget we should be 'Indians in India'. We still (perhaps more so) compare things to things American!

Given a set of parallel resistances, electric current proportionally flows more through the smaller ones. If we increase the resistance to states of mind we don't prefer (anger, tension, jealousy etc) we can ease through the preferred path of least resistance known as happiness :-)

Hardware OR Software please

2009-05-29T00:58:00.000-07:00

What's with these people who buy expensive digital slrs, take ordinary pictures, modify them in photoshop and boast all around!

Either buy an ordinary camera and use the softwares, or buy a good camera and take good pictures!

of shopping carts, mirrors, phone, coffee, ears and birthdays...

2009-05-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Men push around shopping carts like how they want to drive a car. Sudden brakes, spot u-turns and turns so sharp the wheels almost lift off - everything they don't want to (can't) with a real one :)

I am a little narcissistic. Don't ask when left alone with a mirror - best time to check out the smiles, the blushes and the teeth.

Things change when I see a mirror in public. Coming down that escalator in the shopping mall - mirrors all around - I know I want to check my smile but end up with an emotionless face (damn the people around who ALL are waiting to see what I do).

A neat little trick: I talk on the cellphone, or atleast listen to voicemails. Smile, laugh or whatever - I just make sure the phone is on the ear. People now wouldn't think I am crazy guy smiling at myself. (What! No one actually looks at me? And I am not the only one this happens with? Phew!)

Engaged tone, voicemail box we don't want to speak into, dropped call or simply getting hung up on. Why do we end up looking at the handset quizzically before hanging up, as if it has got something to do with it? :-)

Coffee never tastes the same.

Brains interpretation of coffee's taste = f(mood, level of tiredness,

temperature, coffee's actual taste).

Imagine having a very small stage - say size of a match box. Take tiny singers (with really loud voices) and miniature instruments (again really loud) and place them on the stage. Now, take this stage and place it right inside the center of your head and ask the musicians to perform.

That's how it feels when we listen to music on headphones. Coming out right from the center of the head. That's not how things are supposed to sound. Ears are so wonderfully designed, we have this ability to sense where the sound is originating from. Its, for me, equivalent to having three dimensional vision because of two eyes. I prefer actual speakers. They don't fool my brain to think someone is sitting inside my most critical organ.

Why don't people sing the Happy Birthday song as soon as a baby is born? Isn't that the real happy Birthday? :)

How we try to be the boss

2009-03-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

People like to feel empowered. They want to order things around. On the job, at home...well everywhere. Ofcourse, leading such a lifestyle will probably take away the chance to lead such a lifestyle! (Read: no job; old and single).

Here is where the poor remote control comes to rescue.

We all like to stretch our arms out while operating this piece of magic. I think it subconsiouly makes us feel we are ordering somebody around ('Hey TV, I don't like this. Now show me something else' and there you press the button). Or it simply means we are dumb to not know that it works equally fine sitting on our lap.

Did you just forget your favorite show? Never worry. Quickly grab that remote and press the button fast and hard. Every millisecond saved is worth it! Though, invariably its an ad they show.

Sometimes we discover it works even when pointed to the other direction. Time to play! How about if I do this? Okay....This? Wow, and try this everyday.

And sometimes the TV doesn't respond to its master's command (no one likes to listen always). Gently flick the remote or tap on it a few times and it works like wonder. The obvious analogy is beating your kid!

Lazy and tired and just sat on your 'slave'? Stay put...you know it can withstand. The best form of relaxation for an officegoer is getting back home to sit on that couch and control that tv! Or atleast thats what is on mind when we think about taking a break.

There are these latest remotes which light up if you hold them. The makers wanted to create a sycophant version and there you have it. But I wonder if the 'universal remote controllers' really sell. When we can so much with one RC, imagine having one for the dvd player and one more for the set top box. Isn't that a mini-fantasy coming true?!

Jai Ho!

2009-02-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Have never felt happier seeing someone win an award. AR Rahman! I salute you!

