More movies, more mazaa!

As promised, I watched both Deewar and Fahrenheit 9/11. Guys - don't put so much pressure on me!!

Deewar was okay - a Bollywood movie with an interesting concept, one which I think could have been made better. Its about a group of Indian POWs held in Pakistani prisons since the 1971 war. They have tried umpteen times to escape and failed - until the son of one of the prisoners, Major Ranvir Kaur (played by Amitabha Bachchan), reaches Pakistan to rescue his father. Far-fetched? C'mon, its a Hindi movie! But then, who said James Bond was realistic anyway :-)

Fahrenheit 9/11 was an interesting movie, rather an interesting documentary. I read somewhere that the movie does not contain a single planned scene or dialogue - its all made out of previously shot news footage or real life interviews etc. It seeks to provide a conspiratorial angle to the reaction of the Bush administration to the events on and after September 11. Michael Moore has a few things to say about Bush and his administration:

(a) Bush is an idiot - yeah, he almost says it point blank!
(b) The administration is controlled by powerful corporations which have significant economic interests in Middle East oil - hence the war on Iraq on flimsy grounds.
(c) The terror hysteria which has been perpetuated on the public since 9/11 is the govt's ploy to ensure that the public blindly supports the govt in its immoral wars.

Michael Moore presents a number of facts and interviews with former govt officials to prove his claims. I won't put them here since it might spoil someone's plan to watch the film. However, at the end of the day, I was left with this nagging feeling that this is after all election year in the US and you cannot trust all you hear. After all, if the kind of power play he hints at can take place, coming out with a movie to sully the other camps reputation is a pretty small move. As always, the truth must lie somewhere in between what Moore says and the official view of the Bush administration.

But yeah, it is admirable that a film that is so scathing in its criticism of the govt could actually be screened in this country. There were troubles, and quite a few people tried their best to prevent it from being shown. However, the fact that it was ultimately screened shows that there are some very remarkable things about this country - free speech being one. Can one imagine a movie supporting Kashmiri separatists in India? I am not saying that such a movie should be made or anything. Just trying to say that the kind of freedom of speech Americans enjoy is truly awesome!

You gotta read this!

Just read an anti-Congress slogan. Maybe its well known but I heard it for the first time - Congress party ka ek hi rasta, bolo Italian, khao pasta!

Also, I just came to know of our prime minister's email address - manmohan@sansad.nic.in. So next time you have a problem, you know what to do :-)

Atal?

Atal - the name means one who cannot be stopped. For six years, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was our prime minister, the tallest leader of India and the darling of everyone in the NDA. Today when the NDA has failed to return to power, Vajpayee's fall from grace has been heart-breaking to watch.

It all began during his annual Manali retreat when Vajpayee hinted that the happenings in Gujrat may have contributed to the NDA's fall. Vajpayee has always been a moderate - the so called right man in the wrong party, so such a view comes as no surprise. In fact, even at the time of the riots, it is said that Vajpayee wanted to take action against Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujrat. However, hawks in BJP and its sister organizations prevailed on him. At the time, Vajpayee was indispensable - he was the glue that held the remarkable 22 party coalition together by the sheer force of his persona. Today, the BJP does not need a coalition. What use then for the glue? As a result, Vajpayee is suddenly the lone moderate in an organization yearning to rewind to the Hindu nationalist agenda of the early nineties which resulted in the party's stupendous growth. However there are a few reasons why I feel the move is ill-advised:

(a) By unceremoniously dumping a leader of the stature of Vajpayee, they will alienate a large chunk of people who vote for the BJP just because it is Vajpayee's party. However much of an organization based party the BJP may claim to be, elections are best fought around personalities. Vajpayee's role could prove to be crucial if elections were forced upon the country within an year or two! Also, Atal Bihari is the only leader around whom the NDA can rally. It would be interesting to note how many NDA constituents choose to associate with the alliance once Vajpayee is sidelined.

(b) The BJP is now looking to consolidate its voter base. However, most people who identify with the BJP's hindu nationalist vision already vote for the BJP. The percentage gains to be had in this group by enhancing its pro-Hindu image are pretty limited. Substantial gains can only come about by convincing other demographic groups to vote for the BJP.

