Open your eyes, take a look around you and count the number of things you are restricted to do. Is the hoarding you are looking at torn? Is the movie theater closed? Is the image blurred? Now ask yourself, is it required that you be restricted??
Obviously I am not talking about laws or road traffic rules here. I am talking about censorship we are not even aware of being subject to. I am talking about the so called moral police who wish to control everything from images to ideas that we are exposed to, I am talking about the ban on books because it irked some narrow mind albeit with wide connections. I am talking about censoring of the internet search results, blocking of websites, search terms, word filters etc.
Who is anyone else to decide what should and should not be seen by you?? Ask yourself this question.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Dear Blog
I wrote the title spontaneously... perhaps because i have been feeling guilty. Feeling guilty that i haven't been paying much attention to the blog, that twitter and facebook have so totally side tracked the blog.
Its just that twitter is so straight forward and simple, u update from anywhere and its out there. Facebook on the other hand is so interactive. But i have always known that its the blog which will last, which will record and which will be read every time i feel nostalgic and want to reminisce. The fact that it can be vice-versa is just another feature... :)
So many things have happened since last post. 4th sem started, results good enuff. Got a good project under a good guide. Already went for two trips Vasota and Purandar (more on that later... ;) ). So i am pretty much relaxed; as i have always been, in MSc. No worries, no tension. Of course the future remains an open question, but somehow it doesn't bother me much, definitely not the way it bothered in BSc. I mean i am kinda used to it. In 10th they told me to rub my a** off so i get electronics. I opted for biology anyways (opted, since i didn't want electronics which i was getting btw). In 12th they told me to rub my a** off so i get engineering. I opted for BSc anyways. In BSc they told me to rub my a** off so i get a good MSc. I got not 1 but 3 good MScs. Now they tell me to rub my a**off for a good PhD. Well, there's not much left to rub anymore i guess. I know something will come along, that it will be good and what more do i want?? :)
I notice that i blog mostly when i am feeling happy. Perhaps when i read this in future i will only be reminded of the good things that took place. That's definitely a good thing, who wants to remember the bad things anyways. This blog was intended for only one reader, and this post, thus, is meant only for him. Cheers buddy!!!... :)
Its just that twitter is so straight forward and simple, u update from anywhere and its out there. Facebook on the other hand is so interactive. But i have always known that its the blog which will last, which will record and which will be read every time i feel nostalgic and want to reminisce. The fact that it can be vice-versa is just another feature... :)
So many things have happened since last post. 4th sem started, results good enuff. Got a good project under a good guide. Already went for two trips Vasota and Purandar (more on that later... ;) ). So i am pretty much relaxed; as i have always been, in MSc. No worries, no tension. Of course the future remains an open question, but somehow it doesn't bother me much, definitely not the way it bothered in BSc. I mean i am kinda used to it. In 10th they told me to rub my a** off so i get electronics. I opted for biology anyways (opted, since i didn't want electronics which i was getting btw). In 12th they told me to rub my a** off so i get engineering. I opted for BSc anyways. In BSc they told me to rub my a** off so i get a good MSc. I got not 1 but 3 good MScs. Now they tell me to rub my a**off for a good PhD. Well, there's not much left to rub anymore i guess. I know something will come along, that it will be good and what more do i want?? :)
I notice that i blog mostly when i am feeling happy. Perhaps when i read this in future i will only be reminded of the good things that took place. That's definitely a good thing, who wants to remember the bad things anyways. This blog was intended for only one reader, and this post, thus, is meant only for him. Cheers buddy!!!... :)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Third Sem Ends...
Just finished watching two movies... Last exam tomorrow.
Its been wierd this time... never felt as if exams were on. In fact had more fun during the damn exams rather than before. Night time tea sessions at Shivajinagar. Night shows for hollywood movies hindi mein, that too housefull. Plaing silly flash games or watching some movie on the laptop till 1(am), studying till 2, waking up at 9, going to Anna's and complaning had too much to eat, cant possibly study now and after all this sitting for the exam at 2 and then coming out and say "Man that went better than expected!!". Thats the one good thing about not studying, you expect the worst but it always goes better than expected and you come out happy. Thats any day better than studying hard, not being able to do as well and coming out disappointed.
And not just me, everyone in the hostel just did tp for most part. Even when the next day was gonna be shit and I knew it and I just couldn't get myself to study for it. TO give you an idea, I installed NFS Carbon (again) just before the exams knowing full well that man this is THE ONE THING i should NOT be doing, but to hell with it all. AND believe it or not, I have completed the damn career mode and the challenger series has just 5 more gold races left. Its a freaking 5 GB game, and i had exams going on.
As i type this, it is 1am (exact) on Dec the 10th. It has been: 25th Nov to 10th Dec - 16 days, 13 exams, 8 subjects, 7 theory papers, 6 practicals and 3 holidays; MSc Bioinformatics Semester III ends. Didnt feel anything this time, neither the dread, fear nor the high. Thats why its been wierd this time. But still feeling happy that the exams are ending.