April

2009-02-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

Day 3:
It was during my interview with Toshiba in Houston, TX last year. My phone kept ringing every now and then. Though I didn't recognize the number I was sure where the calls were from.
It’s a 100 mile drive from College Station to Houston. Just before setting off all dressed up to meet the people in Toshiba I sent this email to the head of a small but upcoming company in Chicago:
"My professor wants me to work on my thesis during the summer as there are some deadlines to be met. That, very unfortunately, makes me unavailable for the internship. Sorry about conveying this so late as I myself got a clear picture only today. I will call you up tomorrow to discuss this."

Day 2:
It was one of the happier days in my worst year ever. I got offers to intern from 2 companies (one being Intersil, the other an Austin, TX based company).
I pondered, "Tomorrow is the interview with Toshiba. The day after, I have to fly to Chicago for this other interview. Two days after that I have a paper submission deadline." No bad news here but I knew I was still going to get screwed.
I pondered more, "Do I really have to go all the way to Chicago? Can't I work on the paper instead? What do I tell him? The truth? No way. That will sound rude." I was running out of time and had to come up with something.

Day 1:
I get e-tickets to fly to Chicago for a short interview. Free flights are always fun. Just like free food.

Day 3:
After the Toshiba interview got over, I called back. Of course didn't have a pleasant conversation. He demanded I pay him for the ticket. He threatened to file a complaint with the Career Center at Texas A&M Univ! He was also going to speak to my prof!
“What’s going on! What have I gotten myself into!”
I rushed from Houston to College Station and met with the career center people just before closing time. Sent this later in the evening and didn't hear back:
"Sorry that the events had to turn out this way. Here's what really happened:
I got an offer from another company yesterday and I most probably will accept that. I was ignorant of the American system where I learnt (after talking to the Career Center at Texas A&M today) it’s perfectly okay to tell another employer of my offers from other companies. It certainly won't work that way in India and I was stuck to that mentality. Hence I cooked up a story that I will be unavailable for the summer as my professor had work for me.
It would have been very easy for me to come all the way to Chicago to attend the interview and then say no once/if I get an offer. I chose to call you to cancel the interview only with the intention to save your money and time.
I am copying the mail to my professor and the Career Center. I profusely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience."
Sorry India!

no present like time...no time like present...

2009-02-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

I clearly remember that day when Anil Kumble took those 10 wickets. It was a Sunday and we were in my uncle's place in Avadi, Chennai. A run of the mill family visit turned into a wild sporting celebration.

And I read this: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/389554.html .
I couldn't digest that it was 10 years back! Phew! - thats how fast time has flown away. This is not a feeling I like. Life should be slow. I don't want to read an article on Cricinfo in whichever funky form on whichever funky gadget it is in when I am fifty and think 'what! was that 35 years back?!'.

There is this terrible irony: have an exciting life and read more such stuff on Cricinfo, or have a less exciting yet seemingly longer life.

Happy to be an engineer

2009-01-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

Fact: Chandrayaan didn't drop a big chunk of earth's money in the moon.

More Fact: All the money in the world is still in the world.

Then why the hell is there an economic crisis?

Lesson: Economics is tougher than electric machines.

Prey

2008-11-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

Young people in India ruthlessly spend a big proportion of their monthly salary on buying cellphones. Imagine someone spending $3000 on a cellphone in the US! Thats the kind of proportion I am talking about.

A cellphone is like the thing that defines them.
They become inseparable body parts.
Phone model numbers are engraved on finger tips.
The next set of astrologers are being taught to tell about a person by looking at his/her cellphone.

Cellphone makers can't cell just phones anymore. They need to cell them as fancy displays, touchscreens, MP3 players and cameras. Their customers are simply preys to these tactics!

What's the point!

2008-10-06T14:55:00.001-07:00

Why is there a Sun?
Why are there galaxies?
Why is there an earth and why are we here?

