why to be not the first

To be written:

"Never be first; try to be second".

Now this did not come from me. It came from one of the best brains of the 20th century, someone who was best in his days in both Theoretical and Experimental physics simultaneoulsy,someone who did all the calculations related to the making of the first atomic bomb on his slide rule. He was Enrico Fermi.

Why did he say this then?

Because in science, as in everything else, it has always been risky to be the first in a field, and guys who were the firsts, were never appreciated. What the above quote means in essense is that it's always dangerous to be ahead of one's time. This fact has been proved time and again.

Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the foremost physicists of the 19th century, whose most important contriubtuion is his invention of statistical mechanics, and who is most famous for the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, was also one of the first to recognise the importance of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory.


However, Boltzmann's ideas were not accepted by many scientists. Wilhelm Ostwald led the opposition to Boltzmann's ideas,and many European scientists, who misunderstood them,opposed Boltzman. not fully grasping the statistical nature of his reasoning.
Unfortunately he failed to realise that the new discoveries concerning radiation that he learnt about on this visit were about to prove his theories correct.

Boltzmann continued to defend his belief in atomic structure, but attacks on his work continued. Boltzmann finally felt that his life's work was going to collapse soon.Depressed Boltzmann committed suicide just before experiment verified his work.He hanged himself while his wife and daughter were swimming during a vacation.

to be written more

Fermi quote...

Hoyle.....

Boys. . Pople....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Boltzmann.html

Born in the U.S.A.

Back when I didn't know a single English song, one of my then friends used to sing, "Born in the U.S.A." in front of an imaginary mouthpiece, and sometimes accompanied by an air guitar, in full throttle. To him, it was the best way to identify with the U.S.A. (either really or just to irritate me). To him, this song represented American superiority (and indirectly, its arrogance) and its superpower status.

It would take 15 years before I would slowly get into listening to English music, and would start understanding lyrics. Only then did I understand that the lyrics of "Born in the U.S.A." were, far from being a mouthpiece of American superiority, actually scathing attack on the U.S.-Vietnam war.

But then I was an ignorant kid growing up in a remote part of the world, where people did not speak English. However, The same cannot be said of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who used it as the theme song for his 1984 presidential campaign. Now that says something, and that's the topic of this write-up, viz., misinterpretation.

I remember Sting of the band Police talking in an interview about newlyweds using his song, "Every breath you take", as a marital vow. Accroding to Sting, this song was written by him just after a break-up with his then wife, and this song merits to being, as he menitoned, a stalker's song. Sting was amused by this interpretation of his song, he said.

However, recently, I read the one of the most hillarious outcome of such misinterpretation. This involves a quote from the book, "One hundred yesrs of solitude", By Gabriel Garcia Maruqez. I have read almost all of his books that have been published in English, and "One hundred yesrs of solitude"is not one of my favorites among his books. I found this book repeatitive and boring to a large extent.

However, what I loved about the book is the innumerable interesting statements and dialogues. One of such statements is (more or less): "Outside the village, the outsider places two signs. On one sign is written: "This is the village of Macondo". A sign posted above that reads: "God Exists"."

I was trying to find the exact words of this quote, and some of the hits Google gave me were useful. However, I also landed at a site where a preacher uses this quote to tell that remembering God is one of the foremost duties of everyone.

And nothing could have been a better example of misinterpretation!

Everyone who read Gabo would know that he has consistently attacked the Church (official religious institutions) in almost all of his books. In his "One Hundred....", he talks about a priest who sneaks away at night to have sex with donkeys; in "Of love and other demons", he brings in a character named Abrenunncio, a Portuguese Jewish doctor, who is actually qualified and whom the Church hates, because he can do what they consider miracles: curing people. Gabo also makes a character in that book, a 36-year old devoted priest, fall in love with the 12-year old central character, whom he comes to exorcise.

Marquez has remained an ardent supporter of communism over the decades. Many critics say that he has actually supposrted almost every dictator in the Latin America, who came to power using the color of communism. I can not judge the merit of such analyses; but what I know is that it would be Gabo's last intention to glamourise God, when he wrote that sentence.

And that's what amuses me!
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Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
http://www.anglicanslistening.org/6087_7387_ENG_HTM.htm

Welcome and Drive Safe, UFO!

Growing up with books in a home where there was no censorship on what one chose to read, I read many different books and that led to my fascination with mysteries such as UFO, Bermuda Triangle and other such happenings for a while. Over the years, I read different discussions and analysis on such issues, and finally I reached a stage when I won't take any of these at face value unless I witness some such happening myself.

However, that has not stopped my fascination with such subjects, and thus, the following news has greatly amused me. It's about a landing strip, made for the UFO. According to this new item, people in Lajas, Puerto Rico, want to build a UFO landing strip to welcome UFOs, because they are sure that UFOs visit them. Even a sign has been put up along the road there that says: "Extraterrestrial Route."

It started with a horse farmer installing the sign at the request of a local elementary school teacher, who claims he's been communicating with alien visitors since he was a child.