(c) As a national party, I feel the BJP is obliged to cater to the aspirations of all Indians and not any particular group in particular. Small parties can get away by looking after the interests of a particular community/region. National parties have more responsibility and having a strictly pro-Hindu agenda overlooks this responsibility.

Although I hate to admit this (since I am myself a BJP supporter), I have been disappointed with the way the BJP has conducted itself ever since the election results were declared. First the histrionics against Sonia becoming PM (Sushma Swaraj vowed to have her head shaved!), then boycotts of charge-sheeted cabinet ministers in the ministry. The issue was dragged on for quite some time causing Parliament proceedings to be adjourned a number of times. I should clarify that I am absolutely against tainted people becoming ministers. However, boycotting ministers and walking out of the Parliament on every occasion is not a solution. In a democratic setup, a walkout is a strong statement that you consider the other person unworthy of debate. Our political parties have reduced the step to a caricature - so much so that today it is rare for the Opposotion to contest bills in the Lok Sabha. Either the Opposition supports it, or it walks out! That apart, I always thought the BJP was a mature organization. The way it has reacted to its defeat has left me in some doubt.

Coming back to Vajpayee, I think there are enough indications now that Vajpayee's role in Indian politics has begun to diminish. Undoubtedly, he is one of the few, genuinely brilliant and committed politicians India has produced. Politics is a strange profession - its supposedly all about ideals, but just ideals get you nowhere in politics! To reach a position of prominence, a position from where you can make a difference, you need to have a subtle balance of idealism and pragmatism. Needless to say Vajpayee excelled in this respect. Legendary oratorial skills ensured he was always the darling of the masses. A moderate image meant that he had immense political acceptability. It is a paniful irony that today he is perhaps not feeling acceptable in his own party! I guess it is time Vajpayee should finally retire and bring down the curtains on one of the most remarkable careers in Indian politics. Atal, the unstoppable, it perhaps is time for you to stop.

Sonia Gandhi - Super PM?

Ever since Dr. Manmohan Singh took over the reins of India, speculation has raged over the role Sonia Gandhi will be playing. A senior Congress member, widely tipped to become a minister even commented at the time that as the Chairman of the Congress Legislative Party, Sonia would have access to confidential government files! Maybe the statement was just an indirect way of testing waters or something. Predictably, a huge outcry from the opposition followed and the Congress had to clarify its position.

However, the debate has hardly been settled. Inspite of not being the leader of India, Sonia has recieved official, semi-official and unofficial invitations from 20 countries! Strange, and to some degree unacceptable. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the executive head of India and it is he who should be projected and seen as the foremost leader - the man at the helm of affairs. Any percieved or real confusion about the chain of command can only have adverse consequences.

That apart, I have to admire Dr. Manmohan Singh. From what I have read, the man is the exact antithesis of the typical Indian politician. No airs, no ego, no frills! Hardworking - he finds it difficult to give time to journalists for interviews. And clean to a fault - he shines out among the corrupt people his ministry is packed with! India needs more politicians like him!

The budget is expected to be out in July. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the magical economist who bailed India out of its financial morass in 1991, is expected to cater to everyone's expectations! The Left wants something, the industrialists want something else while the common man wants something entirely different. And all of them believe Dr. Manmohan Singh is the man capable of bringing deliverance. Guys, get ready! I have a hunch we have an excellent economic soap opera lined up!

Long time no see!

Well, I can pretend that I was busy but I was not :-) Procrastination is perhaps the single biggest bug in this otherwise beautiful piece of code called the Matrix!

Speaking of the matrix, as usual I have been watching a few movies. Latest in the sequence have been Forrest Gump (never watched it before!!) which was breathtaking and Lakshya which was average. The judgement on Lakshya though is a bit controversial since some of my friends liked the movie a lot. I did not - I cannot say the actors performed poorly or the direction was shoddy. Just that the movie did not strike a chord with me. Hota hai :-)

Deewar (the new one) is the next hindi movie on the agenda. Tomorrow - in fact late in the day today - we shall go to watch Fahrenheit 9/11. The movie must rank among the all time most eagerly awaited movies in the US. It is okay for movies/books etc to be banned in India and other countries. However, the US prides itself on being a "free" country. It is surprising that even in such an admirably free society, at times people have to strive so hard to have their voice heard. More on the movie tomorrow after I have seen it.

