Distances have always troubled me, temporal or spatial. They carry with them an undercurrent of separation. A silent (and sad) feeling of something tearing down. But unfortunately that's what I have found in plenty in the new world I am in. Having stayed (survived rather) for 2 months here I think I have enough American air in my lungs (like it or lump it) to write a few lines about it. Its different for starters....

I enter into a restaurant called OSs, and am met with a loud and flamboyant waiter, I need not ask his name he has his name written all over him, vista he calls himself and is wearing the costliest suit i have ever  seen. He is  cherrleading and trying to draw attention as if he is the best one in the lot, surprisingly no one else is paying any heed to him, rather few are...

In the silence of solitude rescued from the multitude In the absence of activity safe from chaos, free from world's captivity there lies an innocent awestruck mind pious and clean, one of its kind a mind that is desperate only to create unaware of rote learning or a craving to imitate a mind that is fertile and able to invent a mind u can not fool, elude or circumvent a mind that builds only for...

Through a whisper in my ear Or a hearty loud cheer Through a hostile foe Or someone so near Through the breeze of silence Or storm of  fear Through a lucky victory Or terrible failure Through a pleasant smile Or a sorrowful tear Through my ignorant self Or a thoughtful seer Tie me in fetters of ignorance Or through wisdom set me free, But lord oh lord for once let me see, What was my...

Designer babies is the article that triggered this blog. Designer babies!! you can order the type of child you want and charlatans armed with unwieldy gadgetry of new age science will bring it to the table. Is it a just another honest scientific exploration, just another giant leap for the mankind. I don't think so. I think someone has to draw a line somewhere. It cannot go on like this. Technology is not a science...

I happened to read a book recently "Practicing the power of now" I was baffled by the simplicity with which the chapters had been crafted and the equal ease with which ideas were put forth. It was then when I thought of writing this blog. Time and mind are so intertwined that it is tough to see either in isolation. What is time? if there is such a thing. How do we perceive time. Time...

Genius as energy, I think, is constant. You can not create or destroy it you can only transform or transfer it. I believe that it has now been distributed amongst a lot of us. We might not be close to Da vinci but together we are performing miracles everyday. Together as a community powered with platforms to share (fast enough to contribute simultaneously), we are seeing what was absent in most part of human history...

Am I dead, puzzled Neo asks Morpheus. "Far from it" is the reply he gets. Why is being far from being dead an achievement, one might wonder. But pain doesn't allow him to think about anything else.  Every cell of his body seems to be tied to some invisible string. He can't move his hands or legs or head. He can't even open his eyes. Tied completely he lies dead still. What is this pull,...

आसमान  को  छूती  इमारतों  में  मिला गिरते  हुए  ज़मीर  का  निशाँ बड़े  होते  घरों  में  मिला ठहरे  हुए  सन्नाटे का  निशाँ खिलखिलाती  हर  हँसी में  मिला दबे  हुए  एक  दर्द  का  निशाँ हर  खुली  बाँहों  में  मिला सिमटे  हुए  एक  दिल  का  निशाँ हर  एक  अपने  में  मिला एक  बेरुखे  बेगाने  का  निशाँ हर  दोस्त  की  यारी  में  मिला एक  झूठे  वादे  का  निशाँ जब  बंद  की  आँखे  अपनी ठहरने  दिया  मन  को  ज़रा दुनिया ...

काश  की  सब  अरमान  हमने,  यूँ  हंसी  में  ना  उडाये  होते काश  की  एक  बार,  अपने  अंदर  भी  झांक  के  देखा  होता काश  कुछ  नासम्झी  से  पेश  आए  होते काश  दिल  को  इतना  समझाया  ना  होता काश  की  ये  लम्हे  कुछ  धीरे  से  चले  होते गुज़रते  वक्त  को  किसी  ने  थाम  लिया  होता काश  कुछ  कदम  हम  भी  बढे  होते पलट  कर  एक  बार,  तुमने  भी  देखा  होता

एक अरसे से तेरे आने की राह तकी है एक मुद्द्त से आखरी साँस रोक के रखी है हर गुजरते चहरे में तुझे ढूँढने की कोशिश की है हर आहट पे चौकें हैं, तेरे ही कदमो की गुजारिश की है रुकती धड़कने भी अब तो ज़िद पर अडी हैं मौत ने जिंदगी पर कुछ ऐसी इनायत की है

