tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248395812024-03-07T16:01:11.597-08:00ScratchpadMadhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-10118207877749543462010-01-30T22:13:00.000-08:002010-01-30T22:15:18.890-08:00जिजीविषा<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">मेरी खिड़की के झरोखे से इक सूखी टहनी दिखती है,</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">सर्द हवा</span><span style="font: 16.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">के</span><span style="font: 16.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">झोकों से अकेली जूझती हुई।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">कभी बर्फ़ की चादर अोढ़े, कभी ठंडी धूप में ठिठुरते हुए,</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">कहीं उसे खुद पर दया तो न अाती होगी?</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">अब तो कमबख्त पत्तों ने भी साथ छोड़ दिया है।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">उस ठंडी निर्दय आंधी में कहीं वो सहम तो न जाती होगी?</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'; min-height: 26.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">पर हफ़्तों से देखता हूँ, हार तो नहीं मानी इसने।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">जहाँ कई शाखें धराशायी हैं, ये ज्यौं की तयौं डटी है।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">टहनी छोटी ही सही, जीवट तो बहुत है!</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">इतना साहस, इतनी जीवनशक्ति, कहाँ से पाती होगी!</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'; min-height: 26.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">तभी ये बातें हवा ने बाहर जा फुसफुसा दीं।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">टहनी मेरी ओर झुक कर, कुछ मुस्कुराकर बोली -</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">तुम मनुष्य जिजीविषा का अनोखा मतलब लगाते हो!</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">जीवन को युद्ध मान कर, मुझ पर बेवजह तरस खाते हो।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">मैं तो बस ठंडी हवा का आनंद उठाती हूँ।</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Devanagari MT'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">तब पत्तों के साथ झूमती थी, अब अकेली लहराती हूँ!</span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Devanagari MT', serif;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"><br /></span></span></div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-91034445825243996122008-06-02T01:20:00.000-07:002008-06-02T01:28:32.807-07:00एक औरहवा में नाचते बगीचे में<br />कहीं एक फूल टूट कर गिर गया।<br />टहनियों ने शायद कुछ देर निहारा होगा,<br />कहा होगा बेचारा अधखिला ही रह गया।<br />फिर वापस हवा से बातें करने लगीं होंगी,<br />भूल कर उसे जो अब बोल नहीं सकता।<br />बाग़ में हर ओर कई फूल सजे हैं।<br />रंगों की इस भीड़ के बीच कहीं,<br />एक और सुगंध, एक और उमंग,<br />खिलने से पहले ही घुट कर दम तोड़ गई।Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-37160414364295228902007-07-29T21:34:00.000-07:002007-07-30T07:45:44.293-07:00The Image MakerThe Pacific Film Archive at Berkeley is having a <a href="http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/abbas_kiarostami">film program on Abbas Kiorastami</a> these days. Kiorastami is an Iranian director who <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Kiarostami">apparently</a> has a reputation for making great movies with very simple themes and experimenting with different new techniques.<br /><br />I watched <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093342/">"Where is the friend's home?"</a> </span>yesterday which is definitely an illustration of at least the simple theme part (I do not know a lot about "techniques" to comment on the other). The movie is about a kid who wants to return his friend's notebook or else the friend is going to be expelled from class the next day - <span style="font-style: italic;">that's it!</span> But the way he captures the child's thoughts, and the unconcerned reactions of the elders who do not understand the urgency of the situation, is a thing of beauty. Highly recommended if you can lay your hands on it.<br /><br />The program has quite a few films, but I am really curious about <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/film/FN16576">"Ten"</a> - </span>a film which was shot virtually without the director. The subject was always on the front seat of a car with a camera on the dashboard - Kiorastami was not present but merely instructed the actors. Let's see...Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-88387611036883168032007-05-26T11:28:00.000-07:002007-05-26T12:01:11.194-07:00When the protector destroys!