Formula 1 Season 2005 starts in 5 days.

Here are the points to think about

1. Can Michael Schumacher be dethroned ?
2. Raikonnen and Montoya can they pull of a defeat for the Ferrari's?
3. Can the other cars match up to the Ferrari Horsepower and consistency?
4. What will be Apna Narain's realistic hopes be from his first F1 season?
5. Jacques Villeneuve replaces Fisichella but can he change anything ?
6. Are we going to see any contests at all or is it the Prancing Horse all the season ?

We will start having the answers in 5 days with the Australian GP ?

- Kausum

The hotlinkers back with a bang... check out this post on Gauravs blog...really loved it...

Now this is really sad ...terribly disappointed with the government on this...

Much Ado about Dual Citizenship !

Much respected and dignified Indian economists in this country have conjured this idea that an Indian by birth, American by citizenship has to pay up tax for both the countries if he desires dual citizenship. For all this time Indian banks were a haven for the hard-earned , saved, already well taxed money of an NRI, but times are changing. I makes me wonder if this is actually fair..there is no doubt that Indian economy is benifiting with the flow of dollars and also dollar investments. Taxing this influx could mean serious repercussions. I am digressing a bit from my original argument here but the matter is not as simple as it seems.
A friend of mine who has an American citizenship, recently told me that a visa to India for 10 years(multiple entry) is available at 150 dollars with no time restriction per stay.So why would a green card converted citizen want to possess dual citizenship if he has to pay up more tax apart from the moolah he shells out to Uncle Sam year after year. It makes sense if there is some tax deductible here if you pay tax in India..somwhat like a personal loan, house loan kind of thing. But imagine 30% tax in the US and again tax in India( there are a million ways to save tax in India though) would mean a lot, and all of this to get a right to vote some scum of the earth to an assembly, legislative seat. I don't know what decision we arrive at..because Manmohan is a pretty shrewd man ( proven by his keen observation of the H1 visa holder SS tax and Medicare issue), but I hope they take into consideration the larger(==monetary) interests of a typical money-saving desi !

This will fry ur brains ... its called the self-referential aptitude test.

Shwaas: Breath --> Movie: Breath of fresh air.

Had the opportunity to see Shwaas yesterday and was totally impressed by the movie. I'm not saying this coz this movie was Oscar nominated or whatever. For that matter even Devdas was but the movie was...to put it gently - 'a Disgrace'. Shwaas was made on a shoe string budget of 60 lakhs whereas the most expensive 'Magnum Opus' piecashit costed over 600 million. This is where Shwaas scores big time (and ofcourse it doesnt have that asshole Khan and the thumb twiddling,semi-paralyzed Jackie).
Shwaas is a very simple story of the relationship shared between a 7 yr old kid and his grandfather. They hail from some remote gaon in Maharashtra and set foot in Pune(i think) for an eye check-up for the kid. It so turns out that the kid has a rare cancerous growth near the retina or somewhere(sorry Bio fail) and the operation wud take away his eyesight. There are no twists or cliches at all in the movie....so even if i wish i cant share the spoilers...there arent any.
As far as the technical angle goes, the movie is astounding. The scenes where they show parts of the village, the birds flying over the brooks etc are stunningly shot. The camera is really 'in your face' coz the movie is all about capturing the character's emotions; which reminds me of the acting...SENSATIONAL!
The kid has done a tremendous job especially in the scene where he comes to know of the 'dark' truth that he is going to be blinded for life. Here I am really talking about a prodigy...no definitely not in the Jugal Hansraj mould. The actor who plays the grandfather seems a natural...after seeing him enact its hard to imagine anyone else who could do justice to that role. But walking away with the plaudits is the guy who plays the doctor...nonchalant,unfazed and a thoroughbred professional.
What really catches the eye in Shwaas is its simplicity. The movie couldve been made very melodramatic keeping in mind the sensitive subjectmatter, but the director thankfully refrained from it.The marathi is really not that difficult to understand as the dialogues are delivered at a very slow pace and not many demanding words are in use. Sad that it didnt make the grade at the Oscars but i was really very impressed that atleast at the National award level Marathi movies fully got a rub of the green. A must watch, I give it a 4/5.

-Balls

.LIFE.



It all started in the water. Some molecules get together and interesting patterns start developing. There is a structure. It looks good. The molecules keep combining with each other. They keep organizing and re-organizing. The structure keeps getting more complex.

Then there is life.

The ancient life form keeps evolving. Organisms are formed. They learn to thrive in the water. They learn to live on the land. They learn to fly. The process continues. Some ones are good, some not so. Creatures are manufactured, some live, some die. Darwin is happy.

