Double standard alias Patronising…

My long absence here – you know why, if you read my last post.I have made up my mind to come back here and be regular all over again. The show must go on – right?

Personal freedom – I stand for it, I support it, I advocate for it. I tell others to fight for it, if necessary.

“This is how I live, that is how you live; You live your life and I live  mine” – I totally get this.

In most of the cases, I act so too. But sometimes, I think I am adding one more line to it – “Anyway, my way is superior. You could be like me.”

Now I am not so clear whether I give such a vibe too often/strong. But in general, I have an attitude that my way is better and I am happier than the average Joe.

I like to be RIGHT. But I shall not deny others’ right to be right, right?

As RG once pointed out, I like to “feel good about myself” than the average Joe. That’s all fine… as long as I don’t force it on others.

Perhaps, I am not doing it a lot. But lately some incidents make me (re)think. And isn’t that something I should pay attention to? Yes, it IS; So, I will.

Thanks to the ones who brought it to my notice; Apologies to the ones who suffered my superiority complex. ;)

I’ll live my life and you figure out yours; and feel free to kick my ass if I interfere with your way! (Hmm… I won’t hesitate if you interfere with mine) ..

On a different note, I am afraid of the time when the picture here becomes true – some day!

Signing off, Sands.

 

PS: Dedicating this entry to the one who helped me see the issue better.

PPS: Was reading THIS (the real trigger).

PPPS: Blogging is very good to get your thoughts structured. Reason #1: it won’t talk back to you when you are half way through your conversation. :)

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People, Friendships, Relationships and... Escapism.

Hats off to life .. again.. and again. Another set of lessons! I might not be able to explain the lessons. But the following are the things I saw around me.

- Friends being drifted off to worlds apart....
- People being confused a lot...
- Escapism helps a lot of them... escape from the problem, escape from the confusing situation.

I am seeing that quite a lot lately - it teaches me a lot too. Like.., What not to do? How not to act? How not to think?

As I had said earlier... confusion is a good thing - it gives you clarity, even though it takes you through troubled times. But don't give up -- don't ever give up. Don't try to escape. Figure out the reason and fight the problem. If everything else fails, fall to the option of seeing things materialistically. Try to look into the future - try to see which action would do what in the future. Plan the actions accordingly. ***

Isn't life so simple? Like everyone else, I do have my fair share of problems, my fair share of demoralised, low moments. Still everything has always looked so clear to me. Even when there were confusions, I could steer clear of them (Not always very easily and sometimes with the help of the below mentioned friend; sometimes other friends too). Still, mostly, I have been able to ... perhaps because I am unknowingly learning from others.

As Vimal said, I have too much time to think. I should give a thought to giving less time for thoughts! ;)
Glad that it's not devil's workshop... YET! :)

Time to sleep. Signing off, Sands.

***: Easily said than done. ;)

Not so Perfect Murder(s)

First, let's read a short conversation between Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson. [Ad. of the Speckled Band]

"What do you make of that, Watson?"

"It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be tied."

"That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." [source]

Recently I read about some murders which happened in Kerala. I am specifically talking about the guys who murdered their wives (respectively) and one of them killed all his children too. I do totally resent the whole affair.

Both of them had planned their deeds beforehand. Well, there must have been a trigger - but they were pretty sure about the murders to be committed.

Now, the surprising thing is that they were caught within a week's time. They had left all the clues/evidences which had pointed to them. As a good citizen/man, I am happy that they were caught, as they should be.

The surprise comes from the fact that they were caught within a few days - was that all their planning was? Shouldn't they have done a little more of homework before doing the thing? Idiots!!

Well, according to Mr. Holmes, then they weren't clever enough. According to me too.

I have always known that I am good at finding loop-holes and at closing them too (if needed). The few times I have got inside our locked home@Nellayi without keys, and some other wonderful experiences at Hyderabad have proven me right. [Those experiences would account for a long post - hence later].

If you are a criminal, before your act, try to get into the shoes of an investigator, THINK WELL and then do it. If you are an investigator, try to do the other way around. That would make you more successful. Don't you think so?

