PassiveVoice

दीपमालिका

2010-11-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

दीपों की कतारों से
मंगल गायन गुंजित हों
बेला-रजनीगंधा सुवास से
पुलकित मन उपवन हों
देवों की अनुकम्पा हो
मनुजों का अनुराग रहे
दीपपर्वों की शुभ बेलायें ये
चिरस्थायी-सुखकारी हों

दीपशिखा लहराए जब
मन-मयूर आमोदित हो
परिजन प्रियजन नृत्यवान हों
प्रभु लीलाओं को उद्धत हों
राम तात हों सीता माता
हनुमान सहचारी हों
'रामराज्य' ना स्वप्न रहे बस
ज्यों इस प्रकार दीवाली हो

मन-मंदिर के प्राकारों में
शुभविचार संचारी हों
निज क्लेश की पीड़ा छूटे
पर-पीड़ा दुःखकारी हो
दुःख के सब स्फोटक फूटें
सुख की छुर्री चट पट हो
काम-क्रोध-मद प्रक्षेपित हों
शुभचिंतन अनारी हों

निज, पर की सीमायें बिखरें
प्राणिमात्र से नाता हो
दीवाली हो या हो होली
गुरुपरब-ओ-रमजान रहे
क्रिसमस हैलोवीन भी जो हो
सब के मन में उत्सव हों
तो शुभकामन का ये प्रेषण भी
अनावश्यक सी लाचारी हो

Jab Deep Jale Aana-by Rajeev Tivari

2010-09-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Main Pal do Pal ka Shayar hoon

2010-09-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

Dekha Ek Khwab

2010-09-25T21:29:00.001-07:00

RimJhim Gire Saawan

2010-09-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Ankhen

2010-09-25T21:28:00.001-07:00

Main Agar Kahoon-Nikita & Rajeev

2010-09-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Aate jaate Hanste Gaate

2010-09-25T21:27:00.001-07:00

Jhoomati Chali Hawa

2010-09-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

Aa laut ke aaja mere meet

2010-09-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

Man re tu kahe na dhir dhare

2010-09-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Jab Deep Jale

2010-09-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

http://ishare.rediff.com/music/Entertainment/Jab_Deep_Jale_one_flawful_take/2136146

Paon Padun Tore Shyam-sung by Rajeev Tivari

2010-09-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Jaane Jaan Dhoondhata Phir Raha

2010-01-03T08:10:00.001-08:00

Chalte Chalte Mere Ye Geet

2009-11-20T12:05:00.001-08:00

Jane kahan gaye wo din

2009-11-18T08:37:00.001-08:00

Bhooli Hui Yadon

2009-11-18T08:33:00.001-08:00

Kabhie Kabhie Mere Dil Mein

2009-09-12T12:24:00.001-07:00

Manzilen Apni Jagah hain-Karaoke-Rajeev Tivari

2009-09-08T11:17:00.001-07:00

This legendary song stands as a masterpiece by the trio of Bappi, Prakash Mehra and Kishore. Hats off to them and of course to Amitabh Bachchan as well!

The scale is one note too sharp for my comfort with Kishore Songs. And mic blow is one thing I have yet to deal with, apart from a mediocre singing talent, which cannot be dealt with. Hope you can sure bear with this unrehearsed, first take:-) Please do not compare with the original

Smoky Robinson

2009-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

लखनऊ की क्या कहें अब

2009-09-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

लखनऊ के बारे में क्या कहें अब
जितना कहें उतना ही कम पड़ेगा
अगरचे जो रिक्शेवाला आपसे कहे कि कहाँ जाइएगा
बस समझ लीजिये कि आप लखनऊ में ही हैं

जहाँ अमीनाबाद के चौराहों पर होली के दिन जो बड़े बड़े पंडाल लगते हैं,
पूरा बाज़ार आतिशी जगमगाहट से सराबोर दीखता है
ठेलों पर रंगोगुलाल ओ पिचकारियों की बाज़ार लगी हो
और कमिटी के सदर मेम्बरान जो दीनी मुसलमान हों
तो भी आप समझ लीजियेगा कि ये लखनऊ ही है

जहाँ रेलवे स्टेशन के पूरब में गर जाएँ
और एक खूबसूरत मजार पटरियों के बीच पायें
जहाँ मुसलमान कम और हिन्दू ज्यादा सजदे करते देखे जाएँ
तो जानिए कि वो खम्मन पीर का दरे पाक है
जहाँ हर बीफै बड़ा ही ज़ोरदार लगता है मेला
और फरियादी फैज़ाबादो इलाहबाद से भी आते हैं

जहाँ कन्कैयाबाजों के बदे लगते हैं जमघट के अगले रोज़
गोमती के किनारे और गली मोहल्लों में भी
जब सआदत मियां पिचासी पार करके
लौंडों को पुरजोश गुर बांटें हैं पेंचों के
“अबे ऊपर से ले के नीचे को खींच”
वो काटा नीली पट्टेदार ने काली लट्ठेदार को
मानदार एक लहरा रही है वो तिरंगी सी
ये जगह तो लगे है बहुत जानी पहचानी सी
यों जैसे कि लहू ओ धड़कन में पैवस्त हो

वो जगह जिसे गंज है जाना जाता
क्या कोई ऐसा है जो यहाँ नहीं आता
रिक्शे वाले से ले के बड़े बाबू ओ हज़रात तक
सब का रहा है इस दर से कुछ तो वास्ता
वो रस्ते गंज के माना नहीं हैं लम्बे मगर
वो चार कदम ही दे देते हैं उम्र भर की तफरीह
माना कि मेफेयर में अब खुल गयी है किताबगाह
जरा सहारे की तरफ भी कीजिये तो इक निगाह
जहाँ पीवीआर से लेके कोहलीस से टुंडे तक हुए हैं काबिज़
और ऐसे कि मानों पूरा लखनऊ कुछ यहीं पर है सिमट सा आया

पर वो चौक की कूचा-ए-तंग जिनमे रौशनी भी आई शरमाती सी
उनको तो आपको इस चौक में ही ढूंढ़ना होगा
हो सकता है किसी कोने में वो पड़ी पायें
अपनी गैर जरूरतगी पे बेकल और बेपरवाह भी
उन गलियों का रास्ता अब कोई नहीं पूछता
क्यों की अब लखनऊ में सड़कें चौडी पाई जाती हैं ....

ये तमाम नहीं हुआ अभी...

A Short Journey Through Rain in Plains on a Very Late Train

2008-08-22T02:18:00.000-07:00

We had gone to Lucknow-our Home Station and had booked our return tripon the hallowed 5609 Abadh Assam express. We chose this train as wewanted to be home by Sunday(17.08.08) night as we did not want the kidsto miss their schools as none of the overnight trains can give anassured timely arrival at Ghaziabad, our adopted Station. And there isno day train from LKO to GZB on Sundays except for Gomati andSwarnShatabdi, but then sitting in a confined space for 6 to 9 hours istiring, especially for ladies and kids.

So I had chosen this train which has a scheduled arrival and departureof 5:20 and 5:40 respectively at Lucknow. This is another thing that Iwas assured of a comfortable Sunday waking up as while completing its 31hrs of journey from Guwahati through WB and Bihar on single lines inmany stretches, to LKO it invariably gets delayed by a couple of hours.I was relying on trainenquiry.com for an advance update on its runningstatus. My train, that I would board on 17.08.08 from Lucknow, had toleave form Guwahati on 15.08.08 at 21:35hrs.
So far so good. My brother had decided to return a day before ie on16.08.08 by 4205 Padmawat Express. I went to see him off and sorted outthe SMB migration matter as his allotted berths had been changed oncharting and these new berths were occupied by the original unsuspectingallottees of these. However, matter was amicably resolved in a jiffy,just in time, when I took these unsuspecting passenger to the chart andshowed them their new berth numbers.

In the meantime I had checked the running status of my train whichdeparted comfortably 8 hours late from Guwahati. Now I was certain thatwe will get another lunch with our parents at LKO as it would not arrivebefore 14:00 hrs on Sunday. It is really rare that we get relieved bysuch inordinate delays of trains.

You will know what I meant above by reading this. Talking of delayreminds me of the fun we had while coming to LKO by 2230A LKO NDLSSuperfast Special of 14.08.08 which was to leave GZB at 00:05 of15.08.08. That was some day. On 14.08.08, since early evening TV wassplashed with the continuously `breaking' news of traffic jamsarresting entire Delhi and NCR, as result of a combination of reasonslike incessant rain, security checks on IDay eve, everyone and theiraunts deciding to leave the Town that very day, etc. People werecontinuously missing their flights, as continuously being broken asbreaking news by the news channels-who else? It was just short of theIndependence Day scenario or Armageddon for that matter. We were firsthand aware of the festival rush at stations as one of my colleagues hadgone to NDLS early in the evening to drop his family for Lichhaviexpress. He came back bounced as parking had been banned at NDLS and noplatform tickets were being issued. However, Lichhavi was nowhere in thesight of his poor kids and wife who were struggling to find their inchesat the platform, whereas as per trainenquiry.com it was about to reachALJN (Aligarh)!

