Tsunami Surveyed

Piyush has got a very good article on the Scientific Background and the events related to the current Tsunami hit in SE Asia. Click
here to read it online.
To have a Topographical view of the Areas affetced by Tsunami click here
The more detailed coverage with Discussions, Videos and Photos can be obtained here .
It is really amazing to hear from the USGS officials that they knew about the high waves hitting the Indian Coasts about a couple of hours before the disaster, but they did not have any contact numbers/address of the concerned Indian officials. This is absolutely weird, just an excuse I would say. I cannot believe that they do not keep the hotline number of the Indian Home ministry. With the blessing of the internet, even a kid of 8-10 years old can do a few google and get those numbers in not more than 10-15 mins.
More to this the USGS officials says “let this be a lesson for the IMD” huh!! How can they raise such a remark, don’t they themselves consider responsible for not informing the Indian authority on time.
Considerable lives could have been saved had the USGS officials responded positively and effectively. I admit that 1 hour is still very short time to get the complete evacuation done, but then the toll would have been reduced to half of what it is presently.

From the heart

Now this is really touchy, the rickshaw pullers in Salem contributed to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister' Public Relief Fund.
Read the complete story here .
This shows the big heart of the small. It shows how in times of miseries the entire India can come up together hand in hand to fight back. No wonder why the government has refused to accept the foreign aid currently. The overwhelming response from the generous people of India towards the Tsunami Relief fund, gave us the power to heal our wounds on our own.
I really appreciate the decision made by the PM on refusing the foreign aid and letting it first reach the country which requires it more urgently. This is what is expected of a great nation like India and India has again proved it. Yes, we do have enough resources enough courage and enough power to help our countrymen on our own.

Tsunami Relief

Sunday was a black day for the coastal regions of South East Asia with thousands dead and hundreds of thousand missing as Tsunami hit these areas. No one had expected the year, so good so far, to end in this devastating fashion.

I urge to the readers of this corner of the weblog to contribute to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
Click here for details on PMRF.

Send your contribution by Bank Transfer or by Credit Card

People interested in providing relief works in Chennai can get the contact numbers from here. They need essential items like non-perishable food, clothing and essential drugs like antibiotics, paracetamol and pain-killers.

My Christmas Weekend

Had another great weekend with some old friends; Sweety, friend from my graduation days, Bhanu my ITP batchmate and Pranawesh my TCS colleague and Bhanu’s roommate. I drove upto Bhanu’s place on Friday morning and from there we headed to Edison were we had some good samosa and chat. The place is kinda chotta Gujarat with all those guju bhai’s and bhenji’s having shops in all corner of the street. It was like being in apna Desh in Videsh.
You can find everything there, from Vada-paw to idli-vada and from mitha pan to tulsi and jarda… and the price is just reasonable.
The next day we went to NY and our dear friend Pranawesh took us to another Desi place in this Videsh, that’s the Jackon’s Hts…. the place is all crowded with Punju’s giving you a feel of your’s own Chandigarh in US.
The restaurants in those communities are catering to an ethnic population, not to others - it makes a huge difference - not only in food, but in feeling and atmosphere.
After having a good sumptuous lunch at the “Ashoka” there we headed for the Rockefeller where we saw the world’s largest Christmas tree. The environment was real chilling and the whole place was beautifully lighted.
We spent the evening strolling through the streets of NY (Times Sq. WTC etc etc…) and returned home about midnight.
As usual I forgot to take my camera and sweety did bring one but with discharged cells :) . We did take some snaps however with Pranawesh’s camcorder. I will be uploading the pics in my yahoo album as soon as he uploads the same.
The entire weekend was real good. It was fun seeing those old friends and spending such lovely moments with them.
Looking forward for another such weekend on the New Year eve.

It Snowed…..

Yesterday evening it snowed and the entire surrounding was turned white. It continued through the night and laid a thick layer of snow on the windshield and roof of my car. I had to spend almost half an hour to clean up the whole thing.
Had a real hard time standing in that chilling wind, cleaning up the entire mess. The door locks were all jammed and the snow had frozen hard on the windshield. But it was fun, as this was the first experience. But it got to be frustrating if I had to do the same everyday morning (or evening time too??).