Speaking of America, I was amazed, astounded, amused (and a lot of other superlative verbs) on reading that recently, Richard B. Cheney, the Vice President of the United States of America told Senator Patrick Leahy to f*** off during one of their arguments in the Senate Chamber! Man - these people can make Mulayam Singh look good :-)

Among other things, I have been on a customization drive of late. I have COMPLETELY customized the look of my computer with
(a) custom created wallpapers with a uniform look in both Linux and Windows
(b) matching themes (downloaded!)
(c) matching GRUB bootscreen, plus a host of other tiny tiny things that I feel make my computer look slicker :-)

Basically I am all excited about my laptop's new look since for the first time it boasts of wallpapers signed Priyendra :-)

On the research front, things are progressing steadily. Summer quarter has started and I have decided to take two courses - databases and compilers. I guess I need to brush up my knowledge in these. Or in IIT lingo, bikkon ke kalank ko dhona hai :-)

Today I plan to do what I dread most - clean up my room. Its been ages since I did that and Manu has been sugesting since quite some time that we do it. Today is the day!

Being an avid internet news buff, I think I should point out the falling journalistic standards of TOI. It is fast descending into a cheap tabloid. During my IIT days, TOI was the website I religiously returned to for news - at times even visiting the site more than maybe 10-15 times a day. Now, my visits only serve to amplify my already substantial disappointment with the publication. Consider some of the headlines on the TOI front page right now:

- Call girls in your neighborhood!
- Desi lingo paints London streets
- Indian junkies' ande ka funda
- Bollywood: Romancing in the rain
- Two mile walk better than Viagra

One would think something more important than all this must be happening around the world right now. Rediff.com is now my preferred source for news from India. May they never walk the TOI route!

Phew - this is what happens when you don't post for a long time!

Weekend Joys

The past weekend was unusually enjoyable. Asim had come over, Manu (Chhabra) was in town for his Xerox internship and Madhur had planned to come over for the weekend from his internship at LA. We started on Friday evening with a trip to Passage to India. Picked up two DVDs on our way back - Eurotrip & Shanghai Noon. Eurotrip was had some extremely hilarious moments while Shanghai Noon seemed so boring that we decided to stop in the middle!

Saturday, we went to San Francisco and took a tour of Alcatraz - perhaps the world's most famous prison and also the world's most disappointing tourist spot! We were bored right from the beginning. One problem with Americans is that these people lack a history! So they highlight small events in a way to make them seem big. But to people like me, whose country has a history of 5000+ years, some of these seem somewhat trivial :-) My opinion was the Alcatraz is one big hyped-up boring tourist destination. Anyone wishing to see something similar to what we saw in The Rock is highly discouraged from visiting the prison.

Next on the agenda was a San Francisco city tour in a bus with a guide called Tony Love. Boy the man was interesting! The tour guides are distinctly different from the ones back home - we decided that these people have a lot more flair. They try to go out of their way to crack jokes and constantly keep entertaining you. The bus ride was a nice experience. It took us to the golden Gate bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts (no, it ain't a palace!) plus a few other places.

After the tour was over, we lolled around in SFO on Market Street, China Town etc. By evening we decided that we are going to watch a movie. The consensus candidate was The Terminal. Excellent movie - Victor Naborski, a Krakozhian citizen, comes over to the US in search for an autograph of a Jazz artist his father was very fond of. However, while he was in air, a coup happens in his country and a military government takes over. As a result his passport is invalidated and thus he cannot enter the US. Moreover, because of some reasons, he is also not allowed to return to his own country. In short, the only place where he can legally stay is the terminal!! Victor, played by Tom Hanks, is shown to be a really nice hearted person. As it turns out, he waits in the terminal for more than 9 months before he is able to enter the US and get the autograph that was so precious to his father. A really well-made movie. After the movie, we hitched onto the last train back from SFO and reached home. On reaching California Avenue, Asim and I decided we needed to each something. Well, the only place open was a drive-through burger place and we had no cars. So we joined a queue of cars where the only people on foot were Asim and me :-) A very funny situation to be in!