It had been raining non-stop. So we thought we should not take a chanceand we left for GZB, 20min from our home, at about 22:00, to reach therewithout facing any traffic snarls at 22:45 - the scheduled time ofdeparture of 2230 LKO mail from GZB. The platforms were chockablock withthe passengers of, well, LKO mail, Prayagraj, Rewa Express, DuplicateLko mail (2230A), Triplicate :-) Lko mail (2230B) among many othertrains. Since we had arrived quite in advance, we decided to wait at PF3– by large the cleanest and most hospitable platform GZB got. Thefirst announcement we heard said in an almost incomprehensible voicethat LKO mail and PR had yet not been berthed at NDLS and furtherinformation will be conveyed as received. We knew we (Myself, wife, twokids, brother, wife, one kid) were going to have a long stay there.

So we decided to have a field day and spread our bedsheets at a cleanerand drier spot near some young students leaving for bandhing/bandhaoingrakhees. It was a three contnuous leave package festival season and nowonder I came to know later that on 16.08.08 Delhi roads wore a desertedlook. We treated our kids with Kurkure and Chips and ourselves with theChai and cold drink. I am station chai ka piyakkad, and a special fan ofchai of GZB PF1-2. We were having so much fun and remembering ourchildhood days, when our parents would spread sheet at moonlit platformsin some station. Our place was comfortable and we though we could easilyspent the rest of waiting. We took a couple of snaps for posterity. Thensome Keeda katoed me and I though of doing some survey and eventuallyFOBed down to the enquiry counter on the city side of GZB.

BTW, GZB is one of those rare stations where no PF is approachablewithout using FOBs. The caring gentleman behind enquiry countergesticulated 'two' by showing two fingers. I tried to confirm asexpected , "do baje ayegi?" He repeated his gesture and said twonumber platform. On asking time he said "barah". It was already23:50, so I mobiled my brother to wrap up our set up from PF 3 and moveto PF1-2. Fortunately we did not have much luggage. So we were there onPF 1-2 of Ghaziabad, which is entirely different in demography fromPF-3. Incidentally I guess 2229/30 is the only set which is taken onPF3-4 in its both directions. Otherwise very few eastbound trains aretaken on PF3-4 as most others, including Shatabdis, are taken on PF1-2.
PF1-2 is although a haven for tastebuds, with the host of its Pakoristalls and its thick tea, it looks neglected in cleanliness andsanitation. As soon as any local from Delhi side arrives, alightingpassengers converge on these stalls to have their fill before theyembark on the onward journey on foot, by road or by another connectingtrain. Though there are quite a few number of benches and with fansabove them, all of them were full occupied down to the Sahibabd end ofplatform. The floor of platform was not so hospitable as it isundergoing replacement of tiles. The PF is also home to quite a fewbeggars/alike of all excuses.

Even after 00:30 there was no announcement about our train, though theannouncer, whose voice was more comprehensible on this platform probablybecause of lack of echo as there are no walls here, was informing thatthe LKO mail and Prayagraj were at NDLS platforms. Since all scheduleshad gone haywire, manual announcement had taken over from the recordedsystem. So here we knew that we were going to have a longer PF familyconclave. We looked for some cartons to spread beneath our bedsheets.The benign stallowner gave us a big carton, on which we rested ourbacksides for another two hours before we eventually boarded our trainto find our berths occupied by initially unrelenting waitlistedpassengers, only to check and inform their allotted berths by calling139, one by one. They gratefully vacated our all six berths and moved totheir alloted confirmed/RACed berths in other coaches. They told us thatit was utter chaos at NDLS and that the chart was nowhere to be seen. Iinformed them that 139 is one point solution for all passengermatters/queries, well, except for the running status of trains on which139 was clueless that night. LKO mail, ShramShakti, Prayagaraj, hadalready went past us in the half hour between 01:00 and 01:30. Theremust have been something really serious at NDLS for these trains to getdelayed by such an order. I wonded whether IR had deliberately delayedthese trains to help the passengers who might have been stranded intraffic snarls that night.

Coming back to "Gauhati", as 5609/10 is known in local parlance,the train has been known to never turn up before 09:00 at LKO,especially in its VB days which lasted till not so long ago, as thistrain was probably one of the last BG ones to be converted to AB. Wehave done a few trips by it in its VB days also and most of time it usedto be like, "Abhi vacuum nahin ban raha hai...chal nahinsakti..."Once it remained berthed at LKO PF for more than a coupleof hours for this very reason.

Now, I was reassured in that I knew that it had been converted into AB.Sunday morning was a delightfully monsoon one, with an overnight drizzlegreeting us. I checked the status at trainenquiry/139 and found that ourtrain had made up about one hour in the night of 16.08.08 while itpassed through Begusarai, Mujaffarpur, Hajipur, Sonpur, etc and the ETAfor LKO had receded to 12:35 from 14:05 or so. But as day passed, therain was unrelenting and the train started losing time.

At noon, the trainenquiry ETA for LKO was 13:30, though adding up fromwhere the train actually was gave us that it wont arrive LKO before15:30. Now reasons for worry started piling up as we had long backfinished our Gauhati bonus lunch with parents. The train would reach GZBnot earlier than 01:30hrs, which was not a very good scenario, going bythe L&O situation here, even if the pick up discomfort to brother waskept aside. And add to that the expected condition of an inordinatelydelayed rake running through rain and thousands of kilometers.

But.

Our train, which was almost entirely empty, arrived at about 15:15 atLKO and we comfortably boarded our compartment S10. We originally had 6berths, which were reduced to 4 as brother had left a day earlier. Asusual we got the end bay and our numbers were 66,69,70,72- no, thiscoach was not SMBed. It was still raining, but except for some wetnessof the floor, our coach was unbelievably clean, to our relief. The onlyother passenger so far in our bay was a young man, on 65.

So as the train moved, We encroached on 71 and spread our bedsheet (notthe one used at GZB) and lodged both our kids on the SL for their windowdelight, that too in rain. Let me tell, it is really rare, that wetravel in day train now-a-days as it is considered a waste of time, butI had taken this calculated risk to have a fun filled day ride duringmonsoon. So far I had been kind of repenting my decision, due to morethan needed delay and rains.

But I felt a rush when the train picked up speed against the rain and Isaid to myself that the pilot was going to have some fun with an empty24er rake with just one Ac and that too presumably empty. And that isprecisely what he did. In la jiffy we were racing through Malihabadwhile rain was sporadically relenting.

After Dilawarnagar the rain relented but the LP didn't. He kept pushingthe notches up and now we had opened the window pans. The countrysidewas a sight to behold, emerging vibrant green like someone's glowingbody after a long long shower, and the Dashahari Mango orchards ofMalihabad, with their midget plants, had turned kind of blackish shadeof extreme green. My son had just been gifted a toy camera with a rollby his aunt and I goaded him to capture that sight of mango orchards.The wind splashed our faces as if we were driving through the enchantinghills of Garhwal, with open window pans. After a long long time I washaving a train journey of this delight. In fact I do not remember when Ilast had such one. We were kind of soaking in the experience, whilesipping the pantry tea which was far better than what we get on mostflights. To add to it, there were no local passengers toobstruct/obscure our joyride, as probably our coach was fifth from lastand also due to the strict TTE who did a really commendable job in notallowing any unauthorized ticket holders to travel in out coach. In facthe went to the extent of picking a fight alone, with some policeofficial who was keen on traveling on an upper class ticket of anothertrain running behind ours. Despite all kind of genuine or otherwisereasoning with the TTE, the gentleman had to purchase proper tickets forthe train.

In Bareilly, our FIL-MIL had to come to see us at the station, with ourfavourite Kipps sweets.. And it is only Shranmjeevi Express, a SF thatdoes LKO-BE in about three and and a half hours, but our LP of my kindsaw us in BE at 19:15 after having left LKO at 15:45. Obviously therewas no train ahead of us to hinder our speed. I was wondering whetherthere is an empty slot for a train leaving LKO at 14:00 to land at NDLSat about 22-22:30, at least on Sundays, and whether such a train willshunt the SwarnShatabdi return trip from LKO. There is a Neelachalexpress but it does not touch LKO on Sundays, as it runs as Puri expressand goes via Kanpur on alternate days.