And maybe he is right! As Ronaldo Barea puts in, "If we have the technology to reach the moon, there could be others who have the technology to come here,".

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Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/28/ufo.strip.ap/index.html

Momentary Lapse of Reason!

I never really liked Paolo Coelho's thesis. While his books consisting of succint sentences and short chapters were very enjoyable for a person as lazy as I am (and his lucid style was always an enjoyable read), his over-emphasis on destiny used to piss me off, if I may be permitted to use that phrase! I always thought that destiny played only a minor role in our lives. Each time I read about someone fighting against his fate and winning, I felt happy.

But of late (due to a series of incidents that happened one after another over the past few weeks in my life), I'm compelled to have a re-look at my standpoint and beliefs. I don't know how many people have faced this; but for me, each time I start thinking that my life has some shape or form, everything just collapses on its own. I'm a person who lives inside his shell, one who does not like to open up to others, one who does not like to share his inner feelings with anyone, and prefers to remain a total introvert. And yet I talk a lot. And at the same time, I manage to avoid sharing my personal issues with people. And that often leads to their firm belief that I'm a detached, selfish, nonchalant, hypocritical, arrogant person.

So far so good. But the worst comes when I try to open up, when I take people in confidence, when I start believing in certan things, when I start thinking that maybe all my absolute pessimism was wrong after all! And the moment I do so, life kicks me on my face. Each time, it follows the same style, the same pattern. That pushes me farther inside my shell, where I live lying dorment for a few years, and then I come out again for another round of being kicked on.

Why does it happen? I'm sure, it's not only me to whom such things happen but there must be thousand others who share this same fate. I believe that the main reason for this is that whenever we have to take people in confidence, we have to share things, and that means we make ourselves vulnearable to another person. This is dangerous, because it takes only a very casual effort on the part of one out of the two people to nullify any understanding they had over the years, whreas it needs consant and conscious effort of them both to sustain it.

I think, majority of our relationships -- be it friendship, love, romance, familial connections or anything else -- collapse because we don't put the effort we need to put into it, in order to understand its depth, or its significance. And there is no Users' Manual for that. Each case is a completely new case; each time, it's a new ball game. It is as if some invisible, superior power changed the rules of the game by the time one started vaguely guessing them. We don't understand which of our action(s) could lead to what kind of trauma on the part of the other person(s), or how much mutual understanding is necessary for any kind of human relationship to sustain. And I now think, that's what destiny is all about.

As someone once said, "Each year, we put a noose around our neck once, hand the other end over to our worst enemy and say, "Pull"."(sic) . I feel now that each time we connect to a new person, all we do is that we hand him/her over the other end of one of the nooses that are around our neck. That momentary lapse of reason, that transitory feeling that human beings can understand one another ruins everything for us. Because, as Kundera says, "It's not your enemies who condemn you to solitude; it's your friends."

So I've arrived at my own conclusion now: Life is full of surprises; unfortunately, each new surprise is bound to be more horrible than the previous ones. And yet, we must go on living and facing the suprises life has in store for us. That's our destiny. We are doomed to it!

(Note: Actual date of writing/publishing: 14th November, 2005)

Living With the Dead!

The first movie made by Martin Scorsese that I ever watched was "Bringing out the Dead". I didn't know next to nothing about him, nor anything about this movie. But it was a lazy weekend and my colleague lent me the DVD, and I watched it. The movie deals with the life of a pair of paramedics in New York at night.

I'm not sure if I liked the movie, or disliked it. Later on, I watched a major share of Scorsese's films. Till date, my most favorite among his movies is "The Last Temptation of Christ", but I also liked some of his other movies. Having said that, I often wondered if he wasted a considerable part of his talent making gangster movies with graphic depiction of gruesome violence.

However, I didn't mean to analyze Scorsese' moviemaking here, of which, I'm sure, I'm incapable. However, recently, I read a news item in CNN, which reminded me of his movie, "Bringing out the Dead".

The news item was about a person named, Kishor C. Bhatt, an interior designer of Bombay, who has made it his life's aim to find unclaimed bodies and give them a decent burial/funeral. He is man, who has not been detered by even the death of his only son at 17. He does not bother about the religion of the dead; all he aims is to give them dignified last rites. To quote CNN:

"So Bhatt began picking up unclaimed bodies and giving them last rites. What's even more surprising is that Bhatt is a Brahmin from the priestly caste. They do not typically associate with Muslims and Catholics, so it is considered a greater nobility for him to be carrying out this work.Pictures show him placing flowers around the face of a Hindu girl and sprinkling red powder over her white wrap before cremating her in a ceremony called a puja. There is also a picture of him thigh-deep digging a grave for a Muslim."

I'm sure, news such as this makes natural born pessimists like me (and many others) overcome their pessimism, and believe in humanity for however infinitesimal a time period!
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Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/09/01/india.eye.rites/index.html

Hable Con Ella (Talk to Her)!