These idiots obviously didn't do that. Lack of competence and efficiency is something which I hate. Hence the post. Even the police officers wouldn't have enjoyed the investigation for the lack of challenge in investigation. Kerala Police is usually pretty good with complicated cases (exceptions are there though).

Enough said. Perhaps I should join the police force .. but if the criminals are this way, where is the challenge? ;)

Well, anyway as I said this much, I shouldn't leave without giving this wonderful link to a documentary from BBC - How to commit the perfect murder. You could watch it here_at_video_google [not for the faint of heart].

Moral of the post: If you do something, do it right. If you can't... just don't do it.

Signing off, Sands.

PS1: I am a good, law abiding, fellow-being-loving person. But this total idiots did make me think about their lack of planning and stupidity; and I wanted to comment.

Clarification: If so, why would I watch such creepy/negative stuff? - because, I am interested in literally everything. Starting from  Atom through Spy in the Jungle, Physics for future Presidents [vid] ,  Dangerous Knowledge [vid], Planet Earth, up to  Cosmic Voyage - touching the different areas including Physics, Mathematics, Nature, Sociology etc.

Physics, Religion and Creationists-vs-Evolutionists

Lately, I've been reading a couple of blogs/articles where people argue over topics like GOD/Atheism, Indo-US Nuclear-Deal etc.

I had decided long back that I wouldn't participate in arguments of the following categories -- (i) God/Atheism (ii) Capitalism/Communism (iii) Selfishness/Altruism.

But.. in a week moment, I got involved in one of the arguments from the first category. I should say that I was surprised to see that many of the participants [from both sides] didn't even know the ground rules of carrying on a healthy discussion. And as one would expect, the debate got over without reaching a conclusion. :(

I am a hard-core atheist by all means - very much convinced about the non-existence of a supreme-intelligent-designer-being. But I realized that I was not knowledgeable enough to convince someone who wasn't convinced yet. If I really want one thing in life, it is knowledge. I started to make myself knowledgeable.

I started to:

1. Follow some of the links I got from the debates - links which even take you to the big-bang. [eg: First three minutes (book) by Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate]. Haven't finished the book - but till now, it'd been wonderful.
2. Read a religious text. Well, I could only start with it. It was ultra-mega boring - which means that it would take ages before I finish reading it. But I do want to read it.
3. Watch Mr. Dawkins - his debates in youtube and google-video, programs @ BBC. This person is an awesome character. Too smart to be true. Totally logical, sensible, terrific, awesome.
   
   I, whom I myself consider quite smart and intelligent, take sometimes a moment before really understanding his arguments. He is that good. Do you know, how useful these arguments could be - for your brain-muscle exercises? :)

So, I have been reading up Physics, Religion and listening to creationist-vs-evolutionist arguments. That is one of the reasons along with fever, which kept me away from the blog for about two weeks.

This entry was probably not a light read. Will try for a light read next time.

And this entry is dedicated to this great person, Dawkins, who never loses his temper, against pompous fools.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: If you are interested, you can watch a set of nice dialogues between Mr. Dawkins and Mr. McGrath - HERE. A long one, which gets a little boring in between.

PS2: The picture -- I took from Max Plank Institute

PS3: The post is over here - the following is the scrap/byproduct, from the production of the post.! :)

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Two friends of mine were arguing. One of them lost the argument. What does it mean?

Does it always mean, in an argument, when one of the participants lose, that the other person was right?
Not necessarily, right?

It could also mean that one of them was better at arguing.

Well, we are coming to the topic: Debates.

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I haven't been coming to my English blog as frequently as I used to earlier. Well, there are mainly two reasons.

(i) I was getting a little more involved in Malayalam blogland.
(ii) I was down with fever.

The beauty of Malayalam blogland is that, first of all it is not so huge and large as this one; I personally know most of the main players there.

Secondly, there are quite a few debates*/arguments going on among the bloggers - almost at all times.

Thirdly, one can find all genres of comedy too in there - which of course should be one of the main reasons for getting new people.

