A jolting view

There is this scary-looking man that I see in the bus. His scalp has turned orange, as if by some chemical poisoning or daily usage of iodine antiseptic swabs. He looks lost in his own world.

I was in the college campus when I saw him sorting trash from the trashcan marked landfill. He had a plastic bag with him containing leftover food that he collected from the trashcan. Seeing poverty shakes you up, but seeing it in a country which otherwise flaunts opulence shakes you further.

Krishna Lunch has started serving food in steel plates. Which means that the students have to throw their leftovers elsewhere before they return the steel plates for washing. Contacted Krishna Lunch volunteers if they can have a separate plastic container to collect food. At least the man I saw wont have to pick food off trashcans. :( 

A better Mux layout for 2:1 Non-inverting mux

One keeps learning from mistakes. This is a better mux layout than the previous one. I used Euler method to get sequence of gates such that I can use only 1 active region.
The chosen gate sequence is in0-in1-sel-selb.

Modified schematic: modified ordering of inputs

This could potentially be faster because inputs are closer to the output.

Better layout using Euler method to order inputs

Agnipath: a reality check

Saw the movie Agneepath with friends yesterday. A good plot, and excellent acting. Though that does not prevent you from being horrified. Right at the start, three 12-year old boys rape their classmate. 12-year old! If cinema is a mirror of the society in general, is this the society we want our kids to grow up in? The gaaonvale are quick to execute the benign master, but no one raises a finger against the antagonist, who publicly hangs people. And yes, there is no police station in the gaon. The worst is yet to come.. human trafficking of underage girls, and auctioning them off.

Just yesterday, I was reading about illegal immigration from Mexico into the US. In the movie, Hrithik doesnt chide his girlfriend for employing Nepali girls in her beauty parlour. My roommates dint see anything wrong with this. According to them, those Nepali women are in the quest of a better future. It is good that they got a job under a sober person rather than turning to prostitution. I remembered a comment I had read earlier..it is not the US government's duty to feed these illegal immigrants. If poverty is the root cause for trafficking, it should be dealt with locally than burdening their well-to-do neighbouring countries. .

India faces a 2-way brunt. Women and children are trafficked into the country and forced to serve some perverts and paedophiles. I remember a documentary seen in school about paedophiles molesting kids in Goa. Similarly poor people are lured with false promises of a high paying job as nannies/ butlers in the Middle East and there they lead a life of forced servitude. Further search led me to some reports on the Sonagchi area in W. Bengal. Reading the comments written on these sites by Indian males was so repulsive.

Any solution? The Agneepath master could have forbade all the students- girls/ guys to enter school after-hours. We need to have better laws with severe punitive actions against pimps, madams and coyotes. The real solution is to identify those sex-starved perverts and paedophiles, and imprison/ institutionalize them. But in a country like India, it could be easy to get away with crimes like these because of loopholes in the state laws. Hence, the likes of Goa government need to wake up..the future of the children should be a higher priority than worrying about losing tourism revenue due to bad publicity. And, in fact the harm is already done. UK has blacklisted tourism to Goa post Scarlett Keating murder. Most importantly, we need to shed that chalata-hai attitude. This blazing path may char those few honest and brave feet, but will make the life's journey easier for multitudes. 

ISKCON

वाढदिवसाच्या सुमारास तरी निदान देवदर्शन करावं असा हेतू / मन्नत. इथलं एकुलतं एक मंदिर  म्हणजे ISKCON मंदिर घरापासून २२ मैल दूर. गेल्या वर्षी जायचं ठरलं तेव्हा College senior ने सांगितलं की University जवळच्या कृष्ण house मार्फत मंदिरात घेऊन जायची व्यवस्था आहे. या वर्षी सुद्धा मी कृष्ण house च्या Ride Co-ordinator  शी संपर्क साधला. तर त्याने मला दुपारी ३.३० ला पोहोचायला सांगितलं.  तेव्हा २.३० वाजले असतील, मी बाहेर होते, दुपारचं जेवण देखील झालं नव्हतं. इथे बस रविवारी दर तासाला असते. म्हणजे पुढची बस ३.३० ला निघून मी ४ ला कृष्ण house ला पोहोचले असते. मी त्याला माझ्यासाठी थांबायला सांगितलं. तो बोलला की इतरांना थांबायला सांगणं काही जमणार नाही त्यामुळे मी पुढच्या रविवारी यावं. 