Mind against the Body.... (continued)

Read a post on Piyush's blog "Mind against the body", the entire plot was too inspiring.
Inspiration - yes, that is the driving force that keeps you working on a boring project the result of which would be out at what extent of time you are not sure of.
Well anyway I got highly inspired by his post and restarted to work out in the gym and burn my fat. Each day my mind had to beat my reluctant body to make me go to the gym.
After about a week the things seemed smooth, my body got accustomed to my rudeness and it seemed there would not be any more battle between My Mind and My Body. But life is not so easy; the trouble comes when you begin to think that the things have settled down. The killing winter came in for the support of My Body and forced My Mind to drag himself into the battle again. But this time the poor chap gave up to the rudeness of the freezing cold. Each time I step out of the door, the chilling breeze and the freezing cold forces me to get back inside the house and leave the task for the next day, but the next day will never come I know.
Today is the second day that I did not go for gym and I am sure the saga will continue till summer approaches.

Who is to blame? You think Media plays a good role?

DPS RK Puram--
Saw this news in the Times of India on first day. And since then I have been receiving loads of mails from friends all over discussing about it. I hate this, we are simply adding up to the misery of that poor girl by discussing the news and forearding the mails all over.Can we not take a step ahead to help that ignorant child, by simply clicking on the Delete button of your mailbox and not discussing it further.Can the people who are receiving those MMS, not delete it from there cell phones and give her a helping hand in overcomming her mistake.
The real culprit I say is the Media, who for the sake of making money and making there editorials more popular and demaning makes a hue n cry of the small issues.Take for example the case of the Gujarat riots. The massacre was really not so huge as was portraid by the News channels. While these medias play mischief with the ignorant puplic, they do not realize that they are adding fuel to the fire. They don't even take guard of the things related to the National Security, they feel they are doing great job exposing it to the puplic; where as in reality they just are just adding up to the miseries. Can't they show up things which could help make things better and ignore the scenes that can make things worse?

Indian Education System

It's being almost four years since I am working as an s/w engineer with TCS and I don't think that I have utilized even 10% of what I have studied in my engineering days.
I sometime get a feeling that it was sheer waste of time; spending whole 4 years mugging up things which you are not sure will be required in your work.
I did my engineering in Electronics and studied about Radar and communication. Circuit designing and all those shit which I don’t use now. The only thing of interest I got to study then (and am using now) was the microprocessors, OS and the C programming language. Rest is all garbage for me now. I think I could have done more useful things in those 4 years (which I feel are the most crucial years for a student) that I spent writing (or to be true copying) all those assignments and practicals.
The Indian education system needs to be revised, giving the choices to the students about the subjects they want to study. The ICSE board has done a good thing of dividing the science and commerce streams right from class eight onwards. But again there are still some subjects which are not at all essential for the science students, but they have to take it as it is a part of the syllabus.

Beginning of winter in US

The temperature here has started to fall rapidly going as low as -2 degrees Celsius at night.
It’s just the start of winter here and it will get worse by Dec-Jan. It’s been raining whole day today here and the cold breeze is piercing through the jacket and making the whole body freeze.
The worst part of the winter season here is that you can’t go out much because of the cold and the snow outside and you have to just spend your days locked in the four walls. The fall season was really good…. had a lot of tour and have uploaded some good photos of that season in my album.
Just waiting to see the first snow fall here, it would be a nice experience. I remember how I had played with snow balls and almost gone mad seeing snow all over the land, when my parents took me to Kashmir when I was just about 6 years old. After that I did not had the chance to see such place….. huh! Well will be uploading the snaps soon as I capture some…..