Why are there senses?
Why are there emotions?
Why is there love and why is there hatred?

What are atoms?
What are cells?
Why is there life and why is there death?

What's simply the point?

All of our actions are ultimately headed towards answering these questions. I think the world will end the day we find out the answers because there will be nothing else to live for.

Flatpormed

2008-08-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

A light rail station is a funny place.

Its 8 am in the morning. The crowd starts to pool in.

There are always people who miss the train by a whisker. They run up the stairs, forget all other worries they ever had, fight with the ticket vending machine, only to see the doors close exactly when the ticket comes out. Sheesh.

They now have to spend the next 15 minutes right there. Some decide to speak over the phone now. Invariable these people walk up and down the platform. Some are hooked to songs in their ipod. Some gaze emptily at the tracks, realize there is nothing new and head back to what they were (not) doing. Some guys wear jeans so tight seeing only their legs you would think there were girls. There are a few who decide to simply sit out and wait. There is always at least one person who is new to the station. He heads straight to the information board and draws imaginary lines with his hands to figure out when the next train is.

At this time a train in the opposite direction arrives. Only a couple of people are inside. Its office time dude...no one travels the other direction. But there is always, again, at least one person on this station who takes that train. Some people wonder where he is headed. Now and then, a kid hurriedly wakes up from sleep to find he slept through his destination station. As he gets off, he tries to look as though that never happened!

This is the longest 15 minutes some people have ever had. As time trickles away the next train comes from nowhere. Irrespective of who they are, where they are from, what they do, the feeling is the same: Yippie! As it approaches they see people running up the stairs. Haha I was there!

Some guys trying to look cool are seated till the last moment. They are not in a hurry. They are cool. They will board the train last. They are cool. They somehow feel everyone is looking at them! They are cool.

20% of the waiters forget that the train stops in the other half of the long platform. Damn. They run only to realize they never had to. The train stops long enough anyway.

Such an insignificant place and so much activity. Life's like that.

Sivaji - The Toss!

2007-06-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

I am not very good at writing. My blogging frequency shows that:) I keyed my previous blog just to preserve some nice memories. Alas! Life is full of contradictions. I am posting my next blog for something I do not wish to remember:)

Ladies and gentlemen, the highly hyped and ridiculous at best 'Sivaji'!

Rajini is carried away by police, his face covered in black cloth, his voice sounding bass(god knows why). I was expecting a dramatic Rajini intro. I somehow had imagined Rajini will first appear in the movie when SPB starts to sing 'Kaveri aarum...'. I didn't get the intro I wanted and I had to wait for the song. The transition from the disco to the fields was very abrupt. Also, I didn't like girls walking down the ramp as though they were on sale!

Our hero then sees our herione (a tamizh ponnu) in a temple(how new to tamil cinema). KV Anand blurred some parts of the frame here and that looked quite good.

The rest of the first half is scenes of Sivaji's family trying to 'mingle' with Shreya's family interlaced with scenes of Rajini trying to estabish his Sivaji Foundation. Poor and a little foolish him(which sane man will ever invest everything from his house to wrist watch), he ends up losing everything he has. Mastermind: Adiseshan, the villian.

Our hero is left with only a rupee now to get all his back. Ends the first half.

Start the second half and the most ridiculous scene (till then) of the movie arrives. Rajini calls a meeting of all auditors, car drivers & servants in Tamil Nadu who are so great in number that they fill an entire auditorium of the size of a basketball court! They are beaten up to disclose details of their bosses. What the hell is wrong with you director?(Oh ya...he's the worst of all the technicians in the movie). Auditors are highly qualified professionals. Please don't make such a mockery out of them.

I thought the fight scenes till this point were gripping and Shankar showed his brilliance with that fight in the drive-in theater. What action sequences! What graphics! I have seen similar ones on Cartoon Network, Pogo and the movie Cars.

Neo in The Matrix knew how to defy computer set rules. Why do you want to copy that illogically in all your movies Mr. Shankar?