Its been wierd this time... never felt as if exams were on. In fact had more fun during the damn exams rather than before. Night time tea sessions at Shivajinagar. Night shows for hollywood movies hindi mein, that too housefull. Plaing silly flash games or watching some movie on the laptop till 1(am), studying till 2, waking up at 9, going to Anna's and complaning had too much to eat, cant possibly study now and after all this sitting for the exam at 2 and then coming out and say "Man that went better than expected!!". Thats the one good thing about not studying, you expect the worst but it always goes better than expected and you come out happy. Thats any day better than studying hard, not being able to do as well and coming out disappointed.
And not just me, everyone in the hostel just did tp for most part. Even when the next day was gonna be shit and I knew it and I just couldn't get myself to study for it. TO give you an idea, I installed NFS Carbon (again) just before the exams knowing full well that man this is THE ONE THING i should NOT be doing, but to hell with it all. AND believe it or not, I have completed the damn career mode and the challenger series has just 5 more gold races left. Its a freaking 5 GB game, and i had exams going on.
As i type this, it is 1am (exact) on Dec the 10th. It has been: 25th Nov to 10th Dec - 16 days, 13 exams, 8 subjects, 7 theory papers, 6 practicals and 3 holidays; MSc Bioinformatics Semester III ends. Didnt feel anything this time, neither the dread, fear nor the high. Thats why its been wierd this time. But still feeling happy that the exams are ending.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Climate Change
This planet is an extremely complex and dynamic system of uncountable interacting elements.
There is a game called as "Life" which is most commonly implemented in C language. It basically creates a 2 dimensional array and "lights" up cells according to some few simple basic rules. However once the code is run, after some time extraordinarily complex patterns are seen and new patterns emerge. As if the code is living, the lit up cells are termed to be alive, hence the name Life.
Its the same with Earth, except that this planet is an infinite dimensional array, and a large number of incredibly complex rules govern interactions between the variables which light up the cells.
One feature of the game was that when the initial pattern changed the subsequent patterns changed drastically. Also the initial pattern decided whether the lit up cells will spread apart, dilute in concentration and die, or they will form other patterns which will be sustained.
Life appeared/arrived/started on this planet 3.2 billion years ago. Then around 2.4 billions years back photosynthesis appeared. And the sheer number of the cyanobacteria was enough to change the composition of the whole damn atmophere of this planet. The air turned poisonous with a new oxidising agent. Level of CO2 fell drastically, temperatures dropped. Climate Changed.
Present day Earth, same process is happening, inhabitants of the biosphere are playing with patterns and the outcome is bound to change the state of this planet and problem is we don't know where these changed pattern will lead to.
But my stand, as it has always been, on climate change is as follows: Cyanobacteria utilized the nutrients available to them to the fullest, in the process excreting Oxygen, which was at that time an extremely poisonous gas to other life forms, which were predominantly Anaerobes. This phenomena pushed anaerobes, which ruled the earth into such places such as seafloor, intestines and bottom of marshes. Today we are also utilizing the resources available to us to the fullest, and in the process we are excreting poisonous waste which is bound to affect the abiosphere and other life forms. However if cyanobacteria didn't stop why should we. This planet has always adjusted to whatever perturbations it encountered, that's how the system works, by simply following the rules. If the changed patterns cause some populations (maybe/hopefully Humans) to die off, well thats how this game of Life works. The rules just cant be changed.
P.s. This is my post as a contribution for the Blog Action Day cause of this year Climate Change. Cant say it furthers the cause, but i registered and so i blogged!! :)
There is a game called as "Life" which is most commonly implemented in C language. It basically creates a 2 dimensional array and "lights" up cells according to some few simple basic rules. However once the code is run, after some time extraordinarily complex patterns are seen and new patterns emerge. As if the code is living, the lit up cells are termed to be alive, hence the name Life.
Its the same with Earth, except that this planet is an infinite dimensional array, and a large number of incredibly complex rules govern interactions between the variables which light up the cells.
One feature of the game was that when the initial pattern changed the subsequent patterns changed drastically. Also the initial pattern decided whether the lit up cells will spread apart, dilute in concentration and die, or they will form other patterns which will be sustained.
Life appeared/arrived/started on this planet 3.2 billion years ago. Then around 2.4 billions years back photosynthesis appeared. And the sheer number of the cyanobacteria was enough to change the composition of the whole damn atmophere of this planet. The air turned poisonous with a new oxidising agent. Level of CO2 fell drastically, temperatures dropped. Climate Changed.
Present day Earth, same process is happening, inhabitants of the biosphere are playing with patterns and the outcome is bound to change the state of this planet and problem is we don't know where these changed pattern will lead to.