अजून तरी कोणी मन्नत postpone केल्याचं ऐकिवात नाही. मी माझ्या मित्रांना सायकल मागितली. दोघांची सायकल चोरीला गेलेली. एका मित्राची सायकल माझ्या घराखालीच लावलेली. एक महिना तिला कोणी पाय पण न लावलेला. बाकी लोकांकडे सायकल नाही म्हणून मी सहज बघते तो काय! त्या सायकल मध्ये बऱ्यापैकी हवा होती. मग मित्राकडे किल्ली मागितली आणि खाश्या स्वाऱ्या सायकल वरून निघाल्या. अर्ध्या वाटेला पोहोचेपर्यंत ३.३० होत आले होते. 

college मध्ये असताना प्रोफेसर आमच्याशी तुसडेपणानी वागायचे. जणू काही त्यांच्या गावीच नव्हतं की college विद्यार्थ्यांमुळे चालतं,  प्रोफेसरांमुळे नाही. ज्या मुलांसाठी college बनवलंय ती मुलंच college च्या वाईट publicity मुळे college मध्ये दाखल झाली नाही तर ना college राहील ना प्रोफेसरांची नोकरी. इथे पण मला तोच attitude दिसला. ज्या भक्तांसाठी गाडी ठरवायची त्या भक्तांनाच येऊ नका म्हणलं तर कसं! मनात म्हणलं की गाडी त पोहोचल्यावर बाकी लोकांना विचारलं पाहिजे की खरच त्यांना ५ मिनिट थांबायला काही त्रास होता का. आणि खरच इतकी भक्ती असेल की ५ मिनिट देखील थांबवत नसेल तर अश्या भक्तांना इतरांच्या भक्तीचा आदर पण असायला हवा. 

एव्हाना मी बरीच दमले होते. एकतर सायकल मध्ये त्यामानाने हवा कमी होती. वरून त्याची chain अलगद ना फिरता अडकून अडकून आचके देऊन फिरत होती. ही कोणती प्रेरणा आहे की मी आज सायकल चालवते आहे? कोणत्या प्रेरणेने मला ही सायकल बघावीशी वाटली! बस उपलब्ध असताना मला श्रम करत जावंसं वाटतंय असं काय खास आहे त्या देवळात? कोणत्या अन्तः प्रेरणेने दर वर्षी वारकरी शेकडो मैल चालत जातात. मनात अनेक प्रश्न. मी सुमारे ३.३६ ला तिथे पोहोचले आणि आम्ही निघालो. 

ISKCON च्या ख्याती प्रमाणे अतिशय जोरात चाललेल्या भजनावर लोक नाचायला लागले. उद्वेगाने कानावर हात ठेवले, पुन्हा मनात आलं, की भारतात होत नाहीत का जोर-जोरात कीर्तनं? की वारीत लोक रिंगण वगैरे करताना नाचत नाहीत? मग इथे येऊनच मी मनाची कवाडं उघडी ना ठेवता का Conclusions काढते आहे. तासाभराने Open  House सुरु झालं. यंदा भारतीय वक्ता होता, श्रोते सुद्धा active participants होते. श्रोत्यांकडून प्रभुपादांच्या कथांचा उल्लेख चर्चेच्या अनुषंगाने आला. मी नव्याने आले म्हणून मला भगवद्गीतेची एक प्रत देण्यात आली. मग प्रसाद आणि मग परतीचा प्रवास.