It was getting dark and colder and I was still reflecting on the dayride that we just had . After BE upto MB the LP maintained the speeds,though after MB, as there were quite a few crossings and some cautionsalso as doubling work and rail replacement is under progress, our avspeed came down. However we were at GZB PF-3 at 00:30hrs.

I also saw that electrification was progressing at brisk pace between MBand LKO. It looked as if some stretches around Hardoi were charged!However, this trip with a diesel at the helm through the Gangetic plainsbeing showered with a kindly rain was a thing which I wanted to describeas closely as I am capable of in words and share IT. It islow on details and high on emotions but hope you will enjoy readingthis. All of us caught cold that day.

Carbon Credits: Some Meandering Thoughts

2008-06-19T09:47:00.001-07:00

Date: Jun 15, 2008 10:39 PM
Subject: Re: Carbon Credits: Some Meandering Thoughts

First, the easier part, ie wherein I fully agree. I firmly believe that the energy security lies in the nuclear option. Countries like India have to tap their reserves of the fissile metals. As of now the state is not very encouraging as the nuclear power installed capacity runs at 50%PLF, primarily due to shortage of the fuel. This is where the nuclear deals wrangles in. The deal ensure that India get uninterrupted supply from the OPEC, I mean UPEC, cartel. But actual cost of the UPS of U through the deal is a matter of dispute.

One, india will have to throw open the doors to the international community, of its most nuclear installations. There would be a few decalared as military, to which access is denied. Incidentally I am doing a bit role in one such:-)

But is this not a compromise on sovereignity of the country? Moreover, as of now, credentials of intenational auditing agencies are not beyond doubt, learning from their role in the recent history. They are known to be puppets in hands of power centres.

However, The overall picture has to be evaluated, factoruing in the balance of power with our covertly hostile/otherwise neighbours. The deal means an enhanced level of relations with the US. Hence it is not just about nuclear fuel, rather also about the diplomatic relations and a paradigm shift from dependence on Russia for most of the nuclear technolgy to more and more so on the US and allys.

So,The deal is a fifty fifty one.

Now coming to my efforts to defend my meanderings of the moment:)

> Whether that is causing atmospheric changes in earth is debatable
> (believe me, it still is).
> Consider earth's temperature: The earth was actually cooling until 1970,
> meaning thru an era of some of the rapidest industrialization, that
> was one of the worst guzzler of organic fuels.
> Since 1970 to present, day, based on collected data, the earth's temp
> has grown by an avg of 0.5 deg F. Not really a calamitous increase.
> Earth has been going thru heating and cooling cycles since it came into
> being.

Well, not only that, The man made contribution to the entire CO2 cycle is neglegible. Trees not always reduce global warming, they sometiimes add to it too. If the tree cover from the snow capped areas is removed, it would reduce the heat load on earth due to higher reflection.

> Again, I believe global warming / climate change is not the best argument
> to put forth. To take an analogy - its like a large group sitting down
> to a dinner, the cost of which would be shared among them equally. Do
> you really think that with a really large group, individuals would be
> interested in ordering inexpensive dinners so that the collective bill
> is lower? No, the basic human nature would dictate that majority of
> people would order the most expensive item on the menu.
> Instead of a global climate phenomenon, a more local approach would
> generate a better response from people. Nobody wants trash in their
> own backyard.

I feel CO2 is taken just as a covenient measure of how many units of fossils are being burnt. Global warming is not just contributed by CO2, it is also due the 70% of the heat of fossil burning, directly adding to the atmosphere, (the rest too comes off as heat in the end, but is more distirbuted and localised) On that count, even the nuclear power is not innocent. 70% of the fission heat is dumped into the atmosphere.

So, the CO2 handle works on the overall heat generation, with the exception of nuclear power.

To your analogy, I would add that that is fine as long as the actual costs of the items is known to the individuals. May be the cheapest item has a heavy hidden cost to it that eventually everyone has to share.

> Is there a harm in mankind taking itself seriously?
> We take ourselves seriously because we can think and imagine. Due to
> which we attach more meaning to our existence, and therefore to our
> offsprings as well.

Man thinks that everthing other than his self is negotiable. Man is ready to pay the costs but not mend his ways.

> And if we were taking this feeling to its logical
> conclusion (rather than a short-sighted one) we would actually think
> about leaving them a sustainable environment in which humanity continues
> to survive and thrive rather than mere monetary fortunes and assets.

For most of them a lifetime is not enough to develop that kind of far-sightedness.

>> The basic idea is that acceleration of work has got a cost to it. Now the
>>benefits of acceleration must outweigh this overall cost.

> Let us now talk about acceleration of production or work as you put it.
> It almost sounds like a cliche (esp in US media) but up until now, a
> small portion of the world's population (about 15%) was living in the
> developed world and consuming resources. Now huge chunks of population
> are adding to it from the erstwhile developing world. So, the acceleration
> is not a conscious decision of one or many, but the demand is from a huge
> and growing mass of people. I agree about the costs part.

My original idea was to audit whether a relaxed paced as against the frantic one currently in place would be as if not rewarding in the end. Whether, we can let the car climb gears on its own, without having to press the race pedal much!

> Can you imagine how difficult it will be to build a powerplant after this
> and how expensive? More on the necessity of electricity later. This is going
> to hit India the hardest, especially since we cannot get our house in order
> and get the nuclear deal. (would love to hear your position on that :-)

In fact it will not cost more for installing, but will for producing the carbon based power and using it. So the more one consumes, the more one has to pay. In context of India, the per capita consumption is much lower, for us to burn heart on the cost. I am for the nuclear power, nuclear deal or no nuclear deal.

> And what about the psychological shadow costs of not doing anything.
> I mean, any project is undertaken not merely for the financial aspect,
> but for a real-life reason. To provide electricity, irrigation, water etc.
> If it means getting electricity to a rural school, hospital etc, I would
> say implement it yesterday, whatever the cost.

I would as well. But, frankly, such projects like irrigation, water, school, hospital have never seen any accelration, probably because, there is no financial return on them, for someone to expedite their Commercial Operation Declaration date. Yes electricty has got now, as their is a purported market. Even if the prices are going to be subsidised.

> How likely is that to happen in real-life? :-)
> I mean, let's not discuss utopia here just for the sake of discussion.

Well, Utopia is a cliched dysphemism, a word, to run down or limit discussion on better existence. Here we are in any case discussing so many things which may or may not happen in real life. Doom for one.

> R....., I know of our penchants for simpler times, but would you
> be willing to live in such a house today that has no electricity?

That precisely is the point. We have 'evolved' so much that we would no more be able to walk, least play in the sun. And neither we would call it a life without electricty. I know, as we have put up 2MVA generating capacity in our society for power backup. The extrnsion of this is things like we cannot drink tapwater and carry bisleri, like the German engineer from Mannesman back in '95 who would carry a crate of bisleri with him at the site. So, mankind has lost its immunity to weather. Because we do not weather ourselves.

> I certainly won't do it. What does one do after sun-down?
> I completely disagree with this point of yours. The infrastructure
> problem cannot be a factor in determining the legitimacy of
> people's aspirations. And like it or not, but a stable dwelling,
> electricity & water supply and sanitation are non-negotiable requirements
> at the very least.

Add TV, desert coolers and AC to the list and we have a developed India. After all knowing how and by whom Aarushi was murdered is vital fo their development as is the knowledge which actress is current live-in partmner of which actor and whether a particular actress has reduced herself to size zero now, whatever that means, and that Saas bhi kabhui bahu thi...

Luxury has an inherent propensity to evolve into a need. That is how the world has developed. And there is no regulation as to what luxury who could afford. As long as one can pay he got it, setting in a vicious cycle of greed.

Millions blog today. What their aunts pet had in dinner and what colour s... it did becomes a matter worth sharing because it aint got any cost to it, except for the broadband hours which are anyway slowly turning 'on the house'. I will leave this one here for another time though...:-) The point here was that every activity of man has got energy implications, of which most of time he is unaware or subsidized.

Coming back to topic in hand, no one denys that basic needs are to be fulfilled, but is there a dividing line between basic and non-basic?

> If it has put the nation into a tizzy to install
> powerplants then well so be it! This might well be our chance to
> prove to ourselves that we can truly achieve something great.
> And no, our teeming poor masses should not be subjected to the
> ecological costs argument, before their first ever brush with
> a better life. That is something for our govt to deal with as they
> deem fit. (I would still inject an appeal for nuclear power here)

I am trying my best ;-)

True, the teeming poor should no be subject to the eco-cost, but it should be in the books, and it should be known to them that such a cost exists borne by someone else.

> why should we worry about equitable distribution? After all, any
> renewable energy source displaces a carbon based energy consumption
> rightaway.

