Satan, being thus confined to a vagabond, wandering, unsettled condition, is without any certain abode; for though he has, in consequence of his angelic nature, a kind of empire in the liquid waste or air, yet this is certainly part of his punishment, that he is . . . without any fixed place, or space, allowed him to rest the sole of his foot upon.
Daniel Defoe, The History of the Devil
These lines are present in the introduction to The Satanic Verses (atleast in the e-book that I have). The line attributing angelic nature to Satan is eerily similar to the status accorded to Morgoth and Sauron in The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien.
I quote these lines from Wikipedia
In the earliest of days, before the godlike Valar entered the realm of Arda, Sauron originated as a spirit called a Maia. He was at first one of the most powerful servants of Aulë the Smith, one of the Valar or ruling powers of the world
In Tolkien's secondary world, Morgoth is an Ainu, a divine character of the same order and nature as the Valar, and is the brother of their leader, Manwë Sùlimo
Wonder, if after all, the seeds of evil are sowed in good!!!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Recursive function
aila_re ()
{
Aila Re ladki mast mast tu aila re
/* Phir se bol zara jo tu bola re */
aila_re()
}
Output:
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
SYSTEM CRASH
{
Aila Re ladki mast mast tu aila re
/* Phir se bol zara jo tu bola re */
aila_re()
}
Output:
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
Aila re ladki mast mast tu aila re
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
SYSTEM CRASH
Population screws planning
“You can’t travel in dignity in Bombay's public transport system. On the other hand in Delhi, you can travel in dignity on its buses. And as far as the Metro is concerned, there is no questioning the quality of the ride you will have. Purrfect!!!”, sometimes I find myself saying this to others or hearing this from others.
In a way, you will agree with me. All the bus routes that I can take back home, 373 Ltd, 310, 350 etc are all jam packed, with no opportunity to set foot into them, leave alone have a comfortable ride. And this story holds good for all other bus routes as well. The story of the trains is only too well documented to warrant any attention here. The option of letting a few buses go so that you can take the next 'empty' one is also thrown out of the window; since the traffic snarls make a mockery of the bus frequency, and by the time the bus comes, you stare like Chinnari Mutta saying, "Yeshtondu jana illi yaaru nannovru" (How many people, wonder whom I know!!!). Talk about being stuck in Square One.
There are also times when I leave aside blind emotion and think with reason. What can the planners of Mumbai do more than what they have done so far? There is no place to lay extra tracks; and the roads are already loaded beyond their capacity. The only factor that I can blame is the ever burgeoning population of this giant city.
This brings me to this article. Bill Kirkman explains the lack of a coherent transport policy in Britain. After reading this, I only have to say, “It has never been an issue of perfect planning. Planning works when you have lesser disruptive factors; which in this case is an influx of population. If Bombay too was thinly populated, there would have been no match for its public transport. The great western cities are slowly learning that when faced with increasing population, even the best laid plans fall like a pack of cards.
The only solution in this case is to let chaos rule… In entropy does mankind flourish; and may there be many more Mumbais in this world!!!
In a way, you will agree with me. All the bus routes that I can take back home, 373 Ltd, 310, 350 etc are all jam packed, with no opportunity to set foot into them, leave alone have a comfortable ride. And this story holds good for all other bus routes as well. The story of the trains is only too well documented to warrant any attention here. The option of letting a few buses go so that you can take the next 'empty' one is also thrown out of the window; since the traffic snarls make a mockery of the bus frequency, and by the time the bus comes, you stare like Chinnari Mutta saying, "Yeshtondu jana illi yaaru nannovru" (How many people, wonder whom I know!!!). Talk about being stuck in Square One.
There are also times when I leave aside blind emotion and think with reason. What can the planners of Mumbai do more than what they have done so far? There is no place to lay extra tracks; and the roads are already loaded beyond their capacity. The only factor that I can blame is the ever burgeoning population of this giant city.
This brings me to this article. Bill Kirkman explains the lack of a coherent transport policy in Britain. After reading this, I only have to say, “It has never been an issue of perfect planning. Planning works when you have lesser disruptive factors; which in this case is an influx of population. If Bombay too was thinly populated, there would have been no match for its public transport. The great western cities are slowly learning that when faced with increasing population, even the best laid plans fall like a pack of cards.
The only solution in this case is to let chaos rule… In entropy does mankind flourish; and may there be many more Mumbais in this world!!!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Things I did this weekend…..Random jottings…..
Listened to Mark Knopfler’s “Working on it” and the soundtrack of “The Motorcycle Diaries” and fell in love with the almost similar tunes. Specially focused on the song “Apertura” from the OST.