<div style="text-align: justify;">Ok.. this dramatic title is to point to point out <a href="http://www.spamfighter.com/News-8414-Symantec-Update-Causes-Crash-Down-of-Chinese-Computers.htm">this bug</a> in the latest update of Symantec Antivirus. It thinks that two files necessary to windows are viruses and goes ahead to delete them, resulting in a windows crash and the feared "blue screen of death" (saying that a memory dump has been saved).<br /><br />I spent a good part of the day trying to figure out the problem, blaming myself for incorrectly installing Ubuntu, until I managed to rule that out through some checks. When salvaged enough to run, Windows was able to detect that the problem was due to Symantec and say that Symantec is working on a solution. What followed was my first experience with trying to get help from "customer care" asking them about the nature of the problem and what can I do about it. I ended up being redirected from one number to another for 90 minutes, thanked them for their non-support and said I'd figure it out myself. What a fun day!<br /><br />Finally, if you found that boring, here's a video of "Indian Superman" to atone for it:<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/f5Pjo0WjBcs"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/f5Pjo0WjBcs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object></div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-49256804142935502142007-03-11T21:11:00.000-07:002007-03-11T21:22:10.150-07:00Physics Puzzle?<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/F5PvIPgJGx0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/F5PvIPgJGx0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br />PS: Thanks to <a href="http://nranvah.blogspot.com/">Naresh</a> for this. The sparks are a bit difficult to see, but the second one can be seen.Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-53414388664564285652007-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:002008-12-10T20:49:18.327-08:00Finding Tahoe<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I have been out of the blogosphere for a long time now and I do not know if I will continue to blog after this post. But here is a first-hand account (in pictures) of Berkeley's "Theory Retreat".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The students of the theory group at Berkeley planned and organized a 4-day trip to lake Tahoe, a skiing resort near the California-Nevada border. The idea was to rent a cabin, stay together, have fun and also do some work. My first rendezvous with snow and first attempts at skiing - yes, I fell all the time - but it was fun! For those who condemn me for not scaring the world with my own pictures - there is one below.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update</span>: Should mention that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfiVc0X9Ewc">this</a> was our constant companion!<br /></span></div><table><tbody><tr><td><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_tOz8R1St4n3SL3bfw_EL8T1zhNY463CfhKl5Rty74Wc1_enxFjjOTImehhS82dJz-RXjDGSubX2r4s3inVHA5neNQg876nhJ-0D1FsXGN8ZB5gsqOr6uYXaoRYpr5DRD-hSyQ/s1600-h/IMGP1159.JPG"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_tOz8R1St4n3SL3bfw_EL8T1zhNY463CfhKl5Rty74Wc1_enxFjjOTImehhS82dJz-RXjDGSubX2r4s3inVHA5neNQg876nhJ-0D1FsXGN8ZB5gsqOr6uYXaoRYpr5DRD-hSyQ/s320/IMGP1159.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035189785637226514" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUU2esZbbtquUnAxLlTucMRpqGN0kquNrA_uNUL8PENIcbJInUsqudZX-crqkJzcwhzrkzSyBcDslANXnllNBIS_pvQ9uJJCvecnghcMx4KsLmH1trM9YEPXKVqeAgKmaPiV2IA/s1600-h/IMGP1197.JPG"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUU2esZbbtquUnAxLlTucMRpqGN0kquNrA_uNUL8PENIcbJInUsqudZX-crqkJzcwhzrkzSyBcDslANXnllNBIS_pvQ9uJJCvecnghcMx4KsLmH1trM9YEPXKVqeAgKmaPiV2IA/s320/IMGP1197.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035189794227161138" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><br /><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOuQAW5agc1AqruP51asOfO4QfthBXrEmBetnxneUCmTeabrkUSJwlRCdgtNXHSYEmY9Cpkw4MSy_9BTa68rLZRgXJXe2AIUNEt6SCq47gjKrTnjwhAtmMGltotuYLhbZHDvQeg/s1600-h/IMGP1162.JPG"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOuQAW5agc1AqruP51asOfO4QfthBXrEmBetnxneUCmTeabrkUSJwlRCdgtNXHSYEmY9Cpkw4MSy_9BTa68rLZRgXJXe2AIUNEt6SCq47gjKrTnjwhAtmMGltotuYLhbZHDvQeg/s320/IMGP1162.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035189789932193826" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKExv8rXxMyTW_WEhzmldMmz3qEQanilwHgWXGCN13PsXzNvGr5Mi4PdlGac3wHL6nFArddjOOIECY23Ey3RR0hGDWO_VdxW7LOhwvSdFI6BdY6gCN36wkKIXMivZ1YeO7OtsQRQ/s1600-h/IMGP1209.JPG"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKExv8rXxMyTW_WEhzmldMmz3qEQanilwHgWXGCN13PsXzNvGr5Mi4PdlGac3wHL6nFArddjOOIECY23Ey3RR0hGDWO_VdxW7LOhwvSdFI6BdY6gCN36wkKIXMivZ1YeO7OtsQRQ/s320/IMGP1209.