प्रवासात देखील संवाद रंगला होता. आमच्या अमेरिकन माताजींच्या मते गीता As it is समजून घेतली पाहिजे == प्रभूपादांच version तेच सर्वोत्तम. जसं की माताजींनी म्हणलं की "धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे" चा अर्थ काही लोक शरीर असं लावतात, आणि गीता ही एक allegory मानतात.  माझ्या मते संस्कृत मध्ये एकाच शब्दांचे अनेक अर्थ असतात. प्रत्येकाला जो अर्थ कळतो/ भावतो त्याप्रमाणे तो त्याचा अर्थ लावतो. त्यामुळे आपण जितके वेगवेगळे versions वाचू तितकं चांगलं.  काही दिवसांपूर्वी इथे Community सत्यनारायण पूजा झाली होती. तेव्हा पुजाऱ्याने "स्नेह" या शब्दाचे अर्थ सांगितले. देवाला तूप वहायचं या पेक्षा देवाला प्रेम अर्पण करायचं हे मला जास्त पटलं होतं. तसंच आत्ताही  मला हा शरीर allegory वाला अर्थ खूपच मार्मिक आणि योग्य वाटला. 

रात्री घरी आल्यावर गीता वाचण्यास उघडली. आठवलं की माझी क्रिस्ती roommate रोज पानभर तरी बायबल वाचल्याशिवाय झोपायची नाही. किंवा सकाळी ५ ला च उठून meditate करताना बायबल वाचायची. मग हिंदू धर्मात कोणी तरुण असा गीता पाठ का करत नाही? Out  of  fashion  / outdated वाटतं म्हणून ? धर्मासाठी positive support group निर्माण करायला हिंदू धर्म का मागे पडलाय?
Charity begins at home. सुरुवात स्वतःपासून करायची ठरवलीये. वाढदिवसासाठी नवे resolution .. संस्कृत चं थोडाफार ज्ञान आहेच.. गीता मला जशी कळली, पटली तशी.. 

The Atlanta adventure

I had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta..i decided to put it to good use..
5 am in West Coast: My friend offered to call up his friend who has a bike. I texted my ex-roommate.
1.50 pm in East Coast: I reach Atlanta. My roommate doesnt have a car, and stays about 1 hr away from airport. But she searches for places to visit around the airport and asks me to check out a temple 7 miles away. But it is not well connected by public transport. Otherwise there is an Aquarium and a Coke factory to check out.
1.50 to 2 pm: My friend suggests to check out the Coke factory. I remember seeing pics on FB. So I think it might be a worthwhile tourist spot. I ask around at the airport.. some airport officials tell me to get down at the 5 point station. There are track repairs in progress, and the train at the station will be running late. I call up my friend for map support.
3 pm: My friend directs me over the phone, and I reach the Coke factory. It is a serious waste of time and money. All fizz and no substance.. A secret formula my foot!  My friend has contacted his friend, who will drop me to the airport.

4.30 pm: My friend's friend arrives on a super-cool bike. He got a helmet and sunglasses for me.. with a comment that with the sunglasses on I will have my eyes open. My 1st bike ride in the US. Also one after 19 months. I am super excited. I ask him to ignore if I scream.
But an excited giggle is all that I can manage for the first few minutes. We near the Expressway and the adventure begins. He accelerates..its enthralling..its speedy.. I see the dashboard flashing 96 mph before the sunglasses fly off and the helmet is thrust backwards. I now hold the helmet with one hand and steady myself with the other. A rush of adrenaline. I can feel my knees gripping the bike hard.
I reach the airport in the nick of time, and break into a sprint as fast as my shaking legs can manage. At the gate just when the Delta lady is about to call out my name.
Time of my life! 

Another Earth

Saw the trailer for Another Earth during my flight. A girl's car dashes into another car when she was peering out of the window to look at a Earth-like planet which is suddenly visible in the sky. The premise of the plot is human emotions not sci-fi. The events on the 2nd Earth mirror that on our Earth till we came to know of each others existence. The girl hopes that her replica on the 2nd earth wont have caused the accident there and sponsors the survivor's trip to the 2nd earth.   