Hable con ella (which is a Spanich movie, and which deals with the story of two women in coma), is one of the many movies I watched last year. The name of the movie derives from the fact that the companion of one of the women advises the other's boyfriend to keep talking to her because, who knows, maybe she listens to what is being said to her.

The above picture captures the moment when a baby penguin, which was injured and was found by the Australian Wildlife(?) Association, was going to be released into the sea. This pic gives me the feeling as if the baby penguin is trying to talk to her (the woman in the photograph).

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Source: www.hindustatimes.com

A Few Words on - nigger: A Troublesome Word

It's not very often that one comes across a totally fair and balanced yet excellent work of non-fiction. So naturally it's a matter of pleasure to lay one's hand on such a book by chance. I came across this book at the local Public Library, and had enough courage to ask the African American woman working there if I could get that book issued. she told me that the book was not yet processed, and then in a reply to if I could place a hold on it, she wrote down the name on a peace of paper and gave it to me, which I took to the white Librarian, and who, with the assistance of another African American guy who worked there, placed a hold for me. To me, the only matter of interest was its title that carries the single most offensive, taboo word in USA. I expected it to be a preachy, judgemental book. And was I wrong!

This is one of the best books of non-fiction that I ever read in my life. To me, it's a privilege to have read this book. I now consider Randall Kennedy, a Professor at the Harvard Law School and author of this book, to be one of the most level-headed, analytical and balanced authors I'm familiar with. Below I reproduce two reviews from another source:

(Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com)

"Nigger is Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy's ornate, lively monograph on what he calls the "paradigmatic" racial slur in the English language. A neutral noun in the 17th century, nigger had, by 1830, become an "influential" insult. Kennedy traces the word's history in literature, song, film, politics, sports, everyday speech, and the courtroom. He also discusses its plastic, contradictory, and volatile place in contemporary American society. Should it be eradicated from dictionaries and the language? Should it be, somehow, regulated? What is the significance of its emergence among some blacks as a term with "undertones of warmth and good will"? Do blacks have a historical right to its use or does that place the term under a "protectionist pall"? With courage and grave measure Kennedy has, in effect, created a forum for discussion of the word he calls a "reminder of the ironies and dilemmas, the tragedies and glories, of the American experience." --H. O'Billovitch"

(From Publishers Weekly)
"The word is paradigmatically ugly, racist and inflammatory. But is it different when Ice Cube uses it in a song than when, during the O.J. Simpson trial, Mark Fuhrman was accused of saying it? What about when Lenny Bruce uses it to "defang" it by sheer repetition? Or when Mark Twain uses it in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to make an antiracist statement? Kennedy, a professor at Harvard Law School and noted legal scholar, has produced an insightful and highly provocative book that raises vital questions about the relationship between language, politics, social norms and how society and culture confront racism. Drawing on a wide range of historical, legal and cultural instances Harry S. Truman calling Adam Clayton Powell "that damned nigger preacher"; Title VII court cases in which the use of the word was proof of condoning a "racially hostile work environment"; Quentin Tarantino's liberal use of the word in his films Kennedy repeatedly shows not only the complicated cultural history of the word, but how its meaning, intent and even substance change in context. Smart, well argued and never afraid of facing serious, difficult and painful questions in an unflinching and unsentimental manner, this is an important work of cultural and political criticism. As Kennedy notes in closing: "For bad or for good, nigger is... destined to remain with us for the foreseeable future a reminder of the ironies and dilemmas, the tragedies and glories, of the American experience." (Jan. 22)Forecast: This may be the book that reignites larger debates over race eclipsed by September 11. Look for a bestselling run and huge talk show and magazine coverage as the Afghanistan news cycle continues to slow; the book had already been the subject of two New York Times stories by early January." (Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.)
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Sources: Los Angeles Public Library
Pic Source: http://www.amazon.com
Quotes Source:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375713719/103-6252542-6423034?v=glance
&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

They Got a (Not So) Fast Car!

American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman's Fast Car is a song which I liked from the very first time I heard it. The lyrics of the song go as follows:

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs

You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way
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The above picture is of a bus stolen by a 20-year (18, according to some) old guy, who then went out to pick up people from the streets and drove out of New Orleans during the hurricane Katrina. The guy reqqued 60 persons and drove them to safety. Jabbar Gibson, who was kicked out of high school and had been commiting felonies, said that police in New Orleans told him and others to take the school bus and try to get out of the flooded city.

Authorities were not sure if they would prosecute him for stealing the bus. Later I read that he was also offered movie deals.

They got a really not-so-fast car; but it saved their lives.
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Sources: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3334317 (For the pic)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Chapman
http://imdb.com/name/nm1102495/
http://www.lyrics007.com/Tracy%20Chapman%20Lyrics/Fast%20Car%20Lyrics.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3334317.html
http://www.click2houston.com/news/4923495/detail.html
http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/126650.php
http://poplicks.com/2005/09/school-bus-to-safety.html