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035189802817095762" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMhXifUYf8EaAfXz4bb-TnI5V56Wjk1JqhIguBimGU8KjIan6gVggE2vEmFR8L304HPCKCc7zvcwbW9b7GesXGSEzMkpaaAMt_Z9xd9jEKlqLPMSt4xjqiyAn4gDrTxecqUa_GQ/s1600-h/IMGP1213.JPG"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMhXifUYf8EaAfXz4bb-TnI5V56Wjk1JqhIguBimGU8KjIan6gVggE2vEmFR8L304HPCKCc7zvcwbW9b7GesXGSEzMkpaaAMt_Z9xd9jEKlqLPMSt4xjqiyAn4gDrTxecqUa_GQ/s320/IMGP1213.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035190030450362466" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHViqFT1RizgC2YRMUdMvG9H6owpcsmVNl-f4PdfaKnPpggCYWrPSiCgKIcFVpv0yZOZ8_BHwD9qSjMP94XnNYBVxpALSeN94hct_WhxvMOsWJIohY8vCcbWyLpahfYjGzLrKRyg/s1600-h/IMGP1206.JPG"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHViqFT1RizgC2YRMUdMvG9H6owpcsmVNl-f4PdfaKnPpggCYWrPSiCgKIcFVpv0yZOZ8_BHwD9qSjMP94XnNYBVxpALSeN94hct_WhxvMOsWJIohY8vCcbWyLpahfYjGzLrKRyg/s320/IMGP1206.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035189798522128450" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1161783363569780622006-10-25T06:32:00.000-07:002006-10-25T07:14:29.860-07:00Conference, workshop and a rock show<div style="text-align: justify;">I am currently in LA attending a <a href="http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/scws2/">workshop</a> at IPAM. This is right after attending <a href="http://focs06.cs.princeton.edu/">FOCS</a> in Berkeley. FOCS was accompanied by a "Rock Show" organized by people from the Berkeley theory group. It is not everyday that you find your professors singing <span style="font-style: italic;">smells like teen spirit </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">cocaine</span> (with the word cocaine of course replaced by the more appropriate caffeine)<span style="font-style: italic;">. </span>Here's a picture of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M._Karp">Dick Karp</a> dancing to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christos_Papadimitriou">Christos</a>' tunes. Luca <a href="http://in-theory.blogspot.com/2006/10/in-theory-it-was-good-song_24.html">presents</a> a more detailed account of the concert.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/karp2.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/320/karp2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The drive to LA was exciting with the car rental running out of small cars and us "having to" to rent a convertible instead. We drove in the slightly cold weather with the top open for a while. I had to wear a jacket sitting in the back - but it was worth it! More from LA to follow soon.</div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1160581856660836752006-10-11T08:50:00.000-07:002006-10-13T00:27:21.160-07:00Was Einstein the only scientist?<div style="text-align: justify;">Berkeley has a huge bookstore called "Half-price books" which sells used books. I often go in there and browse through the popular-science section. Interestingly, about half of the section is filled with books about/by Einstein! Of course, Einstein was a great scientist and one can expect to find quite a few books - but the fact that Einstein dominates the section so much as to make books about every other scientist nonexistent was surprising. Exaggeration and overgeneralization based on the number of books yield the following conclusions:<br /></div> <ol> <li>Mathematics is extremely unpopular and/or unscientific. The only books present in the section are books which brush up your formulae from high-school algebra.</li> <li>Chemistry does not exist.</li> <li> Genome, black-holes and relativity are the "really cool" things.</li> </ol>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1160248790278622762006-10-07T12:19:00.000-07:002007-02-24T19:19:05.976-08:00सवाल<span style="font-family: lucida grande;">पूछती है राह मुझसे,<br />यूॅ बढ़ा किस ओर चला है?<br />दूर तक फैला है बियाबॉ,<br />नापने कौनसा तू छोर चला है?<br /><br />खेला करती ये मुझसे अक्सर,<br />दोराहों पर लाकर मुझे|<br />राह ही सवाल है, है यही जवाब भी,<br />मैं इसे बूझता हूॅ, या ये बूझती मुझे?<br /><br />दूर तक दिखती लम्बी राह,<br />कभी अचानक पगडंडियों पे मुड़ जाया करती है|<br />किसी छोटे से गॉव में मुझे लाकर,<br />उसी में गुम जाया करती है|<br /><br />पूछती है मुझसे मानो,<br />सोच ले क्या यहीं रुकेगा?<br />क्या यही पाने चला था,<br />या कुछ दूर और चलेगा?<br /><br />चल रहा हूॅ संग उसीके,<br />रास्ता साथी मेरा है|<br />चाह है देखूॅ कि आगे,<br />किस मोड़ पर छिपा क्या है?</span>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1159682628635399422006-09-30T23:03:00.000-07:002006-10-03T06:25:10.070-07:00Durga PoojaWent to Durga Pooja at Hayward today. Waded my way through a crowd of about 300 people, made some attempts at taking pictures and finally had a good lunch of the khichdi-bhog.