That comment was in view of the idea that usage of energy has to be done responsibly, even if it comes for free, because, even if we have made its generation eco-friendly, a lot depends on how it is used. Both sides of the equation will have to be addressed in the long run.

> Here is an idea: provide a heavy subsidy so people can
> install their own solar panels at home and replace even part of their
> demand. I know, that the poorest of poor will never benefit from this
> unless you make the panels practically free for them, but at least
> it will free up some capacity on our grids - which will only grow
> with time.

The Kyoto probably provide ground to the governments/industry to subsidise the ecofriendly processes which can replace eco-averse ones. I am sure, in the time to come, handles other than carbon will also come into picture.

> Solar/Wind/Geothermal/Tidal power/Hydro are all naturally renewable
> and also non-storable powers. Meaning, what you don't harness today
> is not available for tomorrow. Use as much of it as and where you
> can capture it.

True.

> Putting a rather socialist idea of equitable distribution on the table
> at the outset would bog down the details in short order :-)

Ideas are never socialist, communist, capitalist, rationalist, any -ist. It is the perspective that is. As long as the idea goes for a more sustainable life, its -ism hardly matters as long as it is conveyed and understood correctly.

To summarise my ramblings (full of notions and opinions:), I feel that man has to pay attention to the changes that it is doing to the surroundings and be considerate to the nature as a provider, and be conscious of its consumption. Also that the cost of consumption should be debited directly to the consumer and not to the entire neighbourhood.

Some moderation is good.

What do you say?
Regards

On 6/13/08, wrote:

Good to hear back from you :-)

> Mankind is unabashedly depleting resources that it cannot replenish. That it
> is leading to irrevocble changes in the earths atmosphere is a corollary.

I agree Mankind is definitely depleting resources. More significantly
IMHO, capitalism looks at everything as a resource or a raw material.
This to me, amounts to an objectification of nature and its beings
including humans in certain cases. Objects are replaceable and expendable.
I think the basic underlying philosophy needs reworking.

Whether that is causing atmospheric changes in earth is debatable
(believe me, it still is).
Consider earth's temperature: The earth was actually cooling until 1970,
meaning thru an era of some of the rapidest industrialization, that
was one of the worst guzzler of organic fuels.
Since 1970 to present, day, based on collected data, the earth's temp
has grown by an avg of 0.5 deg F. Not really a calamitous increase.
Earth has been going thru heating and cooling cycles since it came into
being.
Again, I believe global warming / climate change is not the best argument
to put forth. To take an analogy - its like a large group sitting down
to a dinner, the cost of which would be shared among them equally. Do
you really think that with a really large group, individuals would be
interested in ordering inexpensive dinners so that the collective bill
is lower? No, the basic human nature would dictate that majority of
people would order the most expensive item on the menu.
Instead of a global climate phenomenon, a more local approach would
generate a better response from people. Nobody wants trash in their
own backyard.

> Mankind takes itself very seriously. Man can leave a financial fortune for
> his offsprings but does not have common sense to wonder if he will leave
> them with anything to use that fortune as a barter for.

Is there a harm in mankind taking itself seriously?
We take ourselves seriously because we can think and imagine. Due to
which we attach more meaning to our existence, and therefore to our
offsprings as well. And if we were taking this feeling to its logical
conclusion (rather than a short-sighted one) we would actually think
about leaving them a sustainable environment in which humanity continues
to survive and thrive rather than mere monetary fortunes and assets.

> The basic idea is that acceleration of work has got a cost to it. Now the
> benefits of acceleration must outweigh this overall cost.

Let us now talk about acceleration of production or work as you put it.
It almost sounds like a cliche (esp in US media) but up until now, a
small portion of the world's population (about 15%) was living in the
developed world and consuming resources. Now huge chunks of population
are adding to it from the erstwhile developing world. So, the acceleration
is not a conscious decision of one or many, but the demand is from a huge
and growing mass of people. I agree about the costs part.

> I am no supporter of ecoterrorism, but I support the Kyoto thing for the
> fact that it has tried to make the ecological costs of any process also a
> component of its overall cost.

Can you imagine how difficult it will be to build a powerplant after this
and how expensive? More on the necessity of electricity later. This is going
to hit India the hardest, especially since we cannot get our house in order
and get the nuclear deal. (would love to hear your position on that :-)

> So when I look at the benefit of a speedier execution of a project, the only
> benefit is that it starts delivering returns on the investments that much
> faster. But the faster execution would definitely come at a higher overall
> cost. The finacial cost is in terms of incentives for faster execution, more
> air travel involved and so on. It may be that in classical economic
> sense, the benefits (many of which are lending linked, hence artificial) may
> outweigh the convenntional cost. But What about the ecological costs? In
> absense of a quantification method it is not easy to put a figure, but not
> correct as well to rule out their very existence.

And what about the psychological shadow costs of not doing anything.
I mean, any project is undertaken not merely for the financial aspect,
but for a real-life reason. To provide electricity, irrigation, water etc.
If it means getting electricity to a rural school, hospital etc, I would
say implement it yesterday, whatever the cost.

> And If speed can be achieved with lower overall and ecologiacal costs, like
> in the case of your microwave example, is there anythiong better? But one
> should not just turn the flame of gas table full on, even if the flame
> overflows the bottom of the vessel!
> If I get a vehicle which runs faster at equal or lower overall costs, how
> can there be a case against it?

I agree with you here.

> To your extreme case of manual rickshaw, I would say that it is
> perfectly fine if I also man the rickshaw half the distance, a kind of
> rickshaw pool. This will also burn carbon but in the mitochondria and it
> will be highly energy efficient arrangement due to almost non-existent
> overheads. It would be running on a biofuel which will not throw the
> foodgrain farming out of fashion.

How likely is that to happen in real-life? :-)
I mean, let's not discuss utopia here just for the sake of discussion.

> So hermit like quest was not a path divergent from the normal living. It was
> about living with abstinence and self-control. So the consumerist quest is
> equal and opposite to the herimt like quest, which is supposed to be
> embedded in the everday life. Even if it was not so perfect and all hunky
> dory, they knew that the organic fertilser was way better than the earth
> poisoning chemical ones and that is why they treated the cowherds organic
> parts of the settlements.

And all I am saying is that it is not an eastern vs western cultural
thing to seek material comforts. Every being does so.

> I do not know much from the pre english era, but have sure lived in houses
> built in 18th century, which had a metre thick mud walls and did not need a
> fan even in the severest of summers. One could sleep on the terraces without
> a fan or electricty on dew moist beds under a soothing moonbeam. This was a
> prosperous household, with a couple of GC holders back in the eighties.
> Now go to the same village and every household has got electricity
> connection. This might have improved their lives, but has generated a demand
> that has put the entire nation into a tizzy to install powerplants. No one
> cares whether there is a real sustained market at the prices of elctricty
> when the ecological costs are also factored in.

Rajeev, I know of our penchants for simpler times, but would you
be willing to live in such a house today that has no electricity?
I certainly won't do it. What does one do after sun-down?
I completely disagree with this point of yours. The infrastructure
problem cannot be a factor in determining the legitimacy of
people's aspirations. And like it or not, but a stable dwelling,
electricity & water supply and sanitation are non-negotiable requirements
at the very least. If it has put the nation into a tizzy to install
powerplants then well so be it! This might well be our chance to
prove to ourselves that we can truly achieve something great.
And no, our teeming poor masses should not be subjected to the
ecological costs argument, before their first ever brush with
a better life. That is something for our govt to deal with as they
deem fit. (I would still inject an appeal for nuclear power here)

> I cannot agrre more that consumption can be controlled by pricing
> mechanisms. This was the idea behind the "Aabkari" departments for liquor
> control and teeh ecise mechanisms. And the funds generated so should be used
> for research on altrnatives. But even if we have a solar based energy system
> in place, there has to be mechanism to regulate consumption for equitable
> distribution of the available resources acorss the times and spaces. Money
> should be just a part of the purchasing power.

Why should we worry about equitable distribution? After all, any
renewable energy source displaces a carbon based energy consumption
rightaway. Here is an idea: provide a heavy subsidy so people can
install their own solar panels at home and replace even part of their
demand. I know, that the poorest of poor will never benefit from this
unless you make the panels practically free for them, but at least
it will free up some capacity on our grids - which will only grow
with time.

Solar/Wind/Geothermal/Tidal power/Hydro are all naturally renewable
and also non-storable powers. Meaning, what you don't harness today
is not available for tomorrow. Use as much of it as and where you
can capture it.

