tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33485394439003586732024-03-05T14:43:37.171-08:00SpaceBuzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-48257384429025864812015-04-27T03:59:00.001-07:002015-04-27T03:59:32.490-07:00yes<iframe scrolling='no' frameborder='0' marginheight='0px' marginwidth='0px' height='450px' width='250px' src='http://embed.frankly.me/userWidgetBatch/template.html?user=ShikhaSingh&slug=what-one-tip-wud-u-like-to-give-to-girls-who-want-to-make-it-big-in-the-tv-acting-industry-92255201ff194ca5ad0421e484a48c48'></iframe>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-71017871651168009672011-05-04T06:37:00.001-07:002011-05-04T06:37:47.753-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7gn1b8Xea5suCA0P4qFTr93Bg6Fkca5YRtFFdBJGfmTAIyXqYYeCSwQHRi1x_l6vGbzFGlggv_sSavetjxlosVB9mFG0wAtmh8c5h-egHkd4Lj21LgB4VYamy3DxBF2_PMcIRhsGyyeY/s1600/2nd+book+Promo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7gn1b8Xea5suCA0P4qFTr93Bg6Fkca5YRtFFdBJGfmTAIyXqYYeCSwQHRi1x_l6vGbzFGlggv_sSavetjxlosVB9mFG0wAtmh8c5h-egHkd4Lj21LgB4VYamy3DxBF2_PMcIRhsGyyeY/s400/2nd+book+Promo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602854682037202354" /></a>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-38650520280698861842011-01-21T11:47:00.000-08:002011-01-21T11:48:00.940-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WuANj0wlbTyzlWF_SuT6g7gvwOUun0xWxsK3Tu58WebqF_Huwet958aquyz9j3m_hj0SLLuq4Cc0q5qyfP553TrZXHrzQvD-8uCZ-bbTCG4xVpQ2fcONNMBwtZRITRQC1Velg29uU1xe/s1600/POSTER_ver2+copy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WuANj0wlbTyzlWF_SuT6g7gvwOUun0xWxsK3Tu58WebqF_Huwet958aquyz9j3m_hj0SLLuq4Cc0q5qyfP553TrZXHrzQvD-8uCZ-bbTCG4xVpQ2fcONNMBwtZRITRQC1Velg29uU1xe/s400/POSTER_ver2+copy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564728288040856098" /></a>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-18343112016667385452010-09-16T12:21:00.000-07:002010-09-16T12:29:34.843-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBsI8ItBlA8DP0LFy7YB9TKiQI5JOZriR4rRgKgLk1-2NKqcX6Cp9ABHf16K3v7SxyF7KP7wFeqLWTUfU1RqJ3EKOp-2TaWAbzw6XTxXGKtVoNHaFfFiL0lCQXR91YJVGYzkYZDJ_RFXs/s1600/oops.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBsI8ItBlA8DP0LFy7YB9TKiQI5JOZriR4rRgKgLk1-2NKqcX6Cp9ABHf16K3v7SxyF7KP7wFeqLWTUfU1RqJ3EKOp-2TaWAbzw6XTxXGKtVoNHaFfFiL0lCQXR91YJVGYzkYZDJ_RFXs/s400/oops.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517595562278253410" /></a>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-42278061762866465042010-04-13T15:09:00.000-07:002010-04-14T07:41:41.486-07:00Those three years<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i>This story has been written by my father – Sudhanshu Pathak, originally in Hindi and has been translated by me.</i></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I belonged to that kind of family which was entangled in the age-old customs and prejudices since ages; a middle class society where desires were big but habits lowly. To break free from traditions and fight against the irrational thinking was not something that was present in my blood. Being meek in front of elders was taken as being well-mannered and courteous.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was the time when, with the encouragement from the elderlies, women had started seeking education and tried to change the shape of this world. It’s a different issue that the encouragement was not actually intended for education, but rather for a good marriage, since men in those days preferred a well-educated girl over others. Despite these stepping stones of social progression, the dadi-nanis of our homes used to be the same – orthodox, conventional, cruel at times, chauvinistic, superstitious and sometimes even brutally gender biased. It’s another thing that we used to seek God in their cotton-like white hair and wrinkled face.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I used to live with my maternal grandparents. They chose a postgraduate girl for my marriage – Sudha. She had done her honours in economics and it brought our family immense pride. Time went by and it didn't take her much time to adapt in my family.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1989. It had been three years of our marriage, and still, we had been issue-less. No kids until three years meant suspicion – not just for us, but for the entire family. As expected, my grandmother’s brain started going topsy-turvy. She had started crying for a baby just after the first year of my marriage, and by the end of two years, she had lost all of her patience. As a matter of fact, we didn’t have any plans to delay the conception for some years. It was just that Sudha was taking some time to conceive, while I, leaving every worry upon God, was somewhat carefree. At first silently, and after sometime blatantly, my grandmother started complaining, ‘Why don’t you take your wife to a doctor? So much delay is not good.’