<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0737b.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0737b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0757.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0757.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/kid1.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/kid1.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1159428397536368992006-09-28T00:21:00.000-07:002006-09-28T07:45:43.863-07:00Huh!<div style="text-align: justify;">I just discovered that my landlord <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Ferreira">Wayne Ferreira</a> has been a well known tennis player! "Not many houses have an ATP ranked tennis player as landlord" - as a previous tenant puts it. This is what happens when you don't follow any sports.</div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1159067557851839222006-09-23T19:27:00.000-07:002006-09-26T00:01:09.540-07:00Rising from the grave<div style="text-align: justify;">I took the previous move of the government to heart and promptly disappeared from blogosphere (Of course, in reality I was just being too lazy to post!) For the people who had lost touch - I had a nice summer in Berkeley and then enjoyed a one-month trip back to India. Am now back to yet another semester and am sitting on the "<a href="http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=5">other side of the bench</a>". I am also officially a PhD student now after having managed to pass my prelims last week.<br /><br />Among other things, I watched "Lage Raho Munnabhai" recently. The movie struck me as delightfully creative. Of course there are exaggerations at times, but the presentation of Gandhi-ism in a very entertaining package of <a href="http://www.gandhigiri.co.in/">gandhigiri</a> is quite remarkable. The ending, which again seems to call upon Gandhi to be the saviour of the nation is not as satisfying though. In a sense, depending on a man who basically taught independence of thought and action seems a contradiction. However, the movie is amazing in many ways. I am currently reading "<a href="http://www.indiaclub.com/shop/SearchResults.asp?ProdStock=3857">We, the people</a>" which presents a somewhat different take on things.<br /></div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1153200162975839032006-07-17T22:11:00.000-07:002006-07-17T22:22:42.986-07:00Indians are not to read blogs<div style="text-align: justify;">The Indian government apparently <a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=134366">decided</a> to block access to blogspot.com, geocities and a few other domains. Since blogger.com is still accesible, people can post blogs but not read them. Way to go!<br /></div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1152089514548408462006-07-05T01:43:00.000-07:002006-07-08T22:44:31.576-07:00Independence DayWent to the (American) Independence Day celebrations at Oakland. It is more like a day long picnic with large number of people, food, music and fireworks. I ate the food and photographed the rest.<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/fire1.1.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/fire1.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/musician.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/musician.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/juggler_final.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/juggler_final.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The man with the knives is a juggler who was eating an apple and juggling two knives at the same time!Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1150779135792784222006-06-19T21:49:00.000-07:002006-06-19T22:38:18.623-07:00To begin with...A few shots around Berkeley. Yes, the person in the last pic is Pondy.<br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/bart.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/bart.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0360-b.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0360-b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/park1.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/park1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0374.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0374.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0361-1.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0361-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1150126161414128742006-06-12T08:25:00.000-07:002006-06-14T14:18:48.136-07:00Sleeping since Seattle<div style="text-align: justify;">It has been a long time since anything last appeared here - had been busy. But before getting busy I managed to take a trip to Seattle on the pretext of attending STOC (Symposium on Theory Of Computing). This picture essentially says what (other than buildings) Seattle is all about<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/art-color.