People. People everywhere. People at your workplace, people on the road,people in the neighborhood market,people at your local café. People you see regularly. Who are they..?Just strangers who have familiar faces? Think again,for there is a human bond that penetrates the unknown souls with known faces.
Every morning when I take my dog for a walk, I would happen to see this grandpa who would cheerfully greet everyone .Most of the people would be lost in their own thoughts and their hectic-pace of life that they would not even bother to acknowledge him.Undettered by the indifferent attitude of most people; he always managed to smile at all the passers-by. Since I am a late riser, more than a walk, it’s like a quick run in the park for my poor doggie. So I am also one of the people who just waltz-by without “looking “at things around. Most of the time, his,”Hey Kiddo!” greeting was barely heard by me .Not intententional or anything, but being late for work everyday, I would hardly notice anything.
Last week, since I was in no hurry to go early, I was walking in the park and noticed that the grandpa was not at his usual spot. I thought may be he must have left early. Now it’s been more than a week and there is no sight of him in the park. I miss the familiar face and the affectionate greeting.Strange isn’t It?
We are so caught up in this mundane world that we don’t even bother to wait for a minute and soak in the bond of affection which runs amidst us. Little do we notice that the multitude of unknown people who surround us touch our lives in their own special way.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Astronomical Musings
DISCLAIMER:This post is just an avenue for venting out my frustration.For all those of you who are genuinely surprised and not aghast that, there are people who gaze at stars,this is not for you.Am happy that you guys think it is uncommon,i find it flattering.As far as the rest of them,please read-on it is exclusively for you!Any resemblance to the below mentioned conversation i have had with any one is purely co-incidental(or perhaps not!)
Person XYZ:So you like Astronomy.!?
Me:Yes.(I am like,oh..no!Not again!)
Person XYZ:But Astronomy!.Why on Earth would someone look at stars!?
Me:Smiling(Obviously fake!)..Well,just for the same reason as you pursue your hobby..[Grr!!]..Btw,that is my standard answer these days..:)
Person XYZ:Hmm..Common..See..That can`t be it..Take my case,For me reading gives me immense intellectual satisfaction..It feeds my craving for knowledge..
Me:[By now,i am more or less ready for combat]..Well..good for you..!I guess i am more or less intellectually-defunct to come up with a "shining answer"...![Point-blank rude and end-of-conversation and mission accomplished.!]
Unfortunately most of the times,people fail to catch the sarcasm and imagine me to be an aimless observer of the night sky.!Well,that is way better than having to make the astronomically-challenged ones aware of the true beauty of sky watching,which is as easy as trying to find the practical proof for Drake`s equation![little-green-men for the uninitiated]
Amateur astronomy happens to be a widely pursued hobby all over the world,but yet people gawk at me even to this day whenever i mention about astronomy like i said i collect human skulls are something!!
So i am s star-gazer..Spend most of the nights looking at the skies searching for cosmic entities.Prefer hunting for comets and satellites to getting hammered at a local pub on Saturday nights..
Well,if you are wondering why am i writing about this.The answer is simple.I am sick and tired of people asking me why do i gaze at stars,what is so intriguing..Isn`t it a waste of time..(And yes,i did feel like giving one-tight-slap to this person,who asked me this..But then my karate instructor always told martial arts is for self defense...:D]..But the icing on the cake for pissing me off royally to have actually prompted me to spend my Sunday afternoon writing about this is,when this intelligent acquaintance of mine asked me ,if i ,"Do tarot-cards as well!!"What the..!!??Getting confused with astrology and astronomy!!That`s it..!I pick up my weapon of choice(my keyboard) and start my battle :-))
So here it goes..Will try to make it as succinct as possible..I can write pages of literary treatises on this subject,but don`t have the patience currently to type one!
First of all Astronomy is the science of looking at cosmic objects through aided or unaided eye or using other parts of electro-magnetic spectrum for analysing objects in space .Astronomy is not the science(?) of predicting whether or not you will have a peanut butter or jelly sandwich for lunch tomorrow!!
Why do i gaze at stars?Why is Astronomy intriguing..?etc..etc..
The answer is simple - "You get more questions in the sky than you get answers".There is no dearth for things you could explore.There is no better playground for the human mind to conjure up the delight of optimal neural usage than analysing the cosmos.You are analysing and observing the very hot-bed of life`s creation.We are all nothing but an amalgamation of star dust.So you are actually looking at where you come from and where you would go.You might spend your entire life scanning the sky with your telescope and yet you would not have covered even one in 10^100 part of what is out there.!After all it is just a guess,you don`t even know how large the universe is ..So isn`t it exciting that you are actually exploring the un-explored ?.The chances of you finding out something whose existence is not known to human-kind upto this point of time is highly probable.After all,which hobby boasts of having no scientific training required for having an ability to make a discovery which might change the face of the world.!?All you require is a keen sense of observation and interest and you could experience the joy of opening upto a higher plane of existence.
Apart from all this,the beauty of seeing a Nebula is something which even a Van Gogh would be nowhere near-to.Pursuing Astrnomy is like reading a magnum-opus which tells the saga of creation and destruction..How could one not like Astronomy,i wonder?..I mean, you get be an explorer,a scientist,an artist,a philosopher and much more..
Isn`t looking at the sky,a waste of time?
Hmm..Waste of time!!Gawd.!!Well,if going to polar expeditions,painting,designing embroidery patterns,clicking pictures of birds,reading about fictitious people,watching TV,growing cacti etc. is waste of time ,then Astronomy is waste of time as well!
So there are people who go on hiking,skiing etc,which gives them an adrenalin rush..How could you not feel your pulse racing when you see a 'Perseid-shower'.?