Putting a rather socialist idea of equitable distribution on the table
at the outset would bog down the details in short order :-)

>
> On 6/12/08, ... wrote:
> >
> > Hate to dent your train of thoughts there :-) but ...
> >
> > Right off the bat, I should tell you that I may disagree with
> > the idea that actions of man are causing climate change, but
> > I completely agree with conservation of resources just for its
> > own sake. (and I do my own bit towards it, every way I can)
> >
> > You have hit upon an idea - I will grant you that, but universal
> > application of
> > that is what I dont necessarily agree with.
> >
> > Consider the following:
> >
> > Microwave oven - fast yet tremendously energy efficient.
> > Same goes for Pressure cooker, Gas-burners and a host of
> > other improvements. Hope you will agree here that the slow
> > chulha or angithi, burning wood/coal of yore wasn't really
> > a better choice.
> >
> > A Rickshaw pulled by a fellow being is much slower and maybe
> > less carbon consuming than one driven by a combustion engine,
> > but is it really a better choice on a moral scale?
> > When we talk about transportation, it's not just speed, but
> > in fact being connected itself that requires ships or air-travel
> > these days. Yes, ancient Indians held the taboo that human being
> > would melt at the touch of salt-water. Not really the most
> > sensible idea won't you agree? ;-)
> >
> > These were just two examples to illustrate two points. I could bore
> > you some more, but will desist.
> >
> > The one logical fallacy of your argument is to compare a common
> > man's (western-styled) consumerist quest, with the spiritual quest
> > of a hermit/saint. We do need to acknowledge that an ordinary being
> > (like me or you) only seeks food, shelter and comforts that he/she
> > can think of or imagine. Now I whole-heartedly agree that we could
> > do far better in terms of curtailing our "needs" and curbing our
> > "desires" and seeking pleasures and gratification in ways that are
> > not energy intensive, but to somehow imply that this was the
> > traditional Indian way, until westernization clouded our basic
> > instincts is disingenuous.
> >
> > IMHO all the global conferences and complex models to battle climate
> > change are a lot of bull.
> > Heavily tax energy to make it more expensive and invest that into
> > researching newer alternatives. You will see people responding to
> > their pocketbooks faster than they ever would to any moral exhortation.
> >
> > Example: In USA, gasoline(petrol) was selling 79c to a gallon(3.78 l) 11
> > years ago. Car companies were competing to come up with the largest
> > and most gas guzzling monstrosities around (Hummer: roughly 5km/liter).
> > Today - gas is selling at $4/gallon. People are scrambling for smaller
> > cars and motorcycles. I know people bicycling 16-20 km to work.
> >
> > A similar example is relevant to food. Here, at one point, food was so
> > cheap that it was an inconsequential expense for practically anyone.
> > With current food prices, it makes people think twice and opt for less
> > meat (v.carbon intensive).
> >
> > Your thoughts? :-)
> >
> > --- R..... wrote:
> >
> > > By economic theories (fallacies?) in vogue, fast completion of any work
> > is
> > > cardinal. Therefore, speed has become the hallmark of all economic and
> > > industrial activities and has become synonymous with efficiency. But when
> > we
> > > are talking of carbon credits, Kyoto Protocol and sustainable
> > deveolpment,
> > > it is time to review how acceleration in our lives has contributed to
> > higher
> > > energy consumption.
> > >
> > > Some examples of accelerated life and their Ecological Implications:
> > >
> > > We drive faster car for faster 0 to 60kmph to save a lot of time in the
> > stop
> > > and start city traffic. It is considered time wasting to be driven
> > in/drive
> > > a vehicle with sub 1000cc engine. Ecological Implication: We burn more
> > > carbon for the same distance.
> > >
> > > We travel by air to save time. EI: Consumption of fuel per passenger for
> > > same distance is substantially higher in a jet aircraft than in train.
> > >
> > > We want to cook faster to save time. EI: More energy is wasted.
> > >
> > > We do not want to waste time in turning off the tap in between our usage.
> > > EI: Water, with huge amount of energy invested, is wasted.
> > >
> > > High speed trains are being developed with heavy investment. EI: Total
> > > Energy needed Per passenger per KM will increase.
> > >
> > > It is not that always increasing speed has resulted in lowering energy
> > > efficiency but, I think it is time someone weighs the advantages of
> > > accelerated life with the extra costs incurred in doing so.
> > >
> > > Apart from speed, climate control is also adding to the avoidable energy
> > > consumption, a major chunk of the total. Measurement of being well to do
> > is
> > > how much one can control and manipulate the nature for immediate bodily
> > > comfort. This is basically due to the fact that everyone is copying from
> > the
> > > western philosophy of life. The westerners have thriven on unbriddled
> > > selfish-in-short-term manuevering of the surroundings, whereas in India
> > the
> > > civilization was sustainble and nature friendly as against being nature
> > > averse. Indian philosophy was weatheirng the self to become resistant to
> > > external vagaries of climate. Here, the basic ethoes were to produce only
> > as
> > > much as needed for consumption and consume as much as necessary to live.
> > >
> > > Production is probably the word which has lead to the depletion of the
> > > earths crust in a nonrenewable manner. And production is at the centre of
> > > all development as we know it.
> > >
> > > But the fear is that in living life like there is no tomorrow we just
> > might
> > > ensure that.

Chose a name for self...

2007-04-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

The name given to me was a robotic kind. Finally got to the profile modification page which gives the option to choose a new name! Now I can spell my name!

Have pain in my...er..ear, left. May be effects of too loud a music are manifesting themselves. But loud thumping music is hypnotising. The techno music with pronounced bass and cymbol makes your feet tap mechanically. As if a puppet in the hands of the DJ God...

However my personal favourite is the distorted kind of music, with lot of noise (guitar) and metallic drums with a relaxed rhythm (not the 'and justice for all' kind mad race to hit the snare, the paddle and the cymbols relentlessly, where you can hardly distinguish the bass in the cycle). Purists frowns alright, but I rate 'Give in to Me'(MJ featuring guitarworks by Van Halen, for the ignoramus) a favourite of this genre. 'Enter Sandman' is another very close contender behind 'Nothing else matters'. But this list is not very long for my kind of soul stirring ballads. How I wish there could be lot more of this genre. In the name of rock you get one extreme of the headbanging ironmaiden-soundgardedn soundalikes, and the other extreme is the softsoft poprock, ruled for some ages by the likes of Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. Though they have been straddling the borders between pop rock(with Octapads;-)) and actual rock (with actual acoustic drums) quite frequently. There are not many numbers like 'Always' or 'Please Forgive Me' from them now. Similarly now you do not get another 'November Rain', the kind of numbers you would rewind and play in infinite loop. Or the 'Sweet Child of Mine'. Where is W Axl Rose? The Guns have fallen silent it seems.

There is a ColdPlay in between. But such occurences are very few and far in between. Hip Hop would rule the world it seems. Revenge of the underdogs!

Shared Reminiscences

2007-04-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

This mail was sent to participants of Meet Just before 18/03/07:

Memories are very subjective and personal. One's cherished moments
might have passed unnoticed to the rest. While Lambu ka Dhaba is a
shrine for many, still many others don't even remember that and where
it really was. While cricket ground is the place where most of it
happened for many, many others do not even recall where it was. The
general and common reminiscences are usually impersonal for most. Many
personal memories are shared, though. To C block residents, watching
HKP making irrevocable points in his own mechanical style is a shared
memory. But A Block and B Block residents would not be able to
connect. It would carry straight to wicket keeper. But they will
immediately locate the memory of RS Bhoomla's sonorous voice
reverberating off the corridors and in the mess. In fact I used to
pass by the hostels till a couple of years back anticipating some
residual echos or new excitations. But things have fallen much
silent-er it seems.

For someone, a very fond memory would be the competition to hit the
street light poles with stones thrown from a certain distance during
the after dinner walks. For others winning the dumb charades.
Many others would remember the Mr IET competition, ruled for a few
ages by a certain Mr. Rahul Srivastava. One wonders whether rail
sleepers can act as the weights!

Very few would recall the 26th Jan1992 flag unfurling. But in someone
else's memory it would remain etched forever like an oil painting.
Very few would be even aware that a team of warriors of IET had gone
to MNREC cul fest in 1993. But some would remember even winning there.
Sarlin War's role was played by Virendra Thapa. Temple of Doom. Before
curtains were raised, in the background enigma was playing. Only
rhythm on drums. Or so everyone thought. Actually someone was just
warming up the drums for temple of doom.

Ask Sarlin War, who never learnt loosing in any competition. But she
was not there. Cause she had sung Let me be there in your Morning, let
me be there in your nights, let me be there... in Encore'94. The drums
and heavily distorted (metal) guitar to everyones astonishment, were
played by the members of the Rock Band Olios. She won hands down and
notes high. But how many remember this... It was a path breaking
performance. By all measures.