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/320/art-color.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I definitely recommend the <a href="http://www.emplive.org">EMP</a> (Experience Music Project) to anyone planning to visit Seattle. It is sort of a museum about the music (rock-n-roll, rock, jazz) history of the northwest. We were lucky to also find a special exhibit there featuring comparisons of impressionist art with modern art and photographic works. Here are some stereotypical and other pictures of Seattle, though I guess there is a lot of room for improvement :-)<br /></div> <table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/city2.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/city2.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/city1.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/city1.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/market.1.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/market.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/tower.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/tower.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/magic.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/magic.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/masks.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/masks.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/woman.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/woman.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/reading.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/reading.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0156.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0156.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1147758944819401372006-05-15T22:54:00.000-07:002006-06-13T00:55:02.350-07:00'CLICK' is no longer NP-Hard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00838.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: none;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/320/dsc00838.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00826.jpg"><br /></a>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1147194198142824262006-05-09T09:07:00.000-07:002006-05-10T20:30:57.870-07:00Big Sur<div style="text-align: justify;">I celebrated the end of computer architecture hiking at the <a href="http://jrabold.net/bigsur/roadpt0800.htm">Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park</a> about 150 miles (on road) to the south of Berkeley. The drive, with the ocean on one side of the road and hills on the other, is lovely. The hiking trails are even better.<br /></div><br />The people...<br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc_0043.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc_0043.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0816.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0816.0.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0791.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0791.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td></tr><br /><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc_0038.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc_0038.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc_0051.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc_0051.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />the places...<br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0834.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0834.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0858.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0858.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0875.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0875.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0867.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0867.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0819.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0819.0.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0804.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0804.0.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0797.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0797.0.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0824.0.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0824.0.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0796.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0796.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />and the end...