But my stand, as it has always been, on climate change is as follows: Cyanobacteria utilized the nutrients available to them to the fullest, in the process excreting Oxygen, which was at that time an extremely poisonous gas to other life forms, which were predominantly Anaerobes. This phenomena pushed anaerobes, which ruled the earth into such places such as seafloor, intestines and bottom of marshes. Today we are also utilizing the resources available to us to the fullest, and in the process we are excreting poisonous waste which is bound to affect the abiosphere and other life forms. However if cyanobacteria didn't stop why should we. This planet has always adjusted to whatever perturbations it encountered, that's how the system works, by simply following the rules. If the changed patterns cause some populations (maybe/hopefully Humans) to die off, well thats how this game of Life works. The rules just cant be changed.
P.s. This is my post as a contribution for the Blog Action Day cause of this year Climate Change. Cant say it furthers the cause, but i registered and so i blogged!! :)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Hey, he is an Indian... nope: of "Indian Origin"
Just recently Dr Venki Ramakrishnan won the Nobel Prize (2009) in Chemistry for his seminal work in elucidating Ribosome Structure and Function along with Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath.
And as expected everybody Indian started celebrating his "victory" and how that he was Indian in origin and was only the 4th Indian to win a Nobel and all what a great thing it was. Celebrations galore.
And then the internet came alive with blogs and tweets as to why all these celebrations, Venki did his Phd from US, his Post Doc from US, his research from US, using US dollars in grants and using resources provided in US by US and US and US. His discovery is beneficial only to the US and not to us in any way. And is he even Indian anymore?? Why the hell Indians in India are going over the top. The main question was why are we raising such a hue and cry over it.
Well I beg to differ. First and foremost, I dont think his discovery is beneficial only to US and not beneficial to us, because his discovery was for Science, something which transcends international boundaries. His work has resulted in understanding the mechanism of antibiotics that work in every Human, not just US citizens.
Secondly I ask, when does one stop being an Indian?? How does one define Indianess?? I mean, now that i live in Pune, i have come to love Mumbai more than before. Bombay is a place where i spent my whole childhood in, and whatever happens and whichever city i live in, there will always be some Mumbai and some Bombay in me. Similarly when and if i leave this country, does it mean i will cease to be an Indian?? That i will drop the values, principles and morals i follow. I feel to whatever different places we go to, we always come from one place, may be birth place, may be where u spent your childhood, may be home town, but mostly a place where u feel u are from. That place stays with you. Always. And wherever you go, you always have some of it in you.
So should we be asking whether Venki is Indian or not?? Einstein was from Germany, but won his Nobel as a US citizen, just like Khorana and Chandrasekhar. Does it make their work any less important or less meaningful??
It must also be noted that we have excellent research institutions in IISC, NCBS, TIFR etc. but look at the papers published from IISC, how many are Nature publications??. NCBS does publish in Nature and Science level journals but at what rate?? These institutions must be given the things they need (chiefly funding) to do such work, Venki winning the Nobel only goes to show that Indians have it in them to achieve such heights, only they have to leave the country to do so, and then face accusing questions by other people.
Instead of celebrating Diwali prematurely as we (Indians) are doing, we should rather try to provide opportunities in India to scientists for doing such fundamental work.
And as expected everybody Indian started celebrating his "victory" and how that he was Indian in origin and was only the 4th Indian to win a Nobel and all what a great thing it was. Celebrations galore.
And then the internet came alive with blogs and tweets as to why all these celebrations, Venki did his Phd from US, his Post Doc from US, his research from US, using US dollars in grants and using resources provided in US by US and US and US. His discovery is beneficial only to the US and not to us in any way. And is he even Indian anymore?? Why the hell Indians in India are going over the top. The main question was why are we raising such a hue and cry over it.
Well I beg to differ. First and foremost, I dont think his discovery is beneficial only to US and not beneficial to us, because his discovery was for Science, something which transcends international boundaries. His work has resulted in understanding the mechanism of antibiotics that work in every Human, not just US citizens.
Secondly I ask, when does one stop being an Indian?? How does one define Indianess?? I mean, now that i live in Pune, i have come to love Mumbai more than before. Bombay is a place where i spent my whole childhood in, and whatever happens and whichever city i live in, there will always be some Mumbai and some Bombay in me. Similarly when and if i leave this country, does it mean i will cease to be an Indian?? That i will drop the values, principles and morals i follow. I feel to whatever different places we go to, we always come from one place, may be birth place, may be where u spent your childhood, may be home town, but mostly a place where u feel u are from. That place stays with you. Always. And wherever you go, you always have some of it in you.
So should we be asking whether Venki is Indian or not?? Einstein was from Germany, but won his Nobel as a US citizen, just like Khorana and Chandrasekhar. Does it make their work any less important or less meaningful??
It must also be noted that we have excellent research institutions in IISC, NCBS, TIFR etc. but look at the papers published from IISC, how many are Nature publications??. NCBS does publish in Nature and Science level journals but at what rate?? These institutions must be given the things they need (chiefly funding) to do such work, Venki winning the Nobel only goes to show that Indians have it in them to achieve such heights, only they have to leave the country to do so, and then face accusing questions by other people.
Instead of celebrating Diwali prematurely as we (Indians) are doing, we should rather try to provide opportunities in India to scientists for doing such fundamental work.
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