The wiki page for this movie led me to a russian movie- "Solaris". Solaris is a distant planet, whose surface is ocean-like. There is a bunch of astronauts out to study Solaris. But Solaris sends out human-like projections of their guilty consciousness, which freaks out and mentally disturbs the astronauts. A psychologist sent to help the astronauts decides that the potential good hallucinatory projections that will greet him on Solaris is better than the bleak reality when he returns to the earth..and lands on the Solaris surface. 


Solaris is adapted from a novel, which is a sci-fi. The core of the novel is that extra-terrestrial life wont be in the same physical form as life on earth. That life could be beyond human perceptions, and pre-conceived notions, for instance, here Solaris is one intelligent creature not a planet, as humans interpret it to be. 

Since I had plenty of time to ponder about the movie in plane, that's exactly what I did. On a psychological note, it would be freaking to know that there is a duplicate you on another planet. It is rightly said,  व्यासोच्चीष्ट (chchi  र्हस्व ) जगत् सर्वम् .. there is no plot that Vyass hasnt dealt with. Vishwamitra from Ramayan has created a Prati-vishwa, a replica of the world. 

Secondly, even if life manifests itself somewhere else in the universe, there is no way it will be identical to the Life on the Earth. Evolution and Random Gene selection are completely unique and random occurrences, how can those be replicated elsewhere? 

Thirdly, the origin of life is a deeply philosophical thought. There is a famous experiment, in which the scientist filled a glass sphere with Nitrogen, oxygen etc. They subjected it to high energy field to simulate heavy-duty lightning etc. And those gases formed amino-acids. Just that. The experiment could create only amino acids, not life. Till date, we have succeeded in creating clones etc from living cells. No one is able to create life from the inanimate.  And here steps in our own Creator..

Atheists/ other opinion is that life came to earth from a meteor, which is also the premise of Deception Point by Dan Brown. But life as we know it, would not have sustained the tremendous heat created in the meteor as if faces friction from the earth's atmosphere. 

Between, another food for thought. Why search for life elsewhere/ SETI? Why waste money when life on earth itself is not free of vices/ pain. Even if there is a super-smart species out there, and we do come to know how life originated, how will it impact the common man? And if that super-species is making no attempts to communicate with us, why are we so hell-bent on seeking their attention? So that they usurp our resources like Transformers or we go there and usurp theirs like Avatar! Lonely planet indeed.. 

When you look at someone the exact moment when he/she looks at you

That feeling of Kismet Konnection, butterflies in the stomach, going weak in the knees..
Or that feeling of..Telepathy! See, I told you our minds are linked..a happy smile..
Or.. haha, this one is our private joke and the rest of our friends are so outta league..
Or..dude..I know you are staring at me right now.. caught you locked-eyed :P
Tada! 

भय इथले संपत नाही

New Year च्या सुमारासच university मधली एक भारतीय मुलगी cardiac arrest ने गेली.. तिचा FB page नव-वर्षाभिनंदनाऐवजी RIP नी भरला होता. इथे बसून काय झालं असेल त्याचा आम्ही फक्त तर्कच लावू शकत होतो. काल बाकी लोक परतले, त्यांच्याकडून कळलं. भारताला विमानातून जाताना त्या मुलीला Deep Vein Thrombosis झाला. २ दिवस वेदना सहन केल्यावर ती डॉक्टरकडे गेली, पण तोवर ती गाठ हृदयापर्यंत पोहोचली. Shock ! कोणी असं तडकाफडकी कसं जाऊ शकतं... 

आमच्या सोबत आलेले बरेच लोक सुट्टी साठी भारतात गेलेले, घरटी एक एक जण असावा.  भारतात आजूबाजूला हजार लोक असायची इतकी सवय झालेली.. इथे अचानक सगळं भकास आणि घाबरवून सोडणारं.. वरून Wiki आहेच इथे घडलेल्या कृष्णकृत्यांची माहिती द्यायला..

सुट्टीसाठी एका मैत्रिणीकडे तिची बहीण आलीये. अंडी उकडताना चुकून microwave चं दार उघडलं आणि काही कळायच्या आत उकळते पाणी चेहऱ्यावर उडून 2nd degree burns . थोड्याच दिवसांसाठी येणार म्हणून Insurance पण नाही.. 