Just Personal

This entry could be a little *cryptic* or say, abstract. Please bear with me. I shall put some simple, easy read post next time! (But do read this)

One never knows, what does life have for you in its gift box. Sometimes something very good, sometimes very bad stuff and sometimes something really challenging (shouldn't this come under good?).

Right now, I have got all the three varieties in a week's time.

The bad news first. I was hoping for something and now I am not sure whether I should expect that anymore. Nothing more to write about it. May be I should say the word I'd compare it to - Mirage. :(

I got something really nice.. which I had never expected to get/happen - one of the best things ever. I've got a new friend - a terrific new friend. Can't express how happy I am! :) .. Getting someone with whom you can get a perfect wave-length match -- isn't it great? [Well, it has its own downside too - we happen to waste lot of time together - instead of finishing piles of work, which we both have ;) ]

Finally, the challenge is something I can't afford to reveal. Something really secretive.... Something which even my closest friends might never know. Usually, I don't have any secrets at all; but this time.. I have a thrill of keeping something away from all.

The real reason is that, I want to surprise everyone with this new thing. But if in case I can't get it done, I don't want anyone to know about it! ;)

Signing off, Sands.

PS: I was not in a good mood to write; but I didn't want to give a gap longer than a week. Being regular and systematic is a very important thing in the blog world - hence the entry!

The Manipulator - a quick entry

Four years back, I was alleged to be a manipulator. Well, it's kind of true - as I am good at manipulating, brain washing, giving convincing arguments - to get anyone to my side.

I always have believed that one has to have a bit of all those qualities(?), but should never get caught using them. That is the real success. His actions should look normal/natural.

For the same reason, when I was caught, I wasn't very happy about it. The person who did that was the smartest-girl whom I have ever met in my life, a born manipulator, diplomat. And I could see through her mask. So, we were of the same creed - and that was the relief.

Some time later, I ceased to be one. And started to be a raw man - thinking that the whole world is good.

Now, I am back to the old one. Situations forced me to. And I did good too. Writing this much is beyond the limits, let alone giving more details.

Again, the coincidence is that, when I had to be one again, I was meeting her after a long time. (Was it a meeting of manipulators?)

On a different note: A friend of mine is getting married today. It's a European marriage, a little complicated one too, and there aren't anyone around her. I am her ONLY friend in the city. What shall I get her? 

Signing off, Sands.

PS: I am accused of writing too frequent posts, too much of blogging... If it were anyone else, I would have said what I should say. But this person happens to be special!

Future....!

Isn't it interesting to see that - clarity comes from confusions, solutions come from problems and answers won't be there without questions? Still we hate confusions, problems and questions! At least I don't. :)

Well, that is not the point I want to make. How do we know about future? Where is our future? Who is the best person to talk about future?

Does it lie in R&D? in the labs? Should we ask scientists?

Today I heard from a great person - that the best picture we can get of future is by looking at kids, they are in kindergarten and the person who can talk about future is no one but an experienced kindergarten teacher. Hey, it did make sense to me. 

[I know, you might want to argue. For the first time, I am not open to argument. At least what I heard today is true.]

I want my "future" as soon as possible. And I need at least 3-4 of them ;). I'll be very good at nurturing my future :). So, let me speed up my life a little and get ready soon.

Also, the whole thing reminded me of one of the posts by my sister - "I Sympathise".

Now, before leaving, another thought - "No one is able to think beyond the limits of his/her thoughts". This a complicated thing which I have written here. If someone is indeed able to think beyond his limits, then was that the real limit? Many a time have I wanted to bring somebody to my level, and also to think from someone's level - and never succeeded in that.

Finally, I am trying to push my boundaries! :) - am I succeeding? I'll know it in a few years.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: Does this post look like non-sandeepish? If yes, then this is a new face! :). Get used to it.

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Readers and Reflections!

I got a quite valuable feedback from a regular reader. And that matters a lot to me. Let me tell you a small story first.