But everything in the movie wasn't bad. Rajini's get ups as Sivaji Ganesan, MGR and Kamal really rocked. The Athiradi song following those rocked even more! The picturization of this song was the best amongst all. I also loved the scene where Livingston says "Yenna koduma Saravan ithu!"

Back to the story(story?): So all goes well and our hero builds an empire using his database of blackmoney holders stored in his voice activated laptop.

Time for a twist. The laptop reaches the cops who try to find out what he holds in that. So they bring three comic characters (who have never heard him speak) to mimic Sivaji's voice. All of them fail and the computer, after shouting a few things in tamil, goes self-destructing. How can they now stop The Boss!

I am not going to divulge the climax - the senselessestttt part of the movie. Doctors will agree.

The real star of the movie is the Rajini-Vivek pair. Vivek was at his best throughout the movie and the whole theater roared with laughter for all his one liners. There is nothing else in the movie. Shreya is only for the movie's songs. I really can't remember any other character. I hate to say this, but, Rahman should have done a better job. The songs don't make you come back to them like ALL his earlier ones.

AVMs thinktank must have realized this movie won't run like Chandramukhi. Thats why they have gone in for such multiple releases so they can get all the money back 'using' people's initial craze. I lost $15 too:(

I like singing. I am going to sing a song to end this post. Thanks for reading! Do visit my blog once in a year...I might have something new:)

"Oru Koodai Sunlight
Oru Koodai Moonlight
Oru Koodai Poovai
Yen(/Yane) kaathil suthivitaaye!"

The Comic Trip

2006-05-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

SCENE I
Date: May 19th
Time: 6.30 PM

Gulp and I entered Venky's house. Nitin was sitting in that same position - that same sofa near the entrance - only that this time it was Venky's place and not KKs. After a little wait for Mr. VK, who was late as usual, we set off to the boarding station - KPN office in T Nagar. Sweaty and sticky already, we were relieved to find a huge almonard fan doing its rounds. The five of us surrounded it completely leaving no air for the other people waiting. I suggested VK use his VK-fan to help the others. Thankfully, he was out of stock.

SCENE II
Date: May 19th
Time: 8.00 PM

Inside the bus to Kodaikanal. We were back benchers again after a long time. AFter the little usual fight between Nitin and Gulp as to who takes the window seat, we settled for this final seating arrangement:

(Window) Gulp - Nitin VK - Stranger 3(window)
(Window) Venky - Me Stranger 1 - Stranger 2(Window)

It was Gulp's birthday the next day and we had decided to throw a surprise party, planning for which started more than a week ago. We wanted to make it her best b'day ever and so decided to get her a Tea cake which she would cut in the bus! WOW! It was nearing 12 AM and we were getting ready for the extravagant party. Meanwhile, VK kept saying Stranger 1 and Stranger 2 are sure shot mollamaarees. I brushed him off asking him not to speak like that about others. I had the cake with me and was trying to light a candle on it. Unfortunately, the bus was going pretty fast, the windows were open and lighting the candle became impossible. I closed Venky's window and somehow had to close Gulp's. How do I do it? I came up with this foolproof idea. "Hey Gulp close that window know, I am feeling very cold". It was only 35 degrees outside. Nitin and Gulp gave me a 'What the hell is wrong with him' look and continued their conversation(surely about boring books and sirikaveikira Seinfeld). Thanks to Venky, we managed to light the candle and it was HAPPY BIRTHDAY GULP!!!

SCENE III
Date: May 20th
Time: 12.30 AM

It was time to sleep. I was wearing my blue track suits and had a feeling my wallet was going to fall down. So decided to keep it in my air-bag which I had near my legs. Gulp gave hers too. It was good night everybody.