The adolescent boy Provin Gurung sang Some Guys have all the luck...And the accompaniment on the guitar was
simply AWESOME. But who remembers. There was a dancer from IHM
Lucknow, who had to do Encore of Moonwalk. Many times. He won hands
down, hat high. There was a good representation from NIIT Lucknow in
the cultural events. Their music troop was by far the best. They had
sung the group song Yadon Ki barat nikalee hai aaj...really really well.
I remember Gagan Gurnani. He sang the duet Achha ji main hari chalo
man jao with Dipannita Dey if I recall right. It was a close second
(or fist?) to Jaanejan...But how many other care and remember! Their
western solo entry was Suzanna...It was a winning one. Here. Not in IITK
where they lost to the hosts.

How many remember the sterling performances of Palash Ranjan, Manisha
Garg and Shalini Malik, if I recall right? Palash Ranjan and Manish
had enacted so well the roles of flustered couple. How many remember
the Play that never converged, written and directed by the
incorrigible Bhauchak. Antics of LMS and SMT in the Qawwali...
How many remember the Choreography done by none other than Preeti
Sangal and Devesh Chandra. The number was freshly arrived Dangerous.

The catwalks where Anamika Bhatia and Vineet sethi and others had
scorched the ramp.

Memories are personal. And subjective.

How many remember the Huzoor-e-Wala number.

Or the girl staying on the road to sec-Q who owned a Doberman of a
dog. Or that she was nick-named Kuttewali. How many know the twist in
her tale that she eventually married a prominent IETian. Or was it he
who married her. Whatever, they were married to each other.

How many remember the corner shop opposite the power house at the
'Tea' point behind the hostels. Or the grave near the New Boys hostel?
The former was more dreaded when 'Katiyar' and 'Mukherjee' had been
sighted at their fav spot.

How many remember the dim lit room of Amit Singhal in D block top
floor, from where Jaggu always kept streaming out in dim light. And
the mahaul. Aah ko chahiye ek umr sahar hone tak..kaun jeeta hai teri
zulf ke sar hone tak...The baithak was always jawan. Subah ho ya shaam.
Mera qatil hi mera munsif hai...
Kya mere haq mein faisala dega...

How many other remember the resident Jagjeet Singh Tarun Jain? He used
to sing the best of his Ghazals in masterly ways.

How any remember the scene when on returning from the Applied Mechnics
Paper Gunjan Ghai was welcoming others from the door of New Boys
Hostel "Abe, L... Gayee...."It was one of the most hilarious sights I remeber of those times.

Who remembers Khadim ki shayari and Vagish ki Kavita?

Who remembers the fete organized by the 1996 batch when ye lamhe ye
pal was requested so many times that the tape had to be replaced. Ham
rahe ya na rahen kal was yet not born.

Or how many remember when RS Bhoomla sang in the freshers function 1991
"Jab IET ki yaad tujhe aegii, teri ankhon se ye neend rooth jayegii".

If you do, you can catch RSB singing once again. And a lot more. Just
remember the date, time and venue- 18th March, 9am onwards, MMCG.
Mohan Nagar.

Clash of the Titans

2007-04-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the account of the IETL Alumni Meet in Ghaziabad on 18th March, 2007.

'The' PP Shukla(88) Versus 'the' HB Mukherjee(89). PP Shukla came down for the opening. Going strong with the spontaneous ease of a Sehwagand the raw power of a Dhoni. Then suddenly everyone hears the thud thud thud of a tractor rolling to the boundary line. Villagers are interested in cricket thought many spectators-mostly those from the 1984-1988 batch-the first batch. Because they did not know. The 1985-1989 batch knew and were prepared. The tractor Honked PeePee. The crowd respondedHai.. Hai...; Pee Pee.. Haihai; Pee Pee Haihai... Next ball. Bulls eye, middle strewn away!
The next batsman in. Was more dangerous and in recently acquired form, more venomous, Probably Yatish Katheria?. But the silencer-less-bullet rumbling like a canon did him in too.

That Mr. HB Mukherjee- the senior who scared daylight and nightlife out of most I knew - was slapped twice during ragging by his senior of half his height who had to use a bench to access his big round face, Just Imagine. HB Mukherjee, an author now, relating many such stories!

Just imagine, many stories like this unfolding in front of you like a sepia tinted movie... Those who attended the meet do not have to. Because they came, they saw and they conquered.

The conquest was also by the even year-ed batches -the men and boys in blue and white, who decisively won the cricket match against the Grey-red ones. The yellow caps lifted the trophy. Incidentally, all were yellow caps-the caps of IET. The evens were captained by one of the most die-hard and in-fine-touch cricket devotees-Sanjay Yadav-92. The Odds were led by Sanjay Khare-91. Old hands both.

The Odd eleven batted first and went on to score a good 99 in 16 overs against a stingy bowling attack of the evens comprising of Sanjay Yadav, Sandeep Asthana-90 and others. Dhanajay Singh-91, whose stories of passion towards sport are out in the open now thanks to TP3 and who came all the way from Mumbai to play was, the major contributor (made the foundation 20) along with Ajay Katiyar-91(35, was in a fine touch with his flowing shots), Sanjay Khare(10), Bhupendra-97(15). Their partnerships, made people remember the old times. Sandeep Asthana took 3 wickets and Sanjay Yadav 2.

The even batted in full control of the situation. The class of batting was in full display when Sanjay Yadav(51*) was batting. He scored a glorious half century within 10 overs as if heeding to the hunger crys from the crowd who wanted the match to finish fast so that they can congratulate the winning team and proceed for the lavish lunch with the teams. And then relenting to the chants from the stands "auron ko bhi mauka do..unne bhi fielding ki hai..." he gracelfully declared his own innings even as his team was on the verge of victory. The verge was easily crossed a little later. Someone said send him to Indian squad in the carebs. They out there heard that probably and put their act together at last even if against a minnows!

Following were the prizes:
Winning Team: Evens eleven cap Sanjay Yadav
Man of the Match: Sanjay Yadav
Best Batsman: Dhanajay Singh
Best Bowler Sandeep Asthana
Best Fielder: Paresh Sharma-94 (Also made impressive 35).

Did I mention that during and after the match chilled beer kept flowing? People were seen having their generous fills. Despite it being 'off the house'.

In another corner of the ground, children were having a field day-literally. They were enjoying to the hilt the huge bouncies(don't know, somehow this word always distracts my attention) erected for them, candy floss stall, the puppet show, the works. Not for once did any kid made a 'ghar chalo' or 'maal chalo' bid. They were too absorbed in all this to even notice the presence or absence of their parents. The latter were mostly absent as they were somewhere else down the memory lane! In huddles.

But they were back in time with their LOVELY spouses, when the latter were to play the Tug of War. Between the odd and even batches. Not the male batchmates - but the wives thereof and the girls. The rope was a military one, ferried all the way from Sikandara base of Indian Army where LT Col. RS Bhumla-93 is stationed. It was a rotund rope, but a few lovely wives were rotund-er, pleasantly and prosperously. It was going to be a clash of titans...the she-titans. They lifted and pulled the rope to their sides, an art they are masters at. This time it was not their husbands at the other end, only. It was going to be interesting. Just imagine!

It was an even day. Literally so. The odd wives lost with a little resistance, despite my lovely and..... wife being on this side. Spirit counts, in the end. (Not beer folks, as I did not see any brave lady even near the dispenser) Winning was not important here. Though it entitled the winners to handsome gifts. But the biggest gift that day was entitled to all those arrived there. They will cherish it for a long long time to come. Or at least till the time the glorious tan acquired during the breezy day remains. At least, that is what they told us.

We, the organizers, sincerely thank all the participants from the bottoms of our hearts for the exertion they did to make it to the event. Getting up before noon on a lazy spring-summer Sunday. Having to circumvent their kids PTM. Or to get up at 5.30 in the morning in Aligarh to reach at eight in the morning. Or leaving a couple of days earlier from Mumbai to reach a day before the event and then braving fever to play. Or driving down 50 odd kilometers from a distant suburb across the town. Saket-95 and Rahul-95, we are proud of you. We thank the lovely spouses of the IETiens for their unstinting support and encouragement for the not so noble cause that included guzzling beer and playing cricket. We again thank them and the IET girls for being and looking so beautiful, effortlessly or otherwise. We thank them for
compromising and living gracefully with the eventuality, known or otherwise, that they will end up with a mighty tan by the time shadows lengthen. I know this from my lovely and .....wife. We thank the kids who behaved so well and let their parents once again be what they used to be back in time then.

