An unfair world

Somewhere, at this very moment, people are recovering from earthquakes. Searching for missing friends and family, mustering enough courage to live long enough to see the sun rise again, picking up the broken pieces of their lives and moving on. A dream gone awry, a smile snuffed out, a tear too many...

Back home, a nation celebrates one of its million festivals. People eat sweets, apply colour on each other, make merry. Four goals mean life and death for some, momentary happiness for many. Elsewhere, two nations drink till they can drink no more as their hockey teams skate to gold and silver. Jokes are cracked over movies, chips and banana bread, completely oblivious of what's happening to our fellow brothers and sisters in another part of the glopbe. A vision too shallow, a wish too small...

An unfair world, or so it seems...

Field Hockey World Cup, New Delhi'10 - Post 1

The Hockey World Cup is here! New Delhi seems to have come up with a state of the art hockey field, replete with dug outs, swanky lcd displays, comfortable seating and a slick playing turf. A recent Bollywood movie that glorified the sport and the said stadium is still fresh in memory, although it is said that one needs a movie to popularise any sport. Having said that, any new lease of life to field hockey in India is welcome, keeping in mind the abyss into which our sport has plunged over the last couple of decades. Failing to qualify for the Olympics in 2008 was the final nail in the coffin. Indian hockey has suffered from poor administration and press coverage and it must take a cue from its cricketing counterparts. I still don't understand why or how the cricketing fever caught the minds and hearts of the blue billion. But I shall leave that for another post.

As I write, Spain has been pressurized and made to overwork by minnows South Africa. The Olympic silver medalists finally huffed and puffed their way to a 4 -2 win. The much-touted Aussies were shocked by arch rivals England in what is arguable the second best rivalry in any sport across the planet. Completing the dream opening day of this year's World Cup, India and Pakistan are scooping it out with the former enjoying a 3 - 0 lead with 16 minutes to go for the hooter. Pakistan have, undoubtedly, had the final laugh in field hockey, including a recent 6 -3 drubbing in Salta, Argentina. With some legendary players like Rehan Butt, Dilawar Hussain and the trump card Sohail Abbas, they definitely look the better team on paper. India, on the other hand, seems to be a motley group of proven performers and bright youngsters, though the lack of dazzling talents like a Dhanraj Pillay or a Jugraj Singh is too evident to miss. It also has a remarkable tendency to choke in the dying minutes of any game and give away the lead. The next fifteen minutes would tell.

Thousands of miles away, another keen tussle is on cards this evening. The USA plays Canada to decide who takes the gold and comes up on top in a cross border tussle for supremacy in the final of the Winter Olympics Ice Hockey.

And the two hours break means that I can also write about India's 'Holi' 4-1 win. Hmm... the people are quiet, at least for now.

I got this in a forward and couldn't resist uploading it here. This piece conveys exactly what I am starting to realise.

Free thoughts

'No one likes bondage, everyone wants to be free', says a freedom fighter in a documentary I just finished watching.

'You are already free. Know it and you will experience it automatically', says a spiritual guru to millions across the globe who want to be free.

'A ruler can rule you only if you agree to obey him / her. Stop obeying the rule(r) and you have vanquished him of his position', says an insightful friend.

Born free, getting rid of the shackles, looking into a free tomorrow.

Musings

Coffee sippers being shot in India, a desperate professor refusing to believe what she had just done in a US university and a brilliant sportsman crashing to the heavens in Canada.

And here I am, sitting in the comfortable confines of my lab, rattling away on the keyboard. A few hours ago, I was hogging away on a sumptuous dinner. When the first incident mentioned above was unveiling itself, I was wading into my dreams, as the tenure-terror struck Huntsville, I was pretending to learn Genomics and as the luge guy crashed his fate, I was probably counting myself lucky, as I often do, for being where I was. With no clue of what's happening on the other side of the planet, the adjacent country, why... the very next door.

The 10'ers - A first look

This is one of the rare inside scoops about the 10'ers, a motley gang of individuals destined to each others' company for a couple of years between 2009 and 2011.

First up is the kid. Haphazard sleep cycles, an over-aggressive boss and an unending tendency to goof up adds to a rather happening lifestyle. From dozing off with his laptop on the couch to his Finland tales (that are thankfully in danger of extinction) and his views about almost every topic that you can come up with, the man has done it all. As of now, he is looking to keep his boss, and therefore himself, happy.

Next in line is the cool dude. He manages everything that he takes up with a charming ease. Admin. issues like getting a license, meeting deadlines, cooking up some awesome Indian food and starting up on a belly reducing project, everything gets warmed up to completion. The guy also has an amazing ability to take short naps, without allowing them to stretch to double digit hours.

Over the last couple of paragraphs, I have been fighting hard to introduce the genius of the gang. Hormander, Tao, Russel, et. al. will soon start shivering in their seats. This is the next big thing in several complex variables (as if one wasn't enough!). His day starts with a proof and ends with another. In between, he also finds time to get high on coffee, teach undergrad mathematics, pump it up in the gym and satiate his love for Indian classical music.

The latest addition to the 10'ers is the macho guy. His is the life that most of us have seen in the movies. There is this famous story of how Amitabh Bachchan moved into Bombay and slept on the streets for a night, before making it big in the Hindi film industry. Our man is striking a few parallels miles away from home. From handing out free ice creams and spending an hour in the gym without moving a limb to finishing up every homework right in the nick of time, this guy knows how to get the job done. He also cooks some amazing Indian food, which is always welcome!

And finally, yours truly!

Here are some pics from the 10'ers, in striking poses and moods.

(The cool guy, in a moment of deep enlightenment)

(Grey cells)

(The Math Mamba)


(The cool dude)

India Quiz

What was called Heptanesia by Ptolemy around A.D. 150?

Post your answers as comments. No cheating! I will post the correct answer in two days.