<br /><table><tbody><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/imgp0880.jpg"><img style="border: medium none ; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/imgp0880.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1146295657237301322006-04-28T23:58:00.000-07:002006-04-30T02:12:46.873-07:00आग की भीख<div style="text-align: justify;">A great poem by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and one of my favourites (out of the few that I have read). If you care to read this blog, chances are that I know you and in that case it is quite probable that I have shown you this poem already - but felt like posting about it anyway!<br /><br />A friend, Sushobhan Avasthi, first showed me this poem about four years ago. Since then I have read this one may times and many others by Dinkar too. Talking about his style, a friend once commented - "It seems he even <span style="font-style: italic;">thinks</span> in musical way!" Indeed, most of Dinkar's poetry has a strong musical quality to it. Another quality which contributes to the "flow" is a very clear-cut division of ideas into small "units" which somehow feel like beads on a string. This is best illustrated by contrasting the following excerpts from Dinkar and Dharmveer Bharti -<br /><br /></div> <span style="font-size:130%;">घास उड़ना चाहती है<br /> और अकुलाती है,<br />मगर उसकी जड़ें धरती में<br /> बेतरह गड़ी हुईं हैं।<br />इसलिए हवा के साथ<br /> वह उड़ नहीं पाती है।<br /><br />- दिनकर (कुंजी)<br /><br />...... क्योंकि सपना है अभी भी -<br />इसलिए तलवार टूटे, अश्व घायल<br />कोहरे डूबी दिशायें,<br />कौन दुश्मन, कौन अपने लोग, सब कुछ धुंध-धूमिल,<br />किन्तु कायम युद्ध का संकल्प है अपना अभी भी<br />...... क्योंकि है सपना अभी भी!<br /><br />- धर्मवीर भारती (क्योंकि)<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: justify;">For the curious, wikipedia has a small article on Dinkar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramdhari_Singh_%27Dinkar%27">here</a>. For more of his poems, see this excellent collection by <a href="http://www.atgig.com/jaya/">Jaya Jha</a> . And finally, here's the poem I've been talking about...<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /> </span></div> <p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" class="poemtitle" lang="hi"><span style="font-size:130%;">आग की भीख</span></p> <p class="mainhindi" lang="hi"> <span style="font-size:130%;">धुँधली हुई दिशाएँ, छाने लगा कुहासा,<br />कुचली हुई </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">शिखा</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> से आने लगा धुआँसा।<br />कोई मुझे बता दे, क्या आज हो रहा है,<br />मुंह को छिपा तिमिर में क्यों तेज सो रहा है?<br />दाता पुकार मेरी, संदीप्ति को जिला दे,<br />बुझती हुई </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">शिखा</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> को संजीवनी पिला दे।<br />प्यारे स्वदेश के हित अँगार माँगता हूँ।<br />चढ़ती जवानियों का श्रृंगार मांगता हूँ।<br /><br />बेचैन हैं हवाएँ, सब ओर बेकली है,<br />कोई नहीं बताता, किश्ती किधर चली है?<br />मँझदार है, भँवर है या पास है किनारा?<br />यह नाश आ रहा है या सौभाग्य का सितारा?<br />आकाश पर </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">अनल</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> से लिख दे अदृष्ट मेरा,<br />भगवान, इस तरी को भरमा न दे अँधेरा।<br />तमवेधिनी किरण का </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">संधान</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> माँगता हूँ।<br />ध्रुव की कठिन घड़ी में, पहचान माँगता हूँ।<br /><br />आगे पहाड़ को पा धारा रुकी हुई है,<br />बलपुंज </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">केसरी</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> की ग्रीवा झुकी हुई है,<br />अग्निस्फुलिंग </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">रज</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> का, बुझ डेर हो रहा है,<br />है रो रही जवानी, अँधेर हो रहा है!<br />निर्वाक है हिमालय, गंगा डरी हुई है,<br />निस्तब्धता निशा की दिन में भरी हुई है।<br />पंचास्यनाद भीषण, विकराल माँगता हूँ।<br />जड़ताविनाश को फिर भूचाल माँगता हूँ।<br /><br />मन की बंधी उमंगें असहाय जल रही है,<br />अरमानआरज़ू की लाशें निकल रही हैं।<br />भीगीखुशी पलों में रातें गुज़ारते हैं,<br />सोती वसुन्धरा जब तुझको पुकारते हैं,<br />इनके लिये कहीं से निर्भीक तेज ला दे,<br />पिघले हुए </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">अनल</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> का इनको अमृत पिला दे।<br />उन्माद, बेकली का उत्थान माँगता हूँ।<br />विस्फोट माँगता हूँ, तूफान माँगता हूँ।<br /><br />आँसूभरे दृगों में चिनगारियाँ सजा दे,<br />मेरे शमशान में आ </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">श्रंगी</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> जरा बजा दे।