Free flowing chocolates and candies were taking care of the developing appetite of kids who were asking for more and more after the flat race and the cute lemon and spoon race. It was a wonderful sight - Kids ambling about with spoons in the mouth, lemons on the spoons and squinted eyes on the lemons. As was the puppet show. The artiste weaved a whole new song: Kagaj kalam 'gawar' la...;-) Apparently he was from an Adult education programme. Not 'that' Adult education ye dirt old minds! I mean what we also know as Adult Literacy or 'Proudh Shiksha' in Hindi and what was practiced by the IETiens of yore in the Village by the Institute tubewell.

Appetite - the gastronomical kind - of the elders was taken care by the incessant rounds of veg and non-veg snacks and latter lavish five course meal. (jyada ho gaya kya? Amita, Ruchi, it wasn't five course?) Ok, settle for Multi course, let us:-)

When Sandeep Asthana sang har pal yahan...all were ears to him, exclusively. Such a beautiful rendition of such a beautiful song mesmerized everyone. When Bhumla sang his old favourite or the dilber mere.., all were enchanted and captivated by the strapping Colonel. Another Armyman Major Dhirendra Singh's-95 lovely wife (yes, only lovely) Savita also from 97 Batch sung Chhookar mere man ko... all the men and boys envied the Major's Luck.

The Na-jaa team was represented by the video director Sabia Khan-06 who also was one of the organising members, and the face of na-jaa Amitesh Singh-06. The alumni from 2006 batch extended their wholehearted support in organising.

All the participants of the meet were generously praising the meet and gave positive feedback. (thank you) They were saying that we should keep holding such events regularly. They said they enjoyed the event irrespective of whether or not they actively participated in any event- cricket, antakshari etc. Even if now many of them are nursing their ligaments weary of playing in an out of practice sport. They said they had a great time meeting people otherwise not possible to meet and talking endlessly about the life during college and after it. From their eyes it was a good show. Thanks all once again!

From our own yardsticks (we are about a septet) we probably know what and where we lacked. We came wiser. We will be back with the promise of even better wares next time round. Those who do or do not regret not being able to join this time can look up to this promise and in the meantime enjoy the snaps/videos we will be shortly uploading at the www.shivampatel.net/alumnae link. Those who attended can find themselves in the snaps.

We especially thank those alumni who had registered initially, were unable to attend due to some reasons on the new date and informed us in advance of their unavailability. It was indeed a very thoughtful,caring and helpful gesture. In fact we expected from all such registered alumni who were unable to join for whatever reasons, such a kind gesture. A one line e-mail or even SMS in response to our SMSeswould have sufficed.

At the end we (the team) also thank one another for everything we did or tried to do, lest we forget!

We will meet again. Looking forward to see you all and others.

In the end, it goes without saying that, in the melee of hard-soft e-mails to build up the tempo, if someone felt hurt or uncomfortable, to our knowledge or otherwsie, we would like to underline that it was not intended.

Thanks. Shukriya. Dhanyavaad.

Regards

link to meet snaps and posts of Tigerpoint: www.shivampatel.net/alumnae

Ambitions are alright but...

2007-04-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a post to delhimetrogroup on the plight of suburban commuters of Delhi/NCR.

Rajeev, Keep posting. Such observations must be brought forward. May be it makes the planners prevent repeating the oversights. Sanjay, The Anand Vihar Vaishali route of 2.05km will have two stations one at the end near Bhushan Steels and the other midway. Going by the look of things, it may be only a matter of days before a politician does the stone laying since, 1) assly Elections in UP are nearing and 2) the stretch has to be completed by 2009.The route will not be along the NH-24by pass rather along the Deen Dayal Upadyaya Marg (Anand Vihar to Bhushan Steel).

I feel the authorities find it more lucrative and simpler to start a new project than mend the existing infrastrastructure. Take the example of Delhi road public transport. Their is no effort to reign in the blue line operators. Probably the operators are too tough for the authorities to crack their whip on. On the contrary it is the former who are cracking their whip ( and sometimes sticks too) on the poor DTC drivers who comply by driving their empty buses in the form of a Caravan.

Talk of other public transport means. God help you if you want to do inter-state travel from/to Delhi to/from adjoining towns by means of auto / taxi. They will ask for exorbitant sums of money justifying it by saying that they have to pay sundry charges for crossing the borders. Why can't the authorities of the states act in unison? Only god knows.

Even in the same state, their are issues in seamless public transport between two districts!Unfortunately, what is logical even to a layman, the so called experts, planners and executors fail to comprehend and connect to its simple logic. And there are innumerable examples of such instances around. Probably it is the fact that a certain percentage of all decisions are logical and productive too which prevail over the effect of otherwise outnumbering illogical ones, that keeps the world going.

Adding one more post:
Profitable or not, Urban Trains/alternates in isolation are no Panacea for the transport problems of Indian cities. There is need for sincere, concerted effort to improve the transport situation. Everyones seems to think that The magic wand in the form of new project will alleviate all kind of suffering of all commuters. ]

An examplary simple step would be to strictly enforce driving and stopping of buses only in the bus lane and designated points. It IS possible in India also as I witnessed in Chennai. But who will bell the Cat? So, if government is so concerned about the situation of public transport that it does not bat an eyelid before clearing Mega projects, it can very well deploy sufficient workforce to enforce careful and legal driving. Or why, can it not give a little thought towards better engineered location of Bus stops in designing of mega Flyovers? Coherence, coordination and balance in the measures are the need of the day.

We, unlike more developed places, still have enough scope left to enhance and consolidate the infrastructure of the existing means. We are far from saturation on this front. We can also plan for newer means, but with the future in mind. Not like "Provide counter-incentives to users of conventional system by not upgrading it so that they become bound to hop on to the new one, which might costlier to society as a whole".

May be a Cross Functional team like DMRC implementation team should be commissioned to study the situation and devise and execute the solutions. As long as there is no single agency to take care of all the modes of public transport and related infrastructure in urban centres (NCR, MM), the multitudes of DTC, STA, RTO, DMRC, Delhi Traffic Police, UPSRTC, PWD, DTTDC, DDA, MCD, CPWD and off course private TSTQs will keep acting on cross purposes. Everyone will have enough options to pass the buck to the next agency. Sincerity on this front is still to be displayed by the powers that be. And yes, PPP is a valid parameter.

The Washing Machine that Laughed

2007-04-06T23:28:00.000-07:00

This post was done around holi this year. It was a tribute to my dear friend A Mishra's Holi Travails in college:

A was in the bathroom. His passionless laughter echoed through the corridors, making the 'laughter-challenged' also laugh in the process. (I know who you are thinking of...especially when cricket is around the corner, but please do not bring in extra-human references;-)) He had been in this process since afternoon. It was Dinner timebut this guy was still unfinished with his chores. Strange for a non-fashionable and average looking young man, who would dump laundry back at his local home every weekend? Not really...

A non-habitual person taking generous dose of ‘Bhang’ is not strange on Holi of Avadh. It was Hostel Holi that day. The pond was dug up between new boys and D Block. People had been taking and giving holi dips for the entire day and now was the washing up time. The sins had already been rinsed off in the pond.

Washing colour off is not such a good idea but people do so, nonetheless. First you get ‘coloured’ and then work hard on 'discoluoring'. As if in the defiance of the dictates of thermodynamics. To show to HKP that Heat to Work and Work to Heat are equivalently convertible (reversible processes). Sink retained no heat, only some coloured muddy water. But profoundly thought, it is like dying the soul colorful. The interiors gets soaked and then the superficial excess is to be washed off (thermodynamics was correct after all). Efficiency of the dyeing lied in how less colour you rejected to sink.

The chromium, copper, strontium, cadmium salts etc (in colours as well as crackers) are actually good for body and soul; environmentalists, doctors and neo-rationalists be damned. At least these (the colours:-)) make one bathe off the winter deposits in one straight session, whose length varies depending upon the dose. If you bathe daily even in winters, you just might do without any dose. On the other extreme, if your frequency was bisessional (one at mid and the other at the end) you might as well have had to take a golf ball.

Coming back, whereas many had finished theirs, A was still going strong at his discouloring, washing laughing laughing washing…sucked in the vicious circle. The laughing washing m/c humming and hawing…and occasionally crying too.

Anyone who has heard that laughter of late and can point to how and whereabouts of A is welcome to do so…
Many such stories are up for chewing a lavish lunch with on 18th.

The Story Continues...