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Due to these frequent vicious remarks, Sudha started being worried constantly and this worry trickled down to my in-laws, who too became bothered. They were daunted about what would happen to their honour if their daughter could not bear a child? And all the while, I was utterly helpless. I neither could stop my grandmother from constantly ribbing nor could I make my wife feel any better, despite standing for her. My grandmother’s tone towards my wife became more and more bitter and once, she even cited examples of people who had been married twice just because the first wife was unable to produce kids. In a male-dominated society, no-one ever questioned my potency or advised me to go see a doctor. I started wondering what would have happened if, like Maupassant’s famous tale ‘The Story of a Farm Girl’, the flaws were in me and it was my wife who had to face the miseries. After being persistently tantalized, one day, Sudha remarked sarcastically, ‘I am not able to give you kids. Why don’t you remarry?’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was flabbergasted, words stopped coming to my mind. After sometime, despite knowing precisely the very origin of the sarcasm, I said helplessly, ‘Come on. God knows what brought this thought into your head!’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And one day, God heard us. A soul had started twisting and turning in my wife’s womb. A wave of happiness ran throughout the family. Sudha went to my in-laws, since it would give her proper rest and more importantly peace. Those days, I was posted in a rural town called Bikramganj, and it took me quite a while to negotiate with my stern boss for leave, whose counter-logic was, ‘It’s your wife who has to deliver a baby, not you. What’s your use there?’ After much persuasion, the leave was sanctioned and I rushed to my in-laws’ place – Hazaribag. The doctors had given the expected delivery date to be 5th September plus minus 5 days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">29th Aug, 1989. That day became the most important day of my life. Two days before the estimated date, labour pain had started and I realized that the time had come. At 4 o clock in the morning, when the doctors took her inside an operation theatre, there was no-one else other than me present in the hospital. My in-laws had gone home to fetch breakfast. One hour went by, while the red bulb outside the theatre glowed ferociously. I was moving to and fro across the corridor all the while, my mind absorbed in various speculations, excited as well as worried at the same time. At about 5 in the morning, my wait was finally over, when a nurse came out and shouted, ‘Who is the attendant of Sudha?’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My feet started trembling in excitement and I ran towards her instantly when she gave me the best news that I’ve ever heard in my entire life. She said, ‘Congratulations. Your wife has given birth to a boy. Please stay here, I’ll just bring him.’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was jumping in joy. I was happier at the fact that there was nobody else around and I could spend the next few hours with my child all alone, hugging him, kissing him and talking to him. Only I would be there, his father. Just then, the door opened and a nurse waved at me and I ran towards her, ‘See your son. The operation has been caesarean.’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I adored him. How delicate and tender did he seem? He was lost in a deep sleep. He was so soft that I felt scared even to touch him. The nurse prevented me to hold him saying, ‘He has contracted infantile jaundice. We’re moving him to neonatology ward, where he would be kept in an incubator for the next seven days.’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ill-thoughts clouded my head. I started praying for his well-being. I saw through the glasses. Before being laid down into the incubator, I saw his eyes open for just a moment. They seemed to be in search of me, just to reassure me that there was no need to worry, everything was going to be fine. They seemed to be telling me, 'Go and look after Ma, she is eagerly waiting to see you; one week later I would be playing in your lap.'</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just then, my in-laws came when I shared the good-news. Their eyes got wet in ecstasy. I touched their feet. My father-in-law asked me, ‘So, did you see your son? What does he look like? Fair or dark, strong or frail, thin or healthy? Did his features go upon you or Sudha?’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A nurse, who was passing by, said to him, ‘The baby is very weak. He will be under our supervision in an incubator for about one week.’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But then suddenly a voice stirred me from within. I said to everybody around, ‘I don’t know whether his features resemble me or Sudha. If you trust my words, he resembles himself who has the power to break all the traditional bondages. Don’t think of him as weak! He is very strong, powerful and impactful; so powerful that the moment he came in the womb of his mother, nobody dared to say a word against her; so impactful that his birth brought so much relief to me that I even forgot to meet his mother after delivery; so strong, that his father has got a new strength the moment he saw his face – the strength of confidence.’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Really, how joyous it is to be a father.