Washed my stove under the tap water, right at breakfast time and then waited for an hour hungrily for the water to dry up so that I could boil water for maggi.
Dozed off in the afternoon, allowing my little niece to draw graffiti all over my hands and woke up just in time to see her with a pair of scissors in her hand explaining coolly, “Uncle, I just want more space to draw graffiti. So please allow me to remove the hair on your arms!!!!”
Took rapid strides towards the completion of ‘The Satanic Verses’. And if any moral police for the Indian government is reading this, you are free to navigate away from this page.
Had my first argument with an auto driver in Bombay. I didn’t feel bad about losing my temper either; the moron was acting too knowledgeable when in-fact he was far from the borders of the knowledge state.
Traced out about 70 steps by hand while understanding an algorithm along with my cousin!!!
No wonder I am considered non-happening by those who matter!!!! He He He
Washed my stove under the tap water, right at breakfast time and then waited for an hour hungrily for the water to dry up so that I could boil water for maggi.
Dozed off in the afternoon, allowing my little niece to draw graffiti all over my hands and woke up just in time to see her with a pair of scissors in her hand explaining coolly, “Uncle, I just want more space to draw graffiti. So please allow me to remove the hair on your arms!!!!”
Took rapid strides towards the completion of ‘The Satanic Verses’. And if any moral police for the Indian government is reading this, you are free to navigate away from this page.
Had my first argument with an auto driver in Bombay. I didn’t feel bad about losing my temper either; the moron was acting too knowledgeable when in-fact he was far from the borders of the knowledge state.
Traced out about 70 steps by hand while understanding an algorithm along with my cousin!!!
No wonder I am considered non-happening by those who matter!!!! He He He
Monday, January 08, 2007
Some bull-shit on my mail server message board
Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical lesson:
On a cool, dry day, scuff your feet along a carpet, then reach your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings.
Did you notice how your friend twitched violently and cried out in pain?
This teaches us that electricity can be a very powerful force, but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an important electrical lesson.
It also teaches us how an electrical circuit works.W
hen you scuffed your feet, you picked up batches of "electrons", which are very small objects that carpet manufacturers weave into carpets so they will attract dirt.
The electrons travel through your bloodstream and collect in your finger, where they form a spark that leaps to your friend's filling, then travels down to his feet and back into the carpet, thus completing the circuit.
Amazing Electronic Fact: If you scuffed your feet long enough without touching anything, you would build up so many electrons that your finger would explode!
But this is nothing to worry about unless you have carpeting.
-- Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?"
This sermon reminds me of the way Murali Krishnan used to explain things to us when he was high or when he wanted to mind-fuck us!!!
Rocking…..
….. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts!!! Funda book, absolutely gripping and a must read if you wanna know something more about Bombay. Check out the sample dialogues…
About Justice:
‘….justice is a judgement that is both fair and forgiving. Justice is not done until everyone is satisfied, even those who offend us and must e punished by us. Justice is not only the way we punish those who do wrong. It is also the way we try to save them…’
About Money:
‘Money isn’t the root of all evil. Evil is the root of all money. Theres no such thing as clean money. All the money in the world is dirty, in some way, because theres no clean way to make it. If you get paid in money, somebody, somewhere is suffering for it.’
About Black Markets:
‘when greed meets control, you get a black market.’
About Indians and Italians: (does this explain the dynasty worship of the Indian National Congress?)
‘the Indians are the Italians of Asia. Italians are the Indians of Europe. There is so much of Italian in the Indians and so much Indian in the Italians. They are both people of the Madonna – they demand a goddess, even if the religion does not provide one.’
And do check out this link in 2008!!!
About Justice:
‘….justice is a judgement that is both fair and forgiving. Justice is not done until everyone is satisfied, even those who offend us and must e punished by us. Justice is not only the way we punish those who do wrong. It is also the way we try to save them…’
About Money:
‘Money isn’t the root of all evil. Evil is the root of all money. Theres no such thing as clean money. All the money in the world is dirty, in some way, because theres no clean way to make it. If you get paid in money, somebody, somewhere is suffering for it.’
About Black Markets:
‘when greed meets control, you get a black market.’
About Indians and Italians: (does this explain the dynasty worship of the Indian National Congress?)
‘the Indians are the Italians of Asia. Italians are the Indians of Europe. There is so much of Italian in the Indians and so much Indian in the Italians. They are both people of the Madonna – they demand a goddess, even if the religion does not provide one.’
And do check out this link in 2008!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)