सिमटी  हुई  ज़िन्दगी  को  एक  नया  आयाम  देना  है पिंजरे  के  पंछी  को  एक  खुला  आसमान  देना  है टूटे  हुए  हर  सपने  को  उसके  हक़  का  मान  देना  है आने  वाले  कल  को  एक  सुंदर  आज  देना  है पक्के  किए  हर  इरादे  को, अब  एक  आकार  देना  है धुंधली  अनजान  राहों  में  भी  उम्मीद  का  साथ  देना  है गुज़रते  हुए  साल  को  एक  आखरी  सलाम  देना  है बढते  हुए  कदमो  को  एक  आखरी  पैगाम  देना ...

बढ़ते  कदमो  ने  पूछा  है  मुझसे आख़िर  तुझे  जाना  कहाँ  है मुड़ती  राहों  ने  पूछा  है  मुझसे आख़िर  तेरा  ठिकाना  कहाँ  है उड़ते  सपनो  ने  पूछा  है  मुझसे आख़िर  तेरा  आशियाना  कहाँ  है लहराती  उम्मीदों  ने  पूछा  है  मुझसे आख़िर  तेरा  किनारा  कहाँ  है कभी-कभी  रुक  कर  सोचने  लगता हूँ रास्ते  के  हर  मोड़  पर  मंजिल  का  निशाँ  ढूँढने  लगता  हूँ क्या  खोया  है  मैंने  जिसको  तलाशता  आया  हूँ कौनसी  डोर  है  ऐसी  जिसके  सहारे ...

Everything is there in Readme of the package (velthuis.zip) but let me put it simply as: Get the package velthuis Unzip it and put it in "C:\Cygwin\usr\share\texmf" for cygwin users, or where ever your  usr\share\textmf directory is Go to the file C:\Cygwin\usr\share\texmf\web2c\texmf.cnf Kpathsea uses TEXMF variable to get ls-R files. To add the new velithuis tree, get the path included like this DEVNAG = /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/velthuis TEXMF = {!!$DEVNAG, !!$TEXMFCONFIG, !!$TEXMFHOME} Rebuild the file database by...

Our brain and the web are strikingly similar. Both are huge networks of interconnected entities. And a pattern of this interconnected entities fetches us the information we desire. Brain stores information that is more in content and easier in retrieval as compared to the web. Both share another reality (though unsettling) that both can be very easily mismanaged. My contention is that the way we are using web (carelessly) is impacting how we are using...

Things that are not driven by profit are driven by passion. And that makes all the difference. There is nothing wrong with profit but there is something phenomenal about passion. When you work despite the fact that you would not get anything in return, you give it all you have. That helps us transcend from ordinary to extra ordinary, from anybody to somebody. It is the joy and satisfaction of contributing something with commitment that...

Acceleration, need for speed and the slow movement Disclaimer: Besides owing every part of every blog to the world, I owe this one in particular to the ted video...  http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/carl_honore_praises_slowness.html Acceleration, I would argue, eats the time it seems to generate. Thus it need not actually generate, at the first place, and would definitely use it for itself whatever it generates, if at all. I am not the only person who is against moving fast,...

All that glitters is not gold, and definitely won't glitter all the time. Fashion is a powerful and immensely intense movie. The amount of research which must have went in making the movie is evident in every frame and every character. Each scene seems inherently connected to the next. Music blends with songs and fills the sequences with strong emotions. Life of a model from the days of struggle, to the top and back ..displays...

I find it really hard to stay inspired all the time specially in a place like software industry. My only respite lies in the fact that I am in majority, and a pretty substantial one. What are the hurdles, well... managers, repetitive and grunt work, and always lesser than deserved recognition, to name a few. What does it tell about the industry. Its pathetic, strained and devoid of creativity? not quite. There are challenges, sense...

चलो एक दिया ऐसा भी जलाएं जिसके तले अँधियारा न हो एक राह ऐसी भी जगमगायें जिससे कभी कोई गुज़ारा न हो एक घर ऐसा भी सजाएं जिसमे कोई रहेता न हो एक हाथ ऐसा भी पकडें जिसको किसी ने थामा न हो एक दिवाली ऐसी भी मनाये की, किसी की गली में सन्नाटा न हो रौशनी में सारा जग डूब जाए और मन में भी कोई अँधियारा न हो