</div></span>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-70787475291679165032010-04-10T03:25:00.001-07:002010-04-10T03:25:44.087-07:00Basic Design<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-m9Fi03UInQ6vp289a6Hyb_k004eKxj7tP9sxVY5sPBm_S4klIhTbrdW5PMVmmJvR5mbNhmxtLht6UBkdawnUVTRoIpy41eY2XFwkat4on45f4Z5IVnTdBSAldG92KWsW5yQXXshf8_Xu/s1600/Design+basic.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-m9Fi03UInQ6vp289a6Hyb_k004eKxj7tP9sxVY5sPBm_S4klIhTbrdW5PMVmmJvR5mbNhmxtLht6UBkdawnUVTRoIpy41eY2XFwkat4on45f4Z5IVnTdBSAldG92KWsW5yQXXshf8_Xu/s400/Design+basic.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458453025925477826" /></a>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-85890535710083816072009-10-03T01:47:00.000-07:002009-10-03T01:52:25.707-07:00Ideas for Change<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Our aim is to assess where gaps and challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) lie and then tell how India can achieve these goals.</span><br /><br />Well, to begin with, it seems quite a simple and a straight-forward topic, eight goals - all of them had been hammered into our minds right from the early school days and we all know about them, though not as MDGs but as ways to curb the problems which India is facing - but still the fact that these eight 'simple' goals have not yet been achieved calls for our attention. There is an evident gap, which needs to be analyzed and some firm solutions are needed to subdue this gap.<br /><br />Before analyzing, a particular question needs to be answered i.e. 'Why are the MDGs so different?' The answer to which may seem quite logical - these goals are people-centered, measurable, they are based on global partnership, they have unprecedented global partnership or they are time-bound but the real answer inevitably is that they are <span style="font-style: italic;">achievable</span>. Yes, they are.<br /><br />India is a developing country and that too with an ever-booming population. This makes things a bit unmanageable and poverty emerges out as one of the biggest bottlenecks in the progress of this nation. Poverty comes as a big divide - a big gap - in one of the world's fastest growing economy i.e. India by limiting the access to not only the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothes but also it acts like the root of all the adversities that the nation is facing today, with its off-shoots being a latent reason of the high child and maternal mortality rate, ever-growing pollution, struggling primary education and erratic health services.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Where does the gap lie? </span>The gap lies in the policies which are made and their inefficient execution on the grass-root level. Factors are many - we can blame it upon poverty, corruption, illiteracy, economic disparity, lack of ample technical skills and a good infrastructure, unawareness or any other such things; but until and unless, we as not-just-literate-rather-educated citizens of India take part in building this nation and bridging this gap, then only can these MDGs can be efficiently achieved. Unless, we consider our India as 'ours'<span style="font-style: italic;">(Mera India), </span>then only can we <span style="font-style: italic;">bridge the gap</span>.<br /><br />Then there are issues like AIDS/HIV which have struck the nation with great force in the last few decades. Its a painful fact that two-thirds of HIV /AIDS infections in Asia occur in India only, with an estimated 5.7 million infections<span style="font-style: italic;"> (estimated 3.4-9.4 million) (0.9% of population), </span>surpassing South Africa's estimated 5.5 million infections, making India the country with the highest number of HIV+ people in the world. One study predicts that if the AIDS epidemic is not contained, up to 16 million people could be infected by 2016. This would slow the rate of economic growth by up to one percentage point every year. The question here is not where the gap lies because it's something that can't be completely eradicated nor can be cured; instead the question of the hour is -<span style="font-style: italic;"> 'how we can check this phenomenon?'</span><br /><br />As regular bread-earning citizens of this country, we seldom consider ourselves insufficient to contribute to the development of this big nation. But, we forgot that almost all of 'us' - the common man - have got a simple weapon which has got immense potential to bridge the gap. The weapon is called, in layman's terms as 'education'. Yes, education - it is one such thing that can revolutionize the whole development process - it can create phenomenal change in a short time. You might be thinking how can education help? It can, in a very subtle way. It gives you several tools to contribute - it enables you to read, in a way giving you an opportunity to get yourself aware about almost everything that you need to know about; it enables you to write and express your thoughts, in a way giving you an opportunity to flush out the ignorance/misinformation of others about various important issues like HIV+/AIDS or climate-change; it also enables you to impart your education to the deprived few, after all what it takes to take out just two hours every weekend to go and introduce the destitute to the world of numbers, words and language. There are several NGOs running quite successfully across the country which make it much easier for a common man to count himself in the 'contributors' category. Several AIDS awareness campaigns by common people and NGOs are often seen around the cities and campuses of colleges, which is a healthy sign about people feeling responsible to the society. However, what is required in the present scenario is mass participation from people of all ages.