Next day, we decided to visit Muir Woods and the Mystery Spot. Muir Woods is a preserved forest with Giant sequoia trees and Redwoods. Beautiful and serene, the woods were in short awesome! Mystery Spot was also interesting - its a place where gravity is supposedly messed up. You get to see all kinds of weird things with balls rolling up incline to pendulums swinging in strange ways. I thought I was a physics guru :-) But I could not find fault with some of the genuinely amazing experiments that these guys had prepared. After Mystery Spot, I gave a short tour of Stanford to these guys followed by dinner at Cheesecake Factory.

Why can't all weekends be like this :-)

Brain drain from India

I read this post on Diwaker's blog which discussed whether bright people from India are justified in moving to America. Somehow I did not agree with his conclusions and so I tried to respond to his arguments. My thoughts are available on the same page below as a comment to his post.

However, I guess Diwaker has been arguing on why people should not be forced to stay back in India while I am arguing for why people should voluntarily stay back in India. I see no harm in going abroad to further your education, expand your horizons, gain work experience in international settings etc. However, I feel that one should reserve the meat of his life, the period from late twenties to early forties to doing something that directly strengthens our nation. It is hard to measure the enormous debt one owes to the society one was brought up in. The food you ate as a child, your education, your security and your entertainment was all possible only because numerous people were actively working to make it happen. And today, when its our turn to work and make lives of other children better, we move over to America. Not correct!

Hurray!

I just came to know that Gauri has secured an all India rank of 111 in the Manipal B.Arch. entrance examination. Well, frankly I never imagined that she will secure such a good position and now I have to eat my own words. I assure you, my words never tasted this good before :-) God bless her!

Apart from Manipal, she has also secured a rank of 5196 in DCE. Plus since I am an NRI, she also has the option of enrolling in NIFT as an NRI sponsored candidate. As of now, she is gunning for NIFT and I also feel that it is the best option for her.

Among other things, I watched Dev yesterday. Well, a pretty poorly made movie I must say. Weird screenplay, bad acting, weak storyline, inept direction :-) The only part of the movie that I enjoyed was when Kareena and Fardeen kiss each other :-) HA HA HA!

Total Timepass!

Of late I have developed an uncanny ability to waste time! I have been asked to document a body of code written by someone at my office. Of course, I am finding the job boring - so boring that I haven't written a line of documentation in the last 10 hours! So what do I do when I have to waste time? Well, I basically cycle between timesofindia, rediff, cnn, nytimes, cricket.org, slashdot, wired, orkut, hindustantimes and bbc! No wonder I am always so busy :-) To add to my woes, blogging has also been added to my already overpopulated list of web chores! The moot point is that if I am to achieve something substantial in these summer holidays, I better get some discipline going.

Cinema Streak!

This has to be a first - three movies in the last 6 hours or so! It all started with The Butterfly Effect. I must say it was a very interesting movie - about how small things in your past have such HUGE effects on your later lives. The hero tries to set things right in his life by travelling to his past and making corrections. But the result is never perfect. It goes on until the hero finally realises that he is not God and he has to compromise somewhere!

Next on the agenda was Hum Tum, a light Bollywood movie focussing on the fundamental differences between the natures of boys and girls. Cute I must say! Saif Ali Khan has matured tremendously as an actor. Compare today's Saif with the one who danced to Ole Ole and you'll immediately see the difference.

The last one was Pinjar. Its a movie set around the time of the Partition of India - about a girl named Puro who was kidnapped to settle scores in a feudal Hindu-Muslim rivalry. She was later forced to marry the person who kidnapped her. Her husband however, played by Manoj Bajpai, is good at heart and was pressurized into committing this dastardly act. Hence, throughout his life he is miserable for having caused so much suffering to her wife. The ending is quite interesting as well.

The Partition of India must surely rank among the most horrific human tragedies of modern times. Who knows, had it not been for the bloodshed and the bitterness created in those times, maybe India and Pakistan would have been cooperative neighbors instead of bitter enemies.