College सुरु झालं तसं नव्या batch ची मुलं परतली. असेच आम्ही गप्पा मारत असताना एक जण म्हणाला की एका माथेफिरूमुळे बेत अर्ध्यावर रद्द करून त्याला Mt Raimier वरून परतावं लागलं. त्या माथेफिरूने तिथे पोलिसांवरच गोळीबार केला. तो सांगत होता की पोलिसांनी सगळ्या campers ना armoured cars ने परत आणलं.   

भारतातून batchmates परतल्यावर एक get -together होते. जाता-जाता एका घरी डोकावलो तर तिथे मित्र त्याचा camera शोधत होता. त्यांचा wireless router पण गायब! सगळ्यांचच सामान unpacking  मुळे अस्ताव्यस्त पसरलेलं, तरीही  जाणून  बुजून उचकटलं आहे ते लक्षात आलं. खिडकीची जाळी काढून घरात घुसून हात साफ केला गेला होता तर.. 

सगळंच अनपेक्षित.. छोटे बडे शहरोंमें छोटी मोटी वारदातें होती रहती हैं.. सरता संपत नाही.. 

I see..

Scene 1: In a bus: Indians talk loudest. 
Observation 2: Music from some phones can be heard by others in loud decidels despite the headphones. 
Observation n: People here wear trousers nearly a foot below the waist line (beats the purpose of "wearing" trousers.. euu dont tell me its just because one cant enter the bus w/o trousers? )

Scene 2: Its raining: 
Observation 1: If you take geisha-style small n dainty steps you dont get as wet. (inspired by Memoirs of a Geisha)
Observation 2: Had it been India, there would have been double the number of cars on the road. Here the crowds throng the bus (maybe because its an university town). 


Scene 3: In a bus again: Its raining cats and dogs outside. 2 guys are chatting. Its a full bus. A guy gets in at the next stop. The Bus driveress asks people to move back. Out of the chatty guys, one guy is at the 1st seat. The other guy stays put, the guy at the next stop is nearly at the yellow line where he can fall down if the bus stops suddenly. But this does not bother the chatty guys.. 

"You can observe a lot just by watching. "  Yogi Berra

India Diary: मनःचक्षु

As my roomies return from their month long stay in India, thoughts and memories rush to me. This is how my India trip would have been if I had gone home with my roomies..

Home  coming  च्या बऱ्याच गोष्टी ऐकून आहे. स्वामी विवेकानंदांनी येताक्षणी भारतीय मातीला घातलेला दंडवत ते  इथल्या  lifestyle  ला सारवलेल्यानी  मुंबई विमानतळावर विमान land होताच धारावीच्या वासानी मुरडलेलं नाक at the opposite end of the spectrum!  ज्या भूमीनी  इतकी वर्ष पोसलं त्याचा कण अन कण, स्पर्ष अन स्पर्ष मला हवासा आहे.  इथे येताना, नव्या आयुष्याची सुरुवात करताना एक कण रडायचं नाही बजावलं होतं.. आता आई बाबांना बघून बांध घालणं " मुश्किल हि नहीं नामुमकिन" आहे.

घरी पोचल्यावर आई पायांवर दूध आणि पाणी घालेल, मग पाय ओला  असतानाच त्यावर कुंकवाने स्वस्तिक काढेल. आजी दारातच दृष्ट काढून मगच घरात घेईल. Roomy च्या घराला नवा रंग दिलाय कळलं तेव्हाच मी आईला विचारलं की आपल्या घरी काय काय बदल झालाय. दीड वर्षांनी स्वतःचं  घर बघणं हा पण एक सोहळाच आहे. एकदा स्वप्नात Dallas चं घर आलं होतं, Dallas सोडून ३-४ महिने झाल्यावर. स्वप्नात सुद्धा घर अगदी जसं होतं तसंच दिसलं. ज्या घरात मी १२ वर्ष राहिलीये ते घर मी कसं विसरीन मग? भिंतीच्या रंगासकट  सगळं मी जाताना जसं होतं तसं अलवार मिटलेल्या डोळ्यांनी दिसतं...Hall मधले माझे sketches , माझा पलंग, त्यावरची geometric print ची गुलाबी बेडशीट, माझा संगणक , बाल्कनीच्या grill वर बसायची माझी हक्काची जागा..मधूनच आत येणारी चिमणी..