SCENE IV:
Date: May 20th
Time: 9.30 AM

Arrival at Kodai. Arrives Mr. Mani. He was a local tour operator. We decided to goto the Berijum Lake tour, which he said was ideal only for youngsters like us. Each had to pay 150 bucks and I decided to make the initial payment. I opened my air bag and put my hand inside. Gulps wallet came out. No, not this I thought. I put my hand inside again - there was only the pack of cards and the tennis ball I had brought. I searched my pockets. I searched inside the bus. I searched everywhere.
My purse was gone.
VK quipped, "I told you those two were sure shot mollamaarees". Those two were nowhere in sight. Mr. Mani was waiting for the payment. Venky gave him 500 bucks and we were given a free taxi ride to our hotel.

SCENE V
Date: May 20th
Time: 10.30 AM

The LnT guest house was simply superb. Since it was a company guest house which Gulp had booked through her uncle(who works for the company), We were to tell them we were all cousins. The caretaker asked us in whose name the stay was registered. Nitin promptly shouted "Sister Gulp". The caretaker confirmed, "Mister Gulp?" We all burst into laughter and from then on GUlp became known as Mister Gulp.

I lied down on the bed of one of the two rooms we had rented, unable to believe my bad luck. It was a new wallet my parents had presented for me to take to the US. I made a call home and reported the theft. Initially I told them I had lost around 500 bucks, then 600, then 700+. They kinda understood my position. Dad later called up and said, "Son, I think it was only because of the purse we presented. It didn't have luck." I wiped that trickling tear off my cheeks feeling thankful for having such great parents.

SCENE VI:
Date: May 20th
Time: 3.45 PM

Mr. Mani had promised us a Sumo of our own. It was to arrive at our guest house at 3. We were already almost an hour late. VK was waiting down with a towel tying his broken left arm(or putting VS - Vethu Scene).

The Sumo was there at last. We got a little furious seeing four people already in it. We decided to take the trip after a little arugement with the driver, Brother.

Our first destination was a 500 year old tree. We felt more furious. We were convinced for sure: this ain't a trip meant only for youngsters. We learnt from the driver that this was the 'Picnic' Tour and not the Berijum Lake Trip at all. VK called up Mr. Mani and demanded justice. First, we didn't have our own Sumo, second, we were being taken for a ride, to someother place. God knows how even Mr. Mani knew it was easy to bulb VK. He cut the phone purposely during the conversation.

Things got settled and we decided to take the trip we were currently on(against VKs wishes of going to the police) and it ended up being one hell of a trip, thanks to Brother. We were accompanied by a nice family, who too had gone to TADA falls!

All is well that ends well. It was actually a great day, except for my purse loss and VKs...... towel loss.

SCENE VII:
Date: May 21st
Time: 2.00 AM

Nitin and I are were watching the final crucial overs of the India Vs West Indies Match. Suddenly, there was a pop-up window on the TV screen which said "Alliance Cable Company owes someone some money." We waited and waited, it didn't go. I can't believe we watched the rest of the match sitting like 'nuts' looking only at the score card at the bottom.

We also went for another tour this day and most importantly were treated by Mr. Gulp at Woodland Enterprises owned, Woodys restaurant.

Venky had to leave a day earlier coz of his ADOBE interview. It was evening soon and it was Bye Bye Venkye.

SCENE VIII:
Date: May 22nd

It was the final day of our tour. After 'Water Cycling'(pedal boating) in the lake and my treat, again at Woodys, we realized it was going to be comedy time again. Venky was incharge of booking our tickets. He told us our tickets were confirmed and had left. When we checked with the KPN office in Kodai, we were told our booking was only for the next day. It was time we became furious again. Thanks to Nitins excellent arguing and negotiating skills we got tickets from one Mr. Mario who was there to return his tickets.

Tempers cooled down and we boarded the bus back to Chennai(it was the same bus we took from chennai, and we got the same back seats!). Realizing it was no use searching for the lost wallet again, VK, Gulp and me conversed almost through the night realizing we might never get time to be together again. Nitins snore gave company to the bus' engine.