Leisurely holidays

Have been involved in a mini-email-war on our wing newsgroup with Nishant since morning. He has been pulling my leg about a certain girl who has added me to her Orkut friends list and I have been trying to counter the damage. So far I have been losing badly :-) Guess the situation calls for a phonecall to Awasthi - lets spread some dirt about NR!

Work has been progressing at a leisurely pace. Paulo has given some grunt work of documenting code for the next two days. But I guess its important since I plan to modify large sections of that code during these summers and having done the documentation will help me understand the code a lot.

Plan to start Harry Potter tonight. Till then I shall be working on Adderenaline. Its been quite some time since we cooked dinner/lunch at home. Lets see, maybe today!

MS&E339 Mini Conference

Ha ha! This was interesting. We had this mini conference in one of my courses to discuss projects done by the class. The salient features of the event are listed below:

- Starts 10:30 AM
- Ends 6:00 PM (oops!)
- Average talk length - 40 mins (oops oops!)
- Hardcore theory & math for 7 hours and eigteen minutes
- Simple implementation stuff for exactly 12 mins (during my talk, of course!)
- Pizza at 12 noon (easily the worst I ever had)
- Slept a total of five times during the conference

In an apricot case (or may I use the generic nutshell?), I can say that inspite of being a regular student of the course, I could NOT understand a single one of the projects presented in the mini-conference. So much for my math! Hah, who knows about POMDPs anyway ... :-)

Since then, life has been okay. Went to this Chinese joint yesterday. Food wasn't good but I think I was the only one with that opinion as none of my friends complained even once :-) Had ice cream at Hagen-Daaz after that and came back. Since the night before had been "out" (i.e. night out), I decided this particular night was going to be completely "in". So slept straight after coming back and woke up some time back.

Lets get ready to go to office now!

Five Years Ago ...

We are nearing the 5th anniversary of the Kargil dispute. Five years ago, intruders from across the Line of Control occupied Indian positions in Kashmir while the Indian Army had retreated for the winters. This apparently was Phase One of a Pakistani Army plan hatched way back in 1989 which envisioned Pakistani troops wresting strategic control of the Jammu-Srinagar-Leh highway and by extension a major chunk of Kashmir.

I just read an article on Rediff extolling the valor of six soldiers, one among them Amar Shaheed Lt. Saurabh Kalia - the first Indian Army officer to be martyred in the conflict. He and his men were brutally tortured for 22 days before their hideously mutilated bodies were returned to the Indian Army. His father has since then been trying to bring to public attention this gross violation of human rights (see his appeal) by the Pakistani Army. However, considerations of real politik have prevented the Indian Govt. from taking a strong stand on the matter. I wonder what message this sends to our soldiers. That apart, there was tremendous outpouring of support for the family of Lt. Kalia. Thousands of letters, many written in blood are today displayed in a museum dedicated to the memory of Lt. Kalia. Another Indian, who would have celebrated his birthday on the day Lt. Kalia met his fate, decided not to ever celebrate his birthday in honor of Lt. Kalia's memory. Such support must have surely helped Lt. Kalia's family wade through its gravest hour. The sad truth, however is that Lt. Kalia's father is still trying to get justice for his son's death. At the very least, some of the so called human rights organizations in India should take this cause up and highlight it at a national and international level.

Operation Vijay was nothing but a two month long story of bravery and sacrifices of Indian soldiers. As many as four armymen were awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest gallantry award. Nine Mahavir Chakras were also awarded along with 56 Vir Chakras and 106 Sena Medals, making this the most decorated operation in Indian military history. I doubt any military campaign, with the possible exception of Normandy during WWII was fought against such extreme odds. The Indian soldiers had to ascend 60 degree slopes - often with direct enemy fire above them and 5-6 feet of snow below them. May God bless their souls!

I don't remember where I picked these from, but the following lines almost made me cry when I first read them: "They died for a stranger ... and that stranger is you!"

Jai Hind!

Night gone, morning on!

Just watched Company for the second time. Its a Hindi film based on the Mumbai underworld. Each time I watch any of Ram Gopal Varma's films, I am thoroughly impressed by his film-making acumen. His films have this certain slickness which most directors can only hope to achieve. The film is quite engaging and the ending in particular is extremely sudden and ... well .. its strange! Makes you think some.