येतीलंच  आता माझ्या roomies , पण मी आधीच जाऊन मनानी एक फेरफटका मारून आले.. Faster than light :)

A day without Wiki! Gasp

SOPA hs been doing rounds since October 2011. But its the slightest inkling of Wiki, Google shutting off the servers that hits you harder.

So apparently with SOPA, there wont be any [sic] statements. With whom the advertisers deal with wont be their sole decision ( some sad implications of "its none of your business" ) The copyrighted material wont be off the net, readers just wont have a link to access it.  (what about the links already bookmarked on users' browsers?) With no advertising on that site, the site wont be able to pay for the servers, and will eventually be forced to shut off. Unless these sites are smarter and get a "pay per view" system.

How it hits us? The most positive change is that we will potentially have a safety net against online scams. But we may end up paying higher for the "verified authentic" brands. No more watching free online movies. Accustomed to access things for free? Its high time that we mend our ways. Netflix or Redbox may be. Will there be Hindi/ Marathi movies on Netflix? I guess so, if there is considerable user demand. But what about those movies which cater to a niche audience and probably wont have that "apple of my eye" status. (Sadly, just yesterday, a friend and I were discussing this Class versus Crass phenomena.)

Will we still have the freedom to express on net? Wait and watch it is.. just that this time there might not be a free movie to watch while we wait. 

"Cook" Books

I recently read Godplayer and Hades factor (Robert Ludlum). As a kid, I maintained a record of all the books  that I had read + a small summary. I stopped the register when i was in Std. 8th. So, when my roomy challenged me to name 5 Robin Cook's books that I had read, I was at loss. Wiki stepped in to help, and soon I had a list of the books that I had read: Acceptable Risk, Abduction, Mutation, Harmful Intent, and more recently Godplayer. (There is one more that I remember, which doesnt match any book in Wiki's list: One about a untested medicine to stop nausea in pregnancy, but led to deformed foetuses.) I wish there were likes of Shelfari when I was a kid and would read A LOT.

Medical Thrillers, at one point, can really scare you into not taking medicines at all. Infact the heroine of Acceptable Risk makes a statement that she was always wary of psychosomatic drugs, and in future will be more careful. In Hades factor, a pandemic is caused by spreading a live virus through antibiotics. Acceptable Risk deals with the researchers literally unleashing the "wild" side in them thanks to a fungus. Harmful intent had a fatal chemical in anaesthetics. Mutation talks of a genetically-made-super-smart kid, who kills other potentially super-smart kids. In a similar setting, the doctor playing God in Godplayer kills patients who he thinks are better off dead. Reminds me of I, Robot.
In comparison, Abduction offers a possibility of a goody-goody world some twenty thousand leagues under the sea. In this world, you can chose the traits you want to be born with in your next birth. You can have your organs transplanted with as-efficient-as-live-tissue machines etc.

Medicines are chemical miracles. If you are sceptical about how a small dose can work wonders, think about the naturally occurring minuscle quantity of hormones that regulate our chemical balance. One could also check the "mg"s of the active substance in a pill..it rarely exceeds 500 mg. But malicious entities try to wring maximum profits from them. Repacking old expired medicines is not unheard of. Medical thrillers explore the far cruel side of Med-men. Infact sometimes I fear that wrongdoers may get "inspired" by Med-thriller plots. Robin Cook acquaints readers with moral and social issues of medicine, but I sincerely hope that Med-thrillers not elucidate a "slippery slope to murder". 