<br /><br />Amongst other solutions, one key issue which comes is that the Indian education system is making people literate but very few of the literates can be called as 'educated'. India needs great educationists, to have a pool of visionaries who shape the future of country. The best way this can be achieved is by increasing the salaries of the building block of education i.e. teachers. Good teachers ensure good thinking of the coming generation. More salary means teaching becomes a lucrative career line, which attracts talented young men and women towards it, which in turn will groom the coming generations by making them aware, efficient and responsible towards our nation.<br /><br />Coming to the current situation, with the dark cloud of poverty overshadowing every initiative taken by the government, some new ideas are needed to alleviate this stumbling block. One such idea is helping the farmers financially. India, being an agrarian country, to feed its entire population needs to ensure that the demands of farmers are well taken care of. The shortage of lands, lack of irrigation, insufficient fertilizers and manures should be the priority of the government in its every endeavour. Despite the improvement in these facilities, cheap loans and Gramin Vikas Yojanas running, the government is still running far behind its target with one-fourth of the population which sleeps empty-stomach at nights. Instead of splurging large sums of money in unnecessary political campaigns, if that money is used to uplift the masses, it could create a difference.<br /><br />Proposed solutions are many, but in the end, the ones which can really solve the problems will be considered as sound ones. But, at least, we should try our best to be a part of the solutions because if we are not a part of the solution, then we are the problem. <span style="font-style: italic;">After all, 'we' need to be the bridge to bridge the gap!</span><br /><br /><br />Harsh Snehanshu<br /><br />P.S. I hate writing essays</div>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-62610869784695823402009-10-01T08:32:00.000-07:002009-10-03T01:47:17.176-07:00Ideas for Change<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Our aim is to assess where gaps and challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) lie and then tell how India can achieve these goals. </span><br /><br />Well, to begin with, it seems quite a simple and a straight-forward topic, eight goals - all of them had been hammered into our minds right from the early school days and we all know about them, though not as MDGs but as ways to curb the problems which India is facing - but still the fact that these eight 'simple' goals have not yet been achieved calls for our attention. There is an evident gap, which needs to be analyzed and some firm solutions are needed to subdue this gap.<br /><br />Before analyzing, a particular question needs to be answered i.e. 'Why are the MDGs so different?' The answer to which may seem quite logical - these goals are people-centered, measurable, they are based on global partnership, they have unprecedented global partnership or they are time-bound but the real answer inevitably is that they are <span style="font-style: italic;">achievable</span>. Yes, they are.<br /><br />India is a developing country and that too with an ever-booming population. This makes things a bit unmanageable and poverty emerges out as one of the biggest bottlenecks in the progress of this nation. Poverty comes as a big divide - a big gap - in one of the world's fastest growing economy i.e. India by limiting the access to not only the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothes but also it acts like the root of all the adversities that the nation is facing today, with its off-shoots being a latent reason of the high child and maternal mortality rate, ever-growing pollution, struggling primary education and erratic health services.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Where the gap lies? </span>The gap lies in the policies which are made and their inefficient execution on the grass-root level. Factors are many - we can blame it upon poverty, corruption, illiteracy, economic disparity, lack of ample technical skills and a good infrastructure, unawareness or any other such things; but until and unless, we as <span style="font-style: italic;">not-just-literate-rather-educated </span>citizens of India take part in building this nation and bridging this gap, then only can these MDGs can be efficiently achieved. Unless, we consider our India as 'ours'<span style="font-style: italic;">(Mera India)</span>, then only can we <span style="font-style: italic;">bridge the gap</span>.