Time travel...

I watched the movie "The Time Machine" yesterday and I must say I was quite impressed by the little explanation that it provided to the question of our inability to change our past and how even time machines are futile in fulfilling that ambition of ours.

The protagonist in the movie loses his lady-love to a freak accident and then decides to build a time machine to change the past. But, in his re-attempt, he loses her again. This makes him wonder why he could not prevent her death to which he gets an answer later, that had she not died, he would never have invented the time machine and thus he himself is the reason for her death!

That means, whatver we may do, we may never able to prevent what fate has in store for us. Thus, somehow, bringing into our lives, an unknown known as providence and a theory to naively explain the unexplained; a theory that is popularly known as God!

And some thought science could overcome religion! :)

Remixes...

Oh! I just hate them. Whatever crap they bring out in the name of remixes does not do any justice to the efforts that original composers had put in the song. Remix artists not only kill their art but also have the audacity to term it as "creativity". More appalling is the "use" of female models in the skimpiest of all outfits in their videos, as if to distract the viewers from the actual trash that they are being subjected to.

I wonder why would anyone even opt for a remix when they are far below the original in terms of emotions, melody, and quality. Buying remix albums is like abetting plagiarism and supporting unscrupulous intentions of some lousy lethargic good-for-nothing people who want to make quick buck on someone else's hard work.

Dating...

No! This is not about my (fictitious) date last night, or about any fundaes on the art of dating. I am pretty much inexperienced, goofy and a nervous wreck when it comes to asking girls out on a date. :)

This is about my friend who was until not so distant past considered to be worse than me in the matters of female acquaintances. It is amazing to me how in the last month or so, he changed so much that makes me feel like a nut sitting in the coziness of my lab typing this on my blog when I should have been sharing a delicious cup of coffee with a delightful young lady. :(

What is it that has brought about this transition in my friend? As far as I know, he did not attend any "classes" to learn this art, no lectures, no books, no secret meetings of losers etc. It was almost as if one fine day he decided to get out of his bed from the other side and things changed for him completely thereafter.

Oh I know, "life is like that.. and good things will happen to me too...", but hey, I am not complaining. I am sure my day will come too. I just have to figure out the right side of my bed to get out from. :D

Ho Gaya!!!!

Paper select ho gaya... I am happy. :)
I am excited. I am scared. I am delighted. :D

Worries..., but why?

"If a problem has a solution, then there is no point in worrying about it.
If it does not have a solution, then worrying will not get you one."

Heard this wonderful dialogue in "Seven Years in Tibet".

Very interesting words! Not the movie though.

"Pane"less Windows!!

This is especially for people like Zoheb and Bill Gates in particular. In its bid to make operating system ridiculously user-friendly, Windows has actually made jobs for people like system administrators and developers a tedious one. Why? Why can't there be a developer-friendly or SysAd-friendly clause in Windows philosophy?

I have been struggling with an upgradation of Windows NT to Windows 2000 Server while upgrading my hard disk simulatenously from 6 GB to 40 GB one. It is really a "pain" in the neck!

Kill "Bill", anyone?

"Everything that has a beginning has an end"

I guess what began as a great idea in sci-fi movies, bordering on philosophy, amazing dialogues, breathtaking action, and fantastic story in the minds of Wachowski brothers had to end someday. That sure seems to be the case in the third instalment of the Matrix trilogy. The directors seem to have run out of any more ideas. The story - well if you care to call it a story at all - did not move at all. It was more like watching a Hindi movie; high on emotions and less on content. Not that I attempt to undermine Hindi movies; they do their part pretty well. But to expect a movie that has almost created a cult following to end up in a such a way was utterly saddenning.

Anyway, those who have watched the previous two, would go for the movie, this "mini-review" notwithstanding. But those who haven't, and are unsure about watching this movie, are sincerely requested to spend their time and money on a more fulfilling activity.

The hour of truth arrives...

I do not know whether to take this as a positive sign or a turn for worse, but the discussion with my Guide today was a landmark one. In the course of his usual criticism of my work, to which I have, more or less, grown immune, he popped a question to me asking if I was actually interested in NLP, and my answer to that
question, in a moment of truth and courage, was a confident NO. There were the usual questions as to why this was not communicated to him earlier and how lack of interest (read passion) can affect the progress of a project.

I was surprised that such a discussion was actually materializing in front of me. I know I have had this reluctance to communicate since the time I can remember. It was there in my childhood, my schooling and during my under-graduate years. Initially, I had thought an M.Tech in NLP will not turn out to be so bad. Then, the optimism had turned into a feeling of loyalty, then finally into a desperation for my Masters. However, in all these periods of transitions, the communication did not happen!

Lesson in Life: If there is something that you feel, want to convey or express, do it immediately. This way we could avoid a lot of inconvenient situations for us and for others.

After another round of his critical remarks, which by my usual standards were quite subdued, we came to some consensus about my work and decided on a problem, the initial report for which is due to be submitted the next week. I am not sure if I did the right thing by being honest with him, but I know one thing that a BIG BURDEN has been taken off my chest and I am happy with that feeling. :)

The moment of truth had arrived!

"We all float down here"

This line that lured the children in Stephen King's "IT" sometimes presents to me a very tempting alternative to our life styles. We all seem to be running for something. A lot of us do not have a remote idea as to what is that they are running for. Yet, the race continues.

And in times of stress as these, I feel I should just let myself free of all these shackles and "float". "floating" is analogous to a feeling of freedom, levity, a dreamy existence, and a feeling of uncontrolled movement where we are free to go wherever we wish, do whatever we want and there are no restrictions, no bonds, no constraints etc.

Yup, the clown really knew how to tempt the children! :)

New home...

Ok! This is for all those who are reading this.

Just redid the look of my home page. Isn't it cool?

Contrast it with the Old home page .

Please comment (only) if you like it. :D

Waning skills....

Finally, the probability of not getting selected into the Institute's cricket team yet again stares at me. Although there are hundreds of reasons I can probably enumerate for this mishap, I am unable to bring myself to the reality that probably I am no longer a capable player. :( It is tough to come to terms with this fact. I guess it is part of life that while we learn new skills & knowledge as we move on, we tend to forget a lot of others too. Or probably Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's law of use and disuse applies to skills and knowledge too. :)

I am learning a very important lesson in my life and that is - I cannot be good at everything that I do. There are some who are better than me in some of the things that I do. Whatever I am good at, I should not ignore it and let it die; I must keep indulging myself in that activity to keep myself good at it.

As of now, I seem headed to book a place in the stands for the Inter-IIT cricket matches.