Of Geishas and escaping iff with daughter

One of the books that I bought during the book fair was Memoirs of a Geisha. Previously, I had read about Geishas during wiki-hopping. Wiki, as usual, offers an impartial view and attempts to get the facts straight, albeit with a "citation needed". A novel has no such qualms, and with a few "artistic liberties", can twist the story to make it more appealing, or in some cases, make it more gruesome and hence appealing in some weird sense. Memoirs of a Geisha does offer some jolts: like the deflowering/ mizuage 1 ceremony, or when the older sister blatantly quips that men arent just solely interested in the Geisha's witty conversation.

Few days ago, I watched "Without my Daughter", the anti-thesis documentary of the novel/film Not without my Daughter. As always, I observe that the viewers' comments are more interesting than the book/film/documentary itself. All commenters agree that extreme marital violence can happen anywhere in the world, and we shouldnt be biased against a particular region/ religion.

What makes Memoirs of a Geisha or Not without my Daughter interesting is that we have limited knowledge about the other culture. Unfortunately, a large part of that limited knowledge is graphic descriptions of, say, foot binding in China, or general apathy towards women's rights elsewhere in the world. Books like these corroborate our prejudices. What we overlook is the fact that Woman's suffrage in our so-called liberal world  is contemporary to China abolishing foot binding. When ranting about cruelty to women elsewhere, witch burning in Salem is permanently shrouded from our memories.

Bottomline? These books make interesting reads, no doubt. But they should be taken with a pinch of salt. Afterall, those who stay in glass houses shouldnt throw stones at others.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuage

Boston

Dunno why..but people who care the least about the view get window seats in the plane.. while others crane their necks and strain their camera zooms..
This time I guess the pilot shared my appreciation for the view no matter how many times he has flown over it.. He let the passengers know that we were flying over the New York city..

The trip to Boston also marked the sad impairment of my dear Lap warmer (when I needed all that extra warmth)...my Dell Studio.. though I plan to resuscitate it.. I absolutely refuse to be the cause of any addition to e-waste.. and an i5 processor with dual core + multithreading is really precious for a Comp. Arch student..

I visited my grandparents over the Christmas vacation. This was my first formal Christmas celebration. We all held hands, while the elder-most member said a heart-felt Grace, no religious fluff in a language that a few understand.. just a wish that those who are not physically present with us that day get well soon. Couldn't help contrasting this to the "pangat" system in large congregations, where unfortunately the pre-lunch grace is reduced to a mere "something to get out of our way soon if we want the lunch faster". I guess these traditions are easier to follow in a small family settings, rather than in a large crowd. Once again a reinforcement to my wish, which I am sure will be vetoed.. I wish that only the people who really care for the sanctity of the wedding rituals etc. be invited for the rituals aspect.. those who are simply interested in the post-ritual lunch can join in later.

Apart from the Boston Tea Party, I was unaware of the Boston history. So it was a walking history lesson on the Freedom trail..a supposedly 2.5 mile trail, which I thought was loads longer. Again cant help contrast things to the situation in India. I wonder if today's generation is even aware of the Indian freedom struggle. Afterall, the likes of Jalianwala baug are in ruins and are definitely not on any "must see in India" list.  I really appreciate the Boston government's decision to project the seemingly plain buildings as tourist attractions and museums. Its so convenient for tourists to just follow the trail. I am sure such a project can be undertaken in Pune, since most of the pre-1961 action was in the Peth areas of Pune. We already have buildings of Historical/ cultural interests marked with blue boards. All we now need is a methodical compilation, some political will power and some smart efforts by the Tourism industry.

I had read about New England skiing in the Sky magazine during my flight. I did go skiing. Once you let go of your fear, your muscles take over and somehow they already know what to do, even though technically its the first time they do something.

I have tagged blogs like this as "Life in the US". I appreciate the facilities in public transport for the disabled here, but as my friend pointed out, I also realize that with a population like India it is impossible to have it there. I am saddened by the amount of e-waste and the enormous carbon footprint of the US, and do wish that India should not blindly fall for the "evils of Americanization".   The more I explore the US, the more I think about India. In a way, its like falling in love with India all over again.. now when I can pinpoint its faults, I hope that, as an engineer, I can drive the change, and not just stay put with the "chalta hai" Indian mentality.