<br /><br />Then there are issues like AIDS/HIV which have struck the nation with great force in the last few decades. Its a painful fact that two-thirds of HIV /AIDS infections in Asia occur in India only, with an estimated 5.7 million infections (estimated 3.4-9.4 million) (0.9% of population), surpassing South Africa's estimated 5.5 million infections, making India the country with the highest number of HIV+ people in the world. One study predicts that if the AIDS epidemic is not contained, up to 16 million people could be infected by 2016. This would slow the rate of economic growth by up to one percentage point every year. The question here is not where the gap lies because it's something that can't be completely eradicated nor can be cured, instead the question of the hour is - 'how we can check this phenomena?'<br /><br />As regular bread-earning citizens of this country, we seldom consider ourselves <span style="font-style: italic;">insufficient </span>to contribute to the development of this big nation. But, we forgot that almost all of 'us' - the common man - have got a simple weapon which has got immense potential to bridge the gap. The weapon is called, in layman's terms as 'education'. Yes, education - it is one such thing that can revolutionize the whole development process - it can create phenomenal change in a short time. You might be thinking how can education help? It can, in a very subtle way. It gives you several tools to contribute - it enables you to <span style="font-style: italic;">read</span>, in a way giving you an opportunity to get yourself aware about almost everything that you need to know about; it enables you to <span style="font-style: italic;">write and express </span>your thoughts, in a way giving you an opportunity to flush out the ignorance/misinformation of others about various important <span style="font-style: italic;">issues like </span><span style="font-style: italic;">HIV+/AIDS or climate-change</span>; it also enables you to <span style="font-style: italic;">impart </span>your education to the deprived few, after all what it takes to take out just two hours every weekend to go and introduce the destitutes to the world of numbers, words and language. There are several NGOs running quite successfully across the country which make it much easier for a common man to count himself in the 'contributors' category. Several AIDS awareness campaigns by common people and NGOs are often seen around the cities and campuses of colleges, which is a healthy sign about people feeling responsible to the society. However, what is required in the present scenario is mass participation from people of all ages.<br /><br />Amongst other solutions, one key issue which comes is that the Indian education system is making people literate but very few of the literates can be called as 'educated'. India needs great educationists, to have a pool of visionaries who shape the future of country. The best way this can be achieved is by increasing the salaries of the building block of education i.e. teachers. Good teachers ensures good thinking of the coming generation. More salary means teaching becomes a lucrative career line, which attracts <span style="font-style: italic;">talented </span>young men and women towards it, which in turn will groom the coming generations by making them aware, efficient and responsible towards our nation.<br /><br />Coming to the current situation, with the dark cloud of poverty overshadowing every initiative taken by the government, some new ideas to alleviate this stumbling block. One such idea is helping the farmers financially. India, being an agrarian country, to feed its entire population needs to ensure that the demands of farmers is well taken care of. The shortage of lands, lack of irrigation, insufficient fertilizers and manures should be the priority of the government in its every endeavour. Despite the improvement in these facilities, cheap loans and Gramin Vikas Yojanas running, the government is still running far behind its target with one-fourth of the population which sleeps empty-stomach at nights. Instead of splurging large sums of money in unnecessary political campaigns, if that money is used to uplift the masses, it could create a difference.<br /><br />Proposed solutions are many, but in the end, the ones which can really solve the problems will be considered as sound ones. But, at least, we should try our best to be a part of the solutions because <span>if we are not a part of the solution, then we are the problem</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">After all, 'we' need to be the bridge to bridge the gap!</span><br /><br />Harsh Snehanshu<br /><br />P.S. I hate writing essays.<br /><br /></div>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-85873273876765567012008-07-16T14:08:00.000-07:002008-12-11T13:58:25.711-08:00Is two dimensional world possible?