<br />फिर एक तीर सीनों के आरपार कर दे,<br />हिमशीत प्राण में फिर अंगार स्वच्छ भर दे।<br /></span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">आमर्ष</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> को जगाने वाली </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">शिखा</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> नयी दे,<br />अनुभूतियाँ हृदय में दाता, </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">अनल</span><span style="font-size:130%;">मयी दे।<br />विष का सदा लहू में संचार माँगता हूँ।<br />बेचैन ज़िन्दगी का मैं प्यार माँगता हूँ।<br /><br />ठहरी हुई तरी को ठोकर लगा चला दे,<br />जो राह हो हमारी उसपर दिया जला दे।<br />गति में प्रभंजनों का आवेग फिर सबल दे,<br />इस जाँच की घड़ी में निष्ठा कड़ी, अचल दे।<br />हम दे चुके लहु हैं, तू देवता </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">विभा</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> दे,<br />अपने </span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">अनल</span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">विशिख</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> से आकाश जगमगा दे।<br />प्यारे स्वदेश के हित वरदान माँगता हूँ।<br />तेरी दया विपद् में भगवान माँगता हूँ।<br /><br /></span></p> <p class="poetname" lang="hi"><span style="font-size:130%;">- दिनकर<br /></span><br /></p> <span class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1145693043693373552006-04-22T00:53:00.000-07:002006-04-22T02:37:10.680-07:00G-DriveSide effects of prolonged boredom a.k.a. computer architecture:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">बेवजह देखता तू आसमॉं को क्यों खड़ा है?<br /> सुबह हो जाए कल शायद, पर अॅंधेरा भी क्या बुरा है!<br /><br />दिये मैं लौ अगर है बाकी तो अभी रात कहॉ,<br /> जो मज़ा चलने में है, रुक जाने में वो बात कहॉं!<br /><br /></span>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1144576885021311632006-04-09T01:48:00.000-07:002006-04-09T04:23:22.883-07:00Holi hai!!<div style="text-align: justify;">I know it's a little late to say that. But this refers to the Holi celebration at UC Berkeley today organized by the Indian Students' Association. The celebrations were postponed to today due to frequent rains in the past few weeks.<br /><br />Feeling the effects of old age in grad life, devoid of company (I wish more C-BOT people were here) but still curious, I dragged my poor room-mate along to at least watch the event and take a few pictures. Though we didn't actually play, I managed a few snaps as people posed quite readily. My first attempt at photographing strangers was not so disastrous! :-)<br /><br />Holi was being played with loud Hindi music and almost an equal amount of color and water as in India (i.e. if you did use <span style="font-style: italic;">color</span> to play). Fooled around, clicked random shots and finally met with an interesting chap (last photo) who explained to us some connections between the Indian and Greek mythologies. Finally back home to a cup of homemade espresso - Mmm..!</div><table border="0"><tbody><tr><td><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00792.3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc00792.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00793.3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc00793.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00794.3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc00794.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00798.3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc00798.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00801.4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc00801.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/dsc00803.3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/200/dsc00803.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1143741676964286712006-03-30T08:48:00.000-08:002006-03-30T12:14:50.306-08:00Fermat's Enigma<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/1600/wiles.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1678/2583/320/wiles.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I just finished reading <a href="http://www.forum2.org/tal/books/fermat.html">this book</a> called "Fermat's Enigma" a couple of days ago. Authored by Simon Singh, the book tells the story of Fermat's last theorem and how it was finally proved. In case you do not already know (which might be unlikely), Fermat's last theorem states that the equation <span class="texhtml"><i>x</i><sup><i>n</i></sup> + <i>y</i><sup><i>n</i></sup> = <i>z</i><sup><i>n</i></sup></span><span class="texhtml"> has no integer solutions for <span style="font-style: italic;">n > 2</span>. It is a natural way to try and extend the Pythagoras' theorem but this has no solutions while the Pythagoras equation has an infinity of them. The theorem was stated by Pierre de Fermat in 1637 and proved by Andrew Wiles in 1994. </span><span class="texhtml">The (famous) picture here shows Wiles announcing his proof at Cambridge.