FALLING IN LOVE

It’s a mystery why we fall in Love. It is a mystery how it happens. It is a mystery when it comes. It is a mystery why some love grows and it is mystery why some love fails. You can analyze this mystery and look for reasons and causes, but you will never do anymore than take the life out of the experience. Just as life itself is more than the sum of the bones and muscles and electrical impulses in the body, love is more than the sum of the interest and attractions and commonalties that two people share. And just as life itself is a gift that comes and goes in its own time, so too, the coming of love must be taken as an unfathomable gift that cannot be questioned in its way. Sometimes, hopefully at least once in your life the gift of love will come to you in full flower, and you will take hold of it and celebrate it in all inexpressible beauty! This is the dream we all share. More often, it will come and take hold of you, celebrate you for a brief moment, then move on. When this happens to young people, they to often try to grasp the love and hold it to them, refusing to see that it is a gift that is freely given and a gift that just as freely, moves away. When they fall out of love, or the person they love feels the spirit of love leaving, they try desperately to reclaim the love that is lost rather accepting the gift for what it was, then moving on. They want answer where are no answers. They want to know what is wrong in them that makes the other person no longer love them, or they try to get their lover to change, thinking that if some small things were different, love would bloom again. They blame their circumstances and say that if they go far away start a new life together, their love will grow. They try anything to give meaning to what has happened. But there is no meaning beyond the love itself! If, and until they accept its own mysterious way; they live in sea of misery. You need to know this about love, and to accept it. You need to treat what it brings you with kindness. If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Love just didn't choose to rest in the person’s heart. If you find someone else in love with you and you don't love him, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. Do not cause pain. How you deal with love is how you deal with you, and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are different. If you fall in love with another, and he falls in love with you, and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it or to asses blame. Let it go. There is a reason and there is a meaning. You will know in time. Remember that you don't choose love. Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes in to your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away. Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you. Give it to others who deem itpoor in spirit. Give to the world around you in anyway you can. There is where many lovers go wrong. Having been so long without love, they understand love only as a need. They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled by love, and they begin to look at love as something that flows to them rather than from them. The first blush of new love is filled to overflowing, but as their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as a need. They cease to be someone who generates love and instead become someone who seeks love is that it is a gift, and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away. Remember this, and keep it to your heart. Love has its own time, its own seasons, and its own reason for coming and going. You cannot bribe it! Or coerce it, or reason it into staying. You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. But if it chooses to leave from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and there is nothing you should do. Love always has been and always will be a mystery. Be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life. If you keep your heart open it will come again....

Love,
Umesh

Trip to Boston

This Weekend I managed to make a brisk visit to Boston with Bhanu and Nilanjan accompanying me from NJ, to meet Viral Bhuta. All four of us had worked together at NSDL Project (Mumbai).
Reaching there we parked our car at Viral’s place at his guidance and that resulted in a Ticket to our dear Daddu (Nilanjan) for Parking violation :-D
And then we started on our hunt for a parking space. Unluckily it was also the day of final match between the Yankees and the Red Sox and so there was too much traffic in the Boston downtown. The narrow streets of Boston were all jammed with cars parked on either side of the roads (because of the match) and I ended up in hitting my car’s side view mirror on the window of a Mustang. She (the owner of the car) came all furious shouting and abused Viral (why viral, When I was driving? that I don’t know :-D ), but viral did’nt mind that as she was damn good looking and he just looked at her all blank and dumb.
Well then I jumped out of the driver’s seat and Daddu took the control of the gears do drive us out of that jam packed street. He drove nicely but then we lost the way and managed to find a 24hr pay park at some distance from Viral’s house, but it was almost 9 p.m by that time. So we headed straight for the pub from there to dance to the music and find some good American babe :-D
We spent the night talking of our days in NSDL and recollecting those faded memories. We slept till noon the day, then we got up and headed back for NJ. Though we could not see much in Boston as we fell sort of time, it was a fun trip and it was really nice meeting those old chaps and being together for the weekend.