Am listening to this song Fanaa by AR Rahman for the film Yuva. Fanaa is supposedly Urdu for destruction. Great song - grows on you like typical Rahman music. There is another song in the movie titled Dhakka Laga Bukaa which is good too. The movie itself is also not that bad. Surely does not deserve the extreme negative reviews it has been recieving in the press. No wonder Mani Ratnam turned up at a press conference to clear things up!

The cuisine king!

Cooked besan ka halwa today. This time it was much better than last time. The success formula turned out to be "The more the merrier!". More water, more ghee, more sugar, more fun! Last time water was clearly insufficient. This time I flooded the kadhai and just let the damn thing evaporate. Okay, maybe this is not THE best technique out there but it sure got the job done and it was good enough for me.

Wonderful piece of music

Have been listening to this song "Turn the Page - Bob Seger" for quite some time now. Great song I must say! Asim used to listen to it sometimes during our IIT days. The song sure brought back some good memories.

Other than that, report writing is going on. We finally settled on creating a one card poker player for the MSE339 project and work will start from tomorrow. Hopefully Ben van Roy will find that to be sufficient. I can't wait for summer holidays to arrive. Have a long TODO list:

- Paulo has plans for my RA-ship
- Work on Adderenaline
- Read up Harry Potten, Lord of the Rings, Foundation series by Asimov
- Squeeze a San Diego trip in between

Lets see what all I am able to achieve.

Home sweet home

Just called home. There is a bit of uncertainty there about Gauri's future plans. No one is really sure of what she should be doing next. She herself is sort of undecided between engineering (which she knows will be taxing) and some simple graduation type course (which will be much easier but potentially less rewarding). Lets see what happens. Amma's operation went fine and she is well on the road to recovery. Had this long discussion with Dad on what he plans to do after he retires (well, its still a long time before that!). Mummy seemed quite happy and asked me to cook besan ka halwa again - I think I will be doing that tomorrow. Johnnie is fine too. He got a bath today.

I always feel strange after I call home. It makes me think why would someone want to leave the place he was born and brought up to live in this strange country. I completely agree when someone says that the quality of work and life here is tonnes better than that in India. But then, will that ever change if all good people from India end up here?

Done and over with!

We managed to finish the CS226 project in time! It was like crazy ... this has been one of those quarters I haven't liked at all. The courses just didn't turn me on. I still have two more things to go: a report for the CS226 project and another project for MSE339. Lets see.

Slept right after the presentations were done with (around 3 PM) and woke up at 11 PM. Feel fresh now - will probably spend the night working on the report and will start the next project from tomorrow.

Former American president Reagan passed away today. The man is widely credited for bringing a premature end to the Cold War. Some credentials these ...

Rediff is carrying an article series about "Operation BlueStar - Twenty Years Later". Have been following that and doing some research on the background of the dispute. I was really surprised to read about the insane levels to which the situation in Punjab had deteriorated. Kashmir seems trivial (relatively) when you have articles talking about how Punjab was days away from declaring independence. I read up a few Sikh websites as well and they paint a completely different picture - of how the Indian Army brutally murdered so many of their brethren under the pretext of the operation. In fact most of these websites portray Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a martyr. Who knows ...

The good thing is that in spite of such a troubled past, Punjab today seems to be happily integrated with the rest of India. This gives me hope that maybe someday the other pressing problems of my country may also be solved.

T -23 hours

Well, things are really hot here right now. How I wish the quarter would end! My CS226 project is due in about 23 hours and I haven't been able to accomplish much :-( Plus my project partner has an exam today. So the onus lies squarely on me. Dear God ... assistance would be gladly appreciated :-)

Finally!

Been thinking of starting my own blog since quite some time now. Quite some time = 2 years! God sure made a bad design choice when (s)he added inertia to our universe! :-)

The first order of business was to come up with a URL for the blog. I had this mental image of "digging out thoughts from one's mind" - much like one would dig out precious jewels from the earth. Hence the URL: http://cerebral-mines.blogspot.com

Next, the name of the blog - for the uninitiated, I am a Computer Scientist by profession and "cout << my->thoughts();" is the C++ equivalent of "Display my thoughts".

That's it for now. Back to CS226 project!