2007-04-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

Another nostalgic reminiscene of the college life:

Let the Muzik play, as Shamur would say or would the Finnish OEM vendor. For, nostalgia is never out of favour. Even if it gives goose bumps and a throatful of lumps. Even if the accessibile romance of a level crossing on a Meter Gauge rail track has given way to concrete ambitions of a convoluted flyover. Trains still pass by the GB.s. 1 and 2. But there are no IETians crossing the tracks when the Nainital Express or even Sitapur Local goes chugging along, what they still do with precise routine, who can notice the few peeping eyes enjoying the passing trail of lit squares. For, the passage at the corner is closed. So is the passage to the Vijaya Bank through the village by the Cold Storage Plant. The branch where the current account of Encore93 was kept. Many new blocks have come up in the campus including the administrative building for the UPTU, the auditorium, Post Office and bank, the New GB.

The 'Bund Samosa' of Guptaji's dhaba are no more now. As is the Dhaba. The over-bridge has routed away this settlement by a Neem-grove. The serenity of this corner has since been buried under the noise of hot rubber tracting on cold tar. The Mishraji ki Dukan, supposedly the hygienic-est of 'em all by large then, is still there.

The city has arrived to the 'Engineering College' and gone beyond towards Sitapur. The pond behind the playground on the way to the village (that was) Madiyaon has been reclaimed and has been inhabited by the urban man. The landfill pond by the road to Sec-Q has been reclaimed as well and monstrous structures in this place have been sliding up the sky-scape since the summer of 95. This has brought about shrinkage in the catchment aera of the IETiens. The exit in the wall behind D Block and A Block have since been closed. The height of wall makes IET a little fortress.

Now no Policemen can extort food from the C-Block mess on 'special' day (Wednesdays) and get the chase and the subsequent beating of their lives. Later Sarswat would be in his full character shielding the freehitters from police. I do not know whereabouts of the mess manager of C-Block. He was ever so polite and provided fingerlicking yummy food. The Bread Rolls out of his kitchen were the tastiest one would have ever had (No one has my wife's number). The custard on Saturdays lunch menu, (well, now lump drowned in saliva, almost) forced local hostellers to stay back for it. Then during exams Babulal and Ramkumar would call "Bhaiya Chai" at about 11pm. The tea was served in the mess to prepare for the overnighter. The huge 'Bhagona' would store the tastiest tea. Then there would be sounds from the D-Block top floor abode of SMT, Saket, SK-II. The Ghost of 11ft height had reappeared draped in white and knocked on Alok Dwivedi's door.

The badminton court of the C-block was witness to some of the fiercest matches. HKP, TJ, SK, HK et al used to be the stars. The sound of shuttlecock being powerfully, repeatedly smashed by a tight net was music enough to entice the padhaku-est of them all out to the balcony. For other times there always was Rajiv Kanaujia with his Enigma graveyard shifts. So were the guitarists from the north east. Or one of the RDLA's playing 'Nothing Else Matters' in full blast. Life was music.

The Ganj has been won back by the Nawab of somewhere near Sitapur. Mayfair had shut it's screen down many summers ago. But now you have PVRs in Sahara Ganj. Innocence has been taken over by the media. More to come, May be. Before we meet.

Road Map

2007-04-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hi, This was a post to groups before the IETL alumni meet scheduled for 11thFeb 2007

All roads lead to Mohan Nagar on 11th. Especially the ones whereon the houses of IETian are located. Those lead to a Cricket Ground rhyming with one of the greatest, MMCG-the Mohan Maekins Cricket Ground. (One M less, it could have unfolded to Melbourne Cricket Ground.)

The Road to MMCG is in fact the road to Lucknow-the NH-24. The very road whereon the Lambu Ka dhaba and incidentally IET too is located. A 1/2K milestones more and it is back to yesterday. See, it is not serendipity that has made us congregate at this place.

For those living in any part of non- East Delhi including GGN, just drive down the Lucknow highway (NH-24)! You would find the stopover.

For that cross the River via Nizamuddin-the sufi- flyover. Cross Akshardham too. All roads lead to the ONE. Go east till you find the famous and busy crossroads of Ghazipur. Cross it too at green. Keep straight. Fly over the 8-lane flyover to the land of IET. You would see the pearly gates (they officially as well as colloquially call it the UP Gate) right at the descent of your flight. Enter those. Welcome. You are there, almost. Turn left toward Dabur. This stretch of road is called NH-58 and joins the NH-24 Bypass with the GT Road. Cross the Rail lines going to Lucknow (well, lines are going nowhere, only trains on them) via Mohan Nagar Overbridge. This overbridge is under expansion as more and more IETians are heading across it. Soon it will be able to let through all of them without hassles. Beyond this you will find yourself teeing on to the GT Road, which is the NH-24 at this point. All roads want to go to Lucknow it seems! Not agaaaain, roads are not going, it is we who are doing so. Don't. This time round. Take a U-turn after turning right. Because we are still not going to Lucknow. We are making do with the MMCG. You need not be guided any further. Travel beyond this is self guiding. The place would smell, sight and sound of IET.

It would smell of Lambus' Daal Fry, of the first rain on the hostel lawns, of the band(bun) samosa of Gupta, of the highway fumes of Sitapur Road, of the roses in the tiny rose garden beside the corridor between director office and Electrical Engg department, of the poisoned glue of the hard bound books of the Library, of ammonia of Chemistry lab (you could also hear the chants of Alka Pandey going Shake..Shake..), of the soil of the soil mechanics lab, of silicon in the instrumentation lab, of grease and paint in the workshops, of the dry cool stale air in the computer labs, of the chameli ka tel your neighbour used, of the sweet sweat of the gym…

The few chosen ones would also be able to smell fragrance of THE element that used to be prominently in the air in the second week of February. Can hear the brutal tearing of cards and the see the first blush that the successful cards generated. Many could hear the whispered thanks. Some would hear beautiful excuses. They would sing latter in the hostel Har kisi ko… The RDLA would be there to take them into its fold! All would be there. Keep your senses on alert.

You could spot SRPS singing Mukesh, Bhoomla taking on Ataullah Khan, Kishore kumar in one song, Devesh Chandra in his baritone Ghazals, Yatendra Bhushan with his harmonium, Sarlin War beating IITians at Culfest, Sangal Sisters mesmerizing the ietiens with their songs, Deepika and how-wish-I-remembered-who singing Huzoor-e-wala, Kartikey pant Yodeling away making Kishore proud up there, Ajay Saxena singing Jindagi ki na toote Lari, Manish Srivastava composing his group song:Sooraj ki garmi with attention to the last pause.
Wait…Who are these professional Rock band? They are The Olios- The Rock Opera doing nth encore of the Final Countdown…
You would see the Vineet Sethis and Anamika Bhatias(Jains) scorching the ramp. As they bear the lineage of the seniors who beat IITians on their turf. And lot more…

That is Vikrant Saraswat debating fierce. So are Nilesh and Himanshu. Saket Verma walking his peculiar gait with nails duly being chewed. Pondering over yet another six. And the next ISAAC Event. The Panja Group is trying best not to let the GP cross 5. Divyaman and Dhirendra have again got a Dassa. Many girls are below 9. And quite a few have got 10ers.

You would see the quartet of Gurnani, Balyan, Anurag and Manoj sharing the exploits of 100m sprint. Babu Shivmohan Singh has thrown the discus to Madiyaon and people are busy retrieving it. Rahul Gupta is trying his brave hand at Hammer Throw. Nitu is not impressed yet. Parikshit has knocked out the opponent yet. Naqvi is very happy. Happier is Anuradha.

IK Bhatt is asking Maisha, Bolo bolo, breakfast nahin kya kya? Kitne parathe khaye? Paliwal is not happy with the shawl-clad girls and ordered them to come a bit under-dressed.. Jawahar Singh (Hope he is smiling down from heaven, was indeed a good man at heart) is not happy with the folded cuffs of boys sleeves. Cut them or button them was the dictate. Onkar Singh is at his cutest best. Sanjay Mishra is philosophizing yet again. Virendra Mishra is narrating his good man and better man anecdote nth time round. Dabba is coming rolling down the corridors to teach numerical analysis. Khare Saab has again effortlessly driven down the theories of Kinematics. Bhiku is again getting a zero solution below the bottom of black board. He would try again with assurance to class that definitely it won't end up in zilch this time. SK Srivastava is being nice. His was the polished face at the counseling desk that brought many to IET. This was where the story begun from.

And it still continues…

Those coming from the ISBT Shahdara side will have to cross the T point and will be subjected to the above.

As would be the ones coming from the city side of the Ghaziabad main. They will have to cross the Hindon River and head to the Mohan Nagar T Point and the above will catch them just upstream the T point.

People coming from NOIDA, Indirapuram etc, will have to reach the Mohan Nagar T point to be sucked into the sights, sounds and smells. They are expected to know how to reach the threshold.

Hi there!

2007-04-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

I have managed to create a blog. Watch this space, as i move my random musings to this place. This name Alb... has been randomly assigned to my blog by Dear Blogger. I think I will live with it.
Regards