You don't need an enemy to ruin your day

Today morning was a day of shame....
A mass mailing worm infected my yahoo mailbox and mailed itself to numerous people picking up addresses from my address book.
It was not an ordinary worm.... it came with a pornographic video or photos i am not sure, since I never opened it myself, but came to know of it from the flood of furious mails from all my old dear friends as a reply.
I had so far know that computer viruses n worms affects only your computer.... but today I realized that it may also affect your personal life, your friendships, your relations.
God! I had to spend my day out, writing my apologies to all whose sentiments were hurt because of that infected mail.
My yahoo account also contained id's of my bosses and clients... but thanks to the firewall setup at our office intranet, that it blocked that deadly mail from ruining my life.

I was totally shocked to see the way people responded, I imagine if I was within their reach then.... they would have stabbed me for this unknown offence of mine.
I just wonder now... what kind of movie/photo it was (since I deleted it immediately and did not had the chance to see it :-D ) that made my dear friends to react in such a manner.

My Tour to NY

Last weekend, taking advantage of the Labour's Day Holiday on Monday, we planned for a 2 day tour to the City of NY.
We rented a car and headed for the costliest city in the world on a nice Saturday morning.
It was a bit cloudy then, and we all wished that it shouldnt rain or else it will spoil our entire plan.
We reached NJ about noon, parked our car at Libert State Park and then took a Local Train for NY City.
To let you know, Driving in NY is not so easy as the streets are crowded with Tourists from all over the world.
We spent our Day 1 viewing the Empire State Building, Ground Zero (WTC), it was almost evening by the time we came out from Empire State Building.... so we headed for the 42nd st. or more famously said the 'Times Square'.
That's the more happening place there.... the bright lights and the crowd will just take you out of the world.
And yeah there is also the most famous Madam Taussad's Wax Museum.
Dear, I tell you, it was just fantastic. The wax idol of the celebrities looked almost real.... after about an hour we came out... we still had the illusion and our eyes could'nt make out between the fake and the real. It's a must see thing I say.
Well what else, it was already 12:00 p.m. So we had to head back to our place. Reached home late at night (or rather early next morning ), all tired and weiry.

Life in Delaware

"How is life in Delaware? Do you like life here in states more than India?"
No place could be better than ur homeland…. I do like the ppl here.. their attitude and concern that they have about their SAFETY n SECURITY. I do appreciate the concern these ppl have on these issues but some times it gets funny…
For me the India is my homeland and this country always remains to me just a foreign land, and so I love more to be in India (especially Jamshedpur) than in any other place.
Though I do not deny the fact that, India lies much behind this country in Tech, security.. etc etc but then we have the best culture. Some people may not agree to this view of mine as they may have found this place to be the best place on earth and may have forgotten their origin and so would like saying India is a shit place….. but again those are just views… so guys no concerns n no hard feelings… just pour on ur views!!

US Driving... an experience

Well frnds i would like to share my experience of driving in the foren land here. :-)

The other day I was on the Interstate Highway, to go to an indian grocery store, since i was going there for the first time, I relied on the chap sitting next to me to navigate me. We missed a turn and to get to our correct route I took the next EXIT ....and then we were lost....
I came down to a narrow lane, that could do nothing but take us into the woods. :-(
I took some right.... some left... and we had no knowledge then which direction we were heading for!

My frnd said " i guess we r goin south... or is it north? no i feel west"..... "shutup" said I.
We had no map and no magnometer with us.
Suddenly at a small crossing i saw a sign board that i thought might take us to the roads we have travelled b4.... BUT for that i had to take the left turn... and the lane i was in would not allow me to take a left so the US road rules forced me to continue futher on the Roads Less Travelled and left us wondering of the destination. Only good thing was that it was'nt dark then or else God knows were we would have been.
Finally some how, i swear i do not know how, so don't ask me.... we came back to a road that would put us back on the I-95.... so we could come back home.... doing nothing just burning some gas...

You known guys... the fact that u can't ask anyother travellers for the direction here, sucks.... if u do ask... they will look at u as if u r an alien... and more to that U can't put ur car on the reverse gear to make up for ur mistake.

so, that was all abt my Driving experience (or u may say adventure) in US of A

Happy Driving!!