Apocalypse Watch

The masses are on the streets. Nothing but purna swaraj would suffice.

The British are concerned, they make their moves quickly. They assure the Indians that they are an integral part of the empire, citizens of the crown. This is an internal disagreement and must be resolved internally, they say. India is an integral part of the British Empire.

The Indian leaders would have nothing of it. They point out that Indians must have a say in matters concerning their land. They argue that they are the only ones who have right to their lands and thus the only ones who should have a say in their future. According to them, the key is for the British to accept the status of the Indian state as disputed. The British reject this.

Frustration spills over despite calls for non-violence as some take up arms. Some see this as the only way to achieve independence.

The British persist. They brand the armed freedom struggle as terrorism. This is what the Indian leaders had feared; they call for calm.

R.I.P

Patta Patta Buta Buta haal hamara jaane hai
Jaane naa jaane gul hi na jaane, bagh to sara jaane hai

Chaaraagri Bimaari-e-dil ki rasm-e-shahare husn nahin
Varna Dilbar-e-naadan bhi is dard kaa chara jaane hai

Meher-o-wafa o luft-o-inayat ek se wakif in mein nahin
Aur to sab kuch tanz-o-kanaya ramz-o-ishara jaane hai

Kya Kya fitne sar par uske laata hai mashooq apna
Jis bee-dil betaab-o-tavan ko ishq kaa maara jaane hai

- Mir Taki Mir

Translation

Get Well Soon Dudu

I am sure most of you have either heard of Pastafarianism or know about it. It all started in 2005 when Kansas State Board of Education directed the schools under it to teach intelligent design as an alternate to Evolution. A Physics graduate called Bobby Anderson then decided to come out with his beliefs in his deity - A Flying Spaghetti Monster (oops, not a monster, that’s religious insensitivity, rather a deity). All he demanded (like any other religion) that his faith (and now a faith of thousands of others ) be respected on par with other religions and be given the same perks and tax benefits like other religions.

Nasa runs a research program to test sex positions in space. Now that, is not very surprising. If you lock a few individuals in a closed space for about a year, they are bound to end up getting into a physical relationship. I bet it happens, just doesn't get reported. Smart thinking on Nasa's part to get some value out of it by turning it into a research project.

On a different note, I recently attended Skeptics Cafe, a fortnightly meeting of the Victorian Skeptics. The point in discussion was Sai Baba and his miracles. A very interesting documentary was presented on the day. There is a lot more I can write about it and will probably do in the near future, but for now am interested in knowing your thoughts about it. Have a watch....
Guru Busters 

A lot has been on about the Indo-US nuclear deal in the recent days. This has been written and re-written to death all over. However, my post revolves around the involvement of the Left in this deal.

The Left parties in India baffle me sometimes. For one, I was very glad when the Left won more seats in the parliament than anyone expec­ted. I believ­e the Left has some of the brightest politicians and policy makers among their ranks. To set the background, here are a few quick pointers to the nuclear deal.

• China carries out nuclear test in 1964, worried about the changing dominance in the world order, USA and USSR propose NPT. NPT (Non-proliferation Treaty) is signed in 1968 by USA, China, USSR, France and UK. This means that these 5 nations are allowed to keep nuclear weapons while everyone else must open all civil nuclear facilities to IAEA inspections and renounce nuclear weapons.
  

It all started one fine morning over a chat conversation with Niyati. I thought she would never return to blogging. So when she pushed me to get off my lazy bum and get back to blogging, I simple said Ok, I'll do it if you do it.

What I did not know is that one should never enter negotiations with lawyers (or law students in this case). The deal was that if I could post once a week for the next month, she'll take up blogging again. So here are my efforts to keep my end of the deal...

There was no place. There was no time. A human observer would have recognized nothing here : no mass, no energy, or force. There was only a rolling, random froth whose fragmented geometry constantly changed. Even causality was a foolish dream.

The orderly spacetime with which humans were familiar was suffused with vacuum energy, out of which virtual particles, electrons and quarks would fizz into existence and then scatter or annihilate, their brief walks on the stage governed by quantum uncertainty. In this extraordinary place whole universe bubbled out of froth, to expand and then to dissipate, or to collapse in a despairing flare.

The chaotic cavalcade of possibilities, this place of non-being where whole universes clustered in reefs of foamy spindrift, was suffused by a light beyond light. But even in this cauldron of strangeness there was life. Even here there was mind.

Call them monads.

Doesn't it. Nearly 6 months since I stopped posting. Since then I've been around the world, met long lost friends, lost a few friends and had my share of ups and downs. However, Varun has inspired me to get back to blogging. Hope the spirit sticks around a bit longer this time.