I have much more to say and perhaps,there are other fellow-astronomers who could articulate way better than i can.No words could ever do justice in describing the art and science of 'star-gazing'.Infact,most of the times,we don`t take the sceptics seriously,but then once in a while,you do feel like standing at the roof-top and shouting and this happens to be one such instance:-).Especially with May-10th being 'Astronomy Day' and all,i though there could not be a better time to write.
Person XYZ:So you like Astronomy.!?
Me:Yes.(I am like,oh..no!Not again!)
Person XYZ:But Astronomy!.Why on Earth would someone look at stars!?
Me:Smiling(Obviously fake!)..Well,just for the same reason as you pursue your hobby..[Grr!!]..Btw,that is my standard answer these days..:)
Person XYZ:Hmm..Common..See..That can`t be it..Take my case,For me reading gives me immense intellectual satisfaction..It feeds my craving for knowledge..
Me:[By now,i am more or less ready for combat]..Well..good for you..!I guess i am more or less intellectually-defunct to come up with a "shining answer"...![Point-blank rude and end-of-conversation and mission accomplished.!]
Unfortunately most of the times,people fail to catch the sarcasm and imagine me to be an aimless observer of the night sky.!Well,that is way better than having to make the astronomically-challenged ones aware of the true beauty of sky watching,which is as easy as trying to find the practical proof for Drake`s equation![little-green-men for the uninitiated]
Amateur astronomy happens to be a widely pursued hobby all over the world,but yet people gawk at me even to this day whenever i mention about astronomy like i said i collect human skulls are something!!
So i am s star-gazer..Spend most of the nights looking at the skies searching for cosmic entities.Prefer hunting for comets and satellites to getting hammered at a local pub on Saturday nights..
Well,if you are wondering why am i writing about this.The answer is simple.I am sick and tired of people asking me why do i gaze at stars,what is so intriguing..Isn`t it a waste of time..(And yes,i did feel like giving one-tight-slap to this person,who asked me this..But then my karate instructor always told martial arts is for self defense...:D]..But the icing on the cake for pissing me off royally to have actually prompted me to spend my Sunday afternoon writing about this is,when this intelligent acquaintance of mine asked me ,if i ,"Do tarot-cards as well!!"What the..!!??Getting confused with astrology and astronomy!!That`s it..!I pick up my weapon of choice(my keyboard) and start my battle :-))
So here it goes..Will try to make it as succinct as possible..I can write pages of literary treatises on this subject,but don`t have the patience currently to type one!
First of all Astronomy is the science of looking at cosmic objects through aided or unaided eye or using other parts of electro-magnetic spectrum for analysing objects in space .Astronomy is not the science(?) of predicting whether or not you will have a peanut butter or jelly sandwich for lunch tomorrow!!
Why do i gaze at stars?Why is Astronomy intriguing..?etc..etc..
The answer is simple - "You get more questions in the sky than you get answers".There is no dearth for things you could explore.There is no better playground for the human mind to conjure up the delight of optimal neural usage than analysing the cosmos.You are analysing and observing the very hot-bed of life`s creation.We are all nothing but an amalgamation of star dust.So you are actually looking at where you come from and where you would go.You might spend your entire life scanning the sky with your telescope and yet you would not have covered even one in 10^100 part of what is out there.!After all it is just a guess,you don`t even know how large the universe is ..So isn`t it exciting that you are actually exploring the un-explored ?.The chances of you finding out something whose existence is not known to human-kind upto this point of time is highly probable.After all,which hobby boasts of having no scientific training required for having an ability to make a discovery which might change the face of the world.!?All you require is a keen sense of observation and interest and you could experience the joy of opening upto a higher plane of existence.
Apart from all this,the beauty of seeing a Nebula is something which even a Van Gogh would be nowhere near-to.Pursuing Astrnomy is like reading a magnum-opus which tells the saga of creation and destruction..How could one not like Astronomy,i wonder?..I mean, you get be an explorer,a scientist,an artist,a philosopher and much more..
Isn`t looking at the sky,a waste of time?
Hmm..Waste of time!!Gawd.!!Well,if going to polar expeditions,painting,designing embroidery patterns,clicking pictures of birds,reading about fictitious people,watching TV,growing cacti etc. is waste of time ,then Astronomy is waste of time as well!
So there are people who go on hiking,skiing etc,which gives them an adrenalin rush..How could you not feel your pulse racing when you see a 'Perseid-shower'.?
I have much more to say and perhaps,there are other fellow-astronomers who could articulate way better than i can.No words could ever do justice in describing the art and science of 'star-gazing'.Infact,most of the times,we don`t take the sceptics seriously,but then once in a while,you do feel like standing at the roof-top and shouting and this happens to be one such instance:-).Especially with May-10th being 'Astronomy Day' and all,i though there could not be a better time to write.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Stastics say that...
I have always wondered why on Earth people conduct some surveys..Afterall how does it matter if 80% of respondents think some goddamn thing is like "A" and rest of them think it is like "B"..Maybe sales surveys and medical surveys do matter and actually serve a purpose. But how does it matter, if 80% people think Matthew McConaughey is hotter than Orlando Bloom or if Mongolia is a more touristy than Tibet..Sheesh!,why can’t people spend valuable time in doing something more useful. The very purpose of such "studies" are not only a preposterous waste of time but also waste of atto meters of brain space of people who are unwittingly bombarded with such useless trivia through websites and newspapers!
But the most interesting thing has to be the way these results would be postulated. Come to think of it, how bonafide are these things.? I for one think 90% of the time in 56.2% of the cases in 60% of surveys they are right!:))..
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