While I was teaching the Fundamental Algorithms course, just about 15-20 minutes into the class, some students used to get up and go. Towards the end of the class there would be only about two thirds of the initial strength. Needless to say, this used to upset me. 

I contacted the another teacher and told him about this. He told me - "The students who come for this course are from different backgrounds and some of them already know what we are teaching, so they leave once they find that the topic is already known".

He also mentioned to me that the whole point of giving the lecture was to teach the students something new - even if there is only one student who benefited from that class, it's better than having none. Yes, it does make sense.

Basically, the interest of the *really* interested ones are really important. And even that single vote counts. [On a second reading, this paragraph makes more sense than I had intended. *You* may want to read this paragraph a few times].

Hence, as per the suggestion of the regular reader, I keep my tech and non-tech blogs still separate. :)

Signing off, Sands.

PS: This is not something which should be written in a PS, still... I have never been able to surprise my parents. They seem to know what I think. And every now and then, they give me terrific surprises! Hats off to them.

So much to do, So little time

Many a times have I heard the term "confused youth", but was never sure what it meant exactly. Now finally, I am realising what it is. The term very well suits for a couple of friends of mine, of-course for me too.

Actually, being confused is not that bad also. A confused mind only can find out solutions to problems.

Fine, what are the confusions we have? Basically, we want to grow a lot, achieve something too great, accomplish something uncommon. We want to do each and everything in life. From browsing - to - owning a company, reading - to - removing the evils from the society. The list is too big. We dream big and are in pursuit of our success.

Then, where is the confusion? Yes, we just know we want to do so many things. We ourselves don't even know which all things. A long list of things. And we don't have enough time. Is it the real problem? No, we have lot of time. But we don't know how to make the best use of it.

Every night, before going to bed, we feel that we wasted a lot of time during the day. We might have done a couple of useful/productive stuff during the day. But the satisfaction is not there. The list of desires is too big and catching up with the list is practically a very hard problem.

What all degrees you want to take before you stand on your own? What all challenges will really be enough to satisfy the ego? How can the time managed well? Which all things could/should be postponed for the time being? What all are to be concentrated at, at the moment? - all these are the sample questions. While in the pursuit of success, where will you plug-in a marriage? That is another million dollar question.

And I think, there are mainly the following three which are required to get us out of this situation

1. Knowing exactly what we want. Knowing the boundaries of our dreams.
2. Knowing the priorities of each item in the list of dreams
3. Managing the *precious* time efficiently and judiciously according to the priorities.

As they say "Rome was not built in a single day", we won't come to that confusion-less state very soon. Nor will we reach to our goals in a short time. It's gonna take time, years. It definitely is going to take some time. But we WILL reach. The confusions will vanish. We will know what, when and how to do.

There is another side of the same coin. As it says above, we are in pursuit of success. Even the definition of success is not available. Is it the best thing to go for success? I read somewhere - "Success comes to those who are too busy to look for success". Doesn't that make sense?

Yes, that makes sense. But not enough sense to keep us away from the pursuit of success. There are two things about which we don't have any doubts or confusions - "There is not shortcut to success" and "There is no substitute for hard work". [Doesn't mean that we(I) work hard :)]

There is this person who thinks - why to follow the normal/conventional path of challenges+accomplishments+growth path of life? Why not a smoother path with less challenges and more relaxed life? Yeah, good question. But we don't seem to appreciate that question well.

This subject would be an endless one as of now. I wind up here. There are lot of internal details and complications. I am believing that things would get calm slowly. It's just a matter of time. For the first time in my blog, I wrote something representing a collective group of people. I do believe that they share my feelings and thoughts. If you don't think so, replace all "WE" with "I".

Time to sleep... it's too late for a Saturday night.

Song of the moment:

Sundariyae vaa, Vennilavae vaa...

En jeevathaalamae pranayinee.. oh-oh...oh..

Neelaravilae..sneha veethiyil...

Mama thozhiyayi vaa priyamayeee.....

Signing off, Sands.

PS: Am I posting something against the blog protocols? Am I supposed to post something which is too personal?
PS2: Title courtesy - the movie "Batman". The villain says this twice.