<div style="text-align: justify;">People have been using two dimensional world for explaining different phenomenas of this world. Suppose this 2-D world really existed, then imagine how funny it would be. People of two dimensions will have two-dimensional scooters and bicycles, while there would be no taxi-drivers or rickshaw-walas as rickshaws and cars(being three dimensional) would not be possible. How would any couple marry because they could never take 'saat phere' around the fire. The life would be much like 2-D computer games like Mario and Dave(with guys eating 2-dimensional mushrooms to grow and jumping on owls and ducks to achieve their goals). So the question is, "Is this kind of world really possible?" The answer to many people will seem to be yes, but infact considering our biology this speculation is not possible. Here is the explanation.<br /></div><br />In a two dimensional world, everything would be fine, only our digestive system will cause a problem, and that too a big problem. No, I am not talking about indigestion or loose motions, but a problem more serious than that. If we notice carefully, the digestive track will divide our whole body into two halves. The picture displayed below shows the two halves in two different colours to elucidate the point.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUu8eGJX5iOjrah-XZlsCJAxsQP3-SVyIJIBQm1ne39xkKUvct3_BSduNKL0LExLN5VidCwebI5tkRxFzZ56BXsIROAK7clWqA79raPL1cyhlJdS8xjVyBEmZICnCD-UfOSmWQJIZoSGn/s1600-h/Two+Dimension.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUu8eGJX5iOjrah-XZlsCJAxsQP3-SVyIJIBQm1ne39xkKUvct3_BSduNKL0LExLN5VidCwebI5tkRxFzZ56BXsIROAK7clWqA79raPL1cyhlJdS8xjVyBEmZICnCD-UfOSmWQJIZoSGn/s400/Two+Dimension.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223722555133276530" border="0" /></a><br />God really is very clever, he planned very carefully before putting down the recipes for this universe. Hats off to His Brain !Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-18050147489593935772008-07-16T14:07:00.000-07:002008-07-16T14:25:21.260-07:00A Relative Speculation :<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />This article is not about the theory of relativity. But its about the basic fact of life : everything is relative to each other. If I am a good guitarist then its relative to somebody who plays bad guitar or if I am a bad painter its relative to someone better. Even places are also relative to each other such as Delhi is 1500 kilometers away from Calcutta and so on.<br /><br />This relativity shows a common fact of life : Nothing is fundamental. Let us say, Napolean was born at Corsica, Greece. If we go to find the exact place where Napolean was born we would never be able to find it. Because if we go to the exact location where he bawled out on this earth, then relative to the solar system our earth would not be at the same position at the orbit; so if we go to Corsica exactly at the same time and that too on Napolean's birthday, still with respect to the centre of the galaxy Milky Way we would have drifted away from the center, for earth as well as the galaxies are continuously drifting away from each other. If we have got to go to exactly the same location where Napolean was born, then we have no other option other rewinding our time<span style="font-style: italic;">(That would require Harry Baweja to make another Love Story 1800, but please somebody tell him we don't want!)</span>. Still our dearest H.G.Wells' concept of time-machine has not come into being. This leaves us only one thing to satisfy our curious minds with and that is - Nothing is fundamental.<br /><br />After coming to such a conclusion, we observe that God has played dice with this universe. He has provided us such a strangest thing that we can't help ourselves, because that is fundamental for all its observers, that does not change with time and is the most mysterious thing known to the mankind. Yes guys and girls, we are talking about the speed of light. Scientists were puzzled from the very beginning that how could there be only one thing so big that is beyond the comprehension of the entire humankind, that is constant relative to everything that obsereves it. So they decided that light moved through a special medium called 'aether'. But scientists have this common characteristic, they search for opportunities to prove any theory/hypothesis wrong. As most of them are not able to discover anything till their face hangs in its own wrinkles, so instead they focus on proving something already accepted, as wrong. Our physicist duo Michelson-Morley were even awarded the Nobel prize for proving this hypothesis of aether wrong! So scientists began to think what this speed of light is constant to? It might be constant to such a thing that is very fundamental to the whole universe.<br /><br />Some clever scientists eventually applied his mind to serious thinking (instead of disproving old theories) and suggested that the fixed point must be the point which is constant through all the space and time and the speed of light is relative to that thing. They came to the conclusion that the singularity that existed at the time of Big Bang must indeed be that fundamental point. But despite all the efforts for about three years our able scientists(including that dishevelled haired freak called Einstein) were not able to locate that point of the BIG BANG. So scientists developed an idea(which was really cool); as they could not find themselves what they went to search, they blocked the way for the forth-coming generations by providing a strange yet very sound hypothesis(which has not been disproved till now) i.e. the singularity can never be comprehended by us because it happens to exist in the fourth dimension. Now people get frightened after seeing this word "fourth dimension" : No need to be frightened(you haven't got frightened reading this article till now assures you that you won't be scared by this word too). I will explain this fourth dimension vividly in full detail.