There are these strange creatures that start walking on two legs. They are different from the rest. They are not so strong, nor so fast. They have some other quality. A quality that had never before played a pivotal role in the battle for survival, suddenly seems to be more important.

This power is akin to the power that afficianados of "age of empires" might be familiar with. It is when out of nowhere you discover that you have something that even though did not seem important before, has become a very important tool indeed.

This quality is the harnessing of the mind.

The humans continue to run the show. They take over the planet. They build their own beautiful structures and they destroy some beautiful natural ones. They love each other and keep the species growing. Some hate each other and kill a few here and there. But on the whole all is well.

New tools are developed. New ideas are thought of. Good tools, Bad tools. Good Ideas, Bad Ideas. Humans continue to change. They adapt to what they percieve and the process continue. All this while they are living in this physical world. That is about to change.

Someone invents the internet.

It starts growing. Slowly at first. But the disease keeps growing. There is this fascination. There is this new world. The very minds that once harnessed this gigantic piece of rock and had the entire planet to its mercy. These very minds now stop existing in the physical world.

These minds start living in a virtual world. They stare at screens and the process of evolution starts takes its toll. They dont need their muscles too much. Moving in the physical world is inconveniant. They dont need to listen too well nor do they need to have a sharp vision. The sense of smell is gone. After all, there is no physical danger that they encounter as they sit in front of their screens. Their physical faculties start deteorating, just like say the animal tails. If you dont need it ... well then it goes away.

Their mental powers keep getting sharper. They are thinking and processing more and more information all the time.

Slowly these physical creatures start living virtually. Their brains and the internal organs are the only organs that they need. All else is non-essential for survival. Everything starts disappearing. There is a time when the humans as we know it, are nothing but their thoughts - present in some virtual world.

You dont see humans. You dont need to interach with each other. Your world is the computer screen. If you want to convey your thoughts to someone , the virtual human sends an e-mail. There are blogs. There are a variety of other things. Its a collection of electronic thoughts and electronic feelings.

The human species as we know it exists on the internet.

Then the power goes off.

- SurAj

African roulette

The ambassador of a small African nation chanced to visit Russia, and was entertained by his opposite number, the Russian ambassador. For three days, the African ambassador was wined, dined, and generally treated to the best hospitality that Russia had to offer.

On the final day of his visit, the Russian ambassador said, "As your stay is coming to an end, it is time for you to play our traditional game, Russian roulette. One of the six chambers of this gun is loaded - you spin the cylinder, point the gun at your head, and pull the trigger."

This phased the African slightly, but he was a proud man of a warrior people, and to show fear would be unthinkable. Both men took their guns, spun, and pulled the triggers.

Both chambers were empty, and both ambassadors breathed a sigh of relief.

The African ambassador was much impressed with the courageous game, and thought hard about the subject before the Russian Ambassador was due to visit his country the next year.

When the visit came, the African ambassador treated the Russian with all hospitality, until the final day of his stay. Leading him to a private room in the palace, the African ambassador spoke, "Now it is time for you to sample our game, African roulette". So saying, he led the Russian into the room, the only occupants of which were six beautiful, naked women.

The African ambassador said, "These women are the most beautiful members of one of our tribes. Any one of them will give you oral sex -take your pick".

The Russian was not entirely averse to this idea, but he couldn't see the connection with Russian Roulette. He said, "Well, ok, great, but where's the roulette part? Where's the danger?"

With a big grin on his face, the African ambassador answered:

"One of them's a cannibal."

I just happened to read a poem (given to me by Archana AmBike to read) ... Its by William Ernest Henley .... Liked a lot so thought, will share with others in the Blog

"Out of the night that covers me
Black as a Pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced or cried aloud
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am captain of my soul. "

-- William Ernest Henley

Reproduced by Kausum

I just got an email message, sent to me with an "urgent" status. Well, even though I found no reason to believe the self proclaimed importance of that pesky e-mail, it got me thinking in another direction. Why can we not have the same system on one of our living-links-to-the-rest-of-the-world, our cell-phones.

Imagine a situation say, when you are thinking of calling someone up to discuss some trivialities, just for the heck of it. And then to your amazement, you are reprimanded by that person, because you called him - just as he was about to find out, if aamir khan would be able knock the last ball out of the ground in the movie lagaan .

And yes, it works the other way round too. Haven't you ever received a call while you are busy doing something important or critical, say you are deep in thought debugging a 10000 line code with 1000 nested 'if' loops and then some one calls you. You think to yourself, "Hmm ... could this be an important call, or is this just someone calling me to discuss his views on the general state of the universe at that point of time ? "

Wouldn't it be cool if you could just send a "urgent talk"/"casual talk" flag along with your call while calling someone. Just to make life a little more convenient both for the caller and the callee.

So, where is my patent ?
SurAj