</span><br /><br /><span class="texhtml">The book itself is quite well written (one of the very few books I managed to almost finish in one sitting) and gives some interesting accounts of what went into the proof. It also tells stories about ancient Greek mathematics, few 17th and 18th century mathematicians and of course Andrew Wiles and his contemporaries. All this is intended for non-mathematical audience though. If you want to look at look at the mathematics Fermat's Last Theorem developed (i.e. the wrong proofs developed) read Paulo Ribenboim's "Fermat's Last Theorem for amateurs" or <a href="http://cgd.best.vwh.net/home/flt/flt01.htm">this link</a> which also includes some ingredients of Wiles' proof.</span><br /><br /><span class="texhtml">It is interesting to realize the kind of gamble Wiles played. He set about proving the theorem in 1986 when it was realized that FLT would be implied by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taniyama-Shimura_conjecture">Taniyama-Shimura conjecture</a> (this was proved in Berkeley :-)). For the next seven years he worked in the attic of his home working with different techniques to prove the conjecture and announced a proof at Cambridge in 1993. It was later found to have a flaw which he corrected in 1994. Devoting a large part of his professional life to a single problem and working in secret all the time does require not only tenacity but also an amazing amount of self-confidence. </span><br /><span class="texhtml"><br />I wonder why although we say Indians are good mathematically, we hardly see examples of any great mathematics being done in India (ok - with the exception of the Primality testing algorithm). Is our education system geared towards a large number of "reasonably good" people rather than a few really good ones? Or are we afraid of the risks in focussing on one single thing and want to go for the low-hanging fruit? Ok.. enough of blabbering - go read the book!</span><br /></div>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1143477336564767852006-03-27T08:34:00.000-08:002006-03-27T12:27:46.466-08:00आराम करोTo begin with, an appropriate post for a lazy morning of the spring break:<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">एक मित्र मिले, बोले, "लाला, तुम किस चक्की का खाते हो?<br />इस डेढ़ छँटाक के राशन में भी तोंद बढ़ाए जाते हो। <br />क्या रक्खा है माँस बढ़ाने में, मनहूस, अक्ल से काम करो।<br />संक्रान्ति-काल की बेला है, मर मिटो, जगत में नाम करो।"<br />हम बोले, "रहने दो लेक्चर, पुरुषों को मत बदनाम करो।<br />इस दौड़-धूप में क्या रक्खा, आराम करो, आराम करो।<br /></span><p class="mainhindi" lang="hi"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />आराम ज़िन्दगी की कुंजी, इससे न तपेदिक होती है।<br />आराम सुधा की एक बूंद, तन का दुबलापन खोती है।<br />आराम शब्द में 'राम' छिपा जो भव-बंधन को खोता है।<br />आराम शब्द का ज्ञाता तो विरला ही योगी होता है।<br />इसलिए तुम्हें समझाता हूँ, मेरे अनुभव से काम करो।<br />ये जीवन, यौवन क्षणभंगुर, आराम करो, आराम करो।<br /><br />यदि करना ही कुछ पड़ जाए तो अधिक न तुम उत्पात करो।<br />अपने घर में बैठे-बैठे बस लंबी-लंबी बात करो।<br />करने-धरने में क्या रक्खा जो रक्खा बात बनाने में।<br />जो ओठ हिलाने में रस है, वह कभी न हाथ हिलाने में।<br />तुम मुझसे पूछो बतलाऊँ -- है मज़ा मूर्ख कहलाने में।<br />जीवन-जागृति में क्या रक्खा जो रक्खा है सो जाने में।<br /><br />मैं यही सोचकर पास अक्ल के, कम ही जाया करता हूँ।<br />जो बुद्धिमान जन होते हैं, उनसे कतराया करता हूँ।<br />दीए जलने के पहले ही घर में आ जाया करता हूँ।<br />जो मिलता है, खा लेता हूँ, चुपके सो जाया करता हूँ।<br />मेरी गीता में लिखा हुआ -- सच्चे योगी जो होते हैं,<br />वे कम-से-कम बारह घंटे तो बेफ़िक्री से सोते हैं।<br /><br /></span><span class="searchword" style="font-size:130%;">अदवायन</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> खिंची खाट में जो पड़ते ही आनंद आता है।<br />वह सात स्वर्ग, अपवर्ग, मोक्ष से भी ऊँचा उठ जाता है।<br />जब 'सुख की नींद' कढ़ा तकिया, इस सर के नीचे आता है,<br />तो सच कहता हूँ इस सर में, इंजन जैसा लग जाता है।<br />मैं मेल ट्रेन हो जाता हूँ, बुद्धि भी फक-फक करती है।<br />भावों का रश हो जाता है, कविता सब उमड़ी पड़ती है।<br /><br />मैं औरों की तो नहीं, बात पहले अपनी ही लेता हूँ।<br />मैं पड़ा खाट पर बूटों को ऊँटों की उपमा देता हूँ।<br />मैं खटरागी हूँ मुझको तो खटिया में गीत फूटते हैं।<br />छत की कड़ियाँ गिनते-गिनते छंदों के बंध टूटते हैं।<br />मैं इसीलिए तो कहता हूँ मेरे अनुभव से काम करो।<br />यह खाट बिछा लो आँगन में, लेटो, बैठो, आराम करो।<br /><br /></span></p> <p class="poetname" lang="hi"><span style="font-size:130%;"> - गोपालप्रसाद व्यास</span> </p>Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.com11