<br /><br />I will use two dimension for explaining this fourth dimension. Suppose there is a two dimensional surface. On the surface there are many villages which inhabitates two dimensional beings in their two dimensional houses(Don't worry about them, they manage to live, just suppose!). They have two dimensional torches and the torch light follows the surface instead of spreading in all the 3 dimension. To the two dimensional beings this world seems flat. One day, what they observe is that the faraway villages are running away from theirs as the light takes more time to reach their village than before. That made them think that initially all the villages were clustered into a singularity and from that all of this emerged. If the people on that two dimensional surface try to comprehend that singularity, they will never be able to do so because they are actually on a very giant and highly elastic balloon with air continuously being blown into. They can't comprehend whether this balloon has a beginning or an end. They can't comprehend this balloon even as the singularity represents the time when this balloon was inflated completely and that singularity is out of their dimension. Strange yet amazing explanation, isn't it?<br /><br />This balloon is a simile for our universe(with its galaxies running away from each other) and the singularity represents the point of the Big Bang which happens to be incomprehensible.<br />So scientists believe (and even I do!) that this speed of light is the only fundamental thing of this universe that will never change with time, because this speed of light is relative to something that is in itself fundamental yet incomprehensible.<br /><br />The Universe is the biggest mystery for us, and with this biggest I really mean to say "The Biggest". If in our lifetime, we are not even once fascinated by it, then we have certainly missed something. The end of the film Men in Black puts this idea in a very beautiful way, that our whole universe is within a marble and there are several such marbles in thousands of lockers. And several octopuses are playing football with it.<br /></div>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-45401458253519550762008-07-14T00:35:00.000-07:002008-07-16T14:07:12.016-07:00Apparition<div style="text-align: justify;">This is a new science in the making. It infers to the simultaneous appearance of a thing at two places. Scientists have been able to do apparition for a photon, making it pass through the apparition machine and simultaneously making it existent at two points for an instant.<br /><br />It seems strange, but its very possible. Let me explain you through an example. We all know that energy levels of an atom are quantized. Now when an electron is excited from one energy level to another, the space between the energy levels has a zero probability for the existence of electrons. So what happens is that the electron disappears from one orbit and reappears on another. At the same time, electron jumping from one orbit to another is present at two different locations. Similarly, if science advances then one day it will be possible for us to be present at two places at the same time.<br /></div>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348539443900358673.post-60243618182437551892007-12-19T22:03:00.001-08:002007-12-19T22:07:40.924-08:00Astrology : What's that?<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Scientifically, the effect of the gravitation forces of the sun, moon and the planets is equivalent to the gravitational force exerted by a piece of pea suspended in air 20 metres away. It is totally absurd to say that the gravitational force of these celestial bodies will have any effect on our lives.<br /><br />Quoting "Autobiography of a Yogi", Yogananda says that astrology is such a great science that even a real astrologist who can see the future of a person instantly on seeing the face will never ever dare to tell that person his/her future because no real gyani will ever play with the will of God. He will let everything happen on its own.<br /><br />So all those people who hold the so called post of astrologist or palmists are mere frauds who have discovered a great technique of extracting great money from the naive and gullible people of India.<br /><br />One should be rational and scientific. I am glad to note that our former President Mr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam clearly wrote in his autobiography, "Wings of Fire", that he cannot understand the reason behind astrology and he does not believe it.<br /><br />..........................................................................................................................................................................</div>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0