Always Khush

The stoy of Financial Crisis 2008 and Lehman's bankruptcy

2011-11-29T01:13:00.001-08:00

It was a little difficult for me to understand the causes of 2008's financial crisis and especially Lehman's Bankruptcy. I have read a few books on the same ("Too big to fail" being the favorite) and lots of reports, blogs and discussions on the same. Here I am trying to put a summary of how the crisis unfolded (mostly for my own understanding). A lot of the below is taken from FCIC's inquiry report. For any questions/comments, plz feel free to add in your comments:

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Introduction of Commercial papers and Repo: Rise of Shadow Banking andfocus on money market, instead of capital.

Due to rise ofshadow banking, traditional banks faced stiff competition due to Regulatoryrestrictions (Capital Base, Cap in interest rates, etc.)

This led to relaxedregulations and removal of interest cap.

Since interest capwas removed, traditional banks needed more security. Fed became the lender ofthe last resort. Concept of Too Big to fail was born.

Due to stiffcompetition and risky bets in Repo and papers market, a few banks went bustwhich in turn effected mortgages.

To supportmortgages, FNMA/GNMA/FHLMC (Fannie Mae,Ginnie Mae,Freddie Mac) were constructedto guarantee loans.

Ginnie wasfirst to securitize in 1970.

Being GSEs,they were highly profitable (low cost of borrowing).

In 1980s,IBs began to securitize different types of Loans. (ARMs, non-mortgages autoloans etc.)

Theystarted to mimic banking activities outside the regulatory framework. And tofund, they used capital/money market instead of deposit base in traditionalbanks.

Introductionof Pooling & Tranching for diversification of products and risk.

This raisedcomplexity giving hard times to rating agencies. Since, participants neededgood ratings, they chose and paid high fees to rating agencies.

Withfavourable ratings and transfer of risk, subprime market started to boom.

Then boomin Derivatives and birth of CDS which increased complexity even further. CDSwere not regularised like insurance and Naked CDSes placed risky bets.

90s sawhuge mergers of banks. 10 largest banks owned 55% of industries assets. Late90s, Banks started to work closely with Insurance agencies. In 1998, Citicorpmerged with Travelers (Insurance) to form Citigroup. However, as per theGlass-Steagal act, Citigroup had to breakup and divest many Travelers Assets.Instead of breaking the largest bank, govt repealed the act.

Pooling andtranching got more and more complicated.

90ssubprime lending became abusive.

Entire 90supto end of 2000 economy grew in every quarter; but also the national debt.

2001,economy showed signs of slowing down was construction was still booming peakingin 2004.

Oct 2001, introduced the “Recourse Rule”. it would have to keepa dollar in capital for every dollar of residual interest. it increased banks’incentive to sell the residual interests in securitizations.

Aftersecuritization: Holding securities rated AAA or AA required far less capitalthan holding lower-rated investments.

And afinal comparison: under bank regulatory capital standards, a $100 triple-A

corporatebond required $8 in capital—five times as much as the triple-A mortgage backedsecurity. Unlike the corporate bond, it was ultimately backed by real estate.

2005-2007 –Some members in Fed, wanted to put stricter norms for predatory lending, butAlan greenspan was not in favour. During this time, funds rate (short term)were gradually increased from 1% to 5.25%. However, mortgage rates (long term)continued to fall as Foreign Investment into US was providing the long termliquidity.

Meanwhile,Option ARMs, esp with negative amortization (Paying less than the interestthereby increasing the Principal) were growing exponentially. If the houseprices fall, the borrower is better off walking away from the house and theloan as the house will be of less worth than the loan itself.

Piggyback Mortgage: Thelender offered a first mortgage for perhaps 80% of the home’s value and asecond mortgage for another 10-20%. Borrowers liked

thesebecause their monthly payments were often cheaper than a traditional mortgageplus the required mortgage insurance, and the interest payments were taxdeductible. Lenders liked them because the smaller first mortgage—even withoutmortgage insurance—could potentially be sold to the GSEs.

asset-backedcommercial paper (ABCP) : short term borrowing with MBSes as collateral. It notonly was riskier for the lender, it also indirectly took them off the balancesheets and hence required less capital to back it up. Also, to keep the ABCPsrunning, banks provide liquidity support to these against a small fee. Thisliquidity support meant that the bank would purchase, at a previously setprice, any commercial paper that investors were unwilling to buy when it cameup for

renewal.

theybuilt new securities that would buy the tranches that had become harder tosell. Bankers would take those low investment-grade tranches, largely

ratedBBB or A, from many mortgage-backed securities and repackage them into the newsecurities—CDOs. Most of these CDO tranches would be rated triple-A despite thefact that they generally comprised the lower-rated tranches of mortgage-backedsecurities. CDO securities would be sold with their own waterfalls, with therisk-averse investors, again, paid first and the risk-seeking investors paidlast. As they did in the case of mortgage-backed securities, the ratingagencies gave their highest, triple-A ratings to the securities at the top

In1998, Multisector CDOs (Pooling in mortgages, aircraft leases, Mutual Funds,etc.) were introduced. However, in 2002 they performed poorly and the wisdomgained was that the wide range of assets had actually contributed to theproblem; according to this view, the asset managers who selected the portfolioscould not be experts in sectors as diverse as aircraft leases and mutual funds.SoCDOs came back to subprime mortgages.

Itwas common for CDOs to be structured with 5-15% of their cash invested in otherCDOs; CDOs with more than 80% of their cash invested in other CDOs weretypically known as “CDOs squared.”

Finally,the issuers of over-the-counter derivatives called credit default swaps, mostnotably AIG, played a central role by issuing swaps to investors in CDO

tranches,promising to reimburse them for any losses on the tranches in exchange for astream of premium-like payments.

July 2007 – A pilot prog waslaunched to examine subprime under Ben Bernanke. The rules would not takeeffect until October 1, 2009, which was too little, too late.

Repo 105: an accounting manoeuvre totemporarily remove assets from the balance sheet before each reporting period.

Early2008: decision by the federalgovernment and the GSEs to increase the GSEs’ mortgage activities and risk tosupport the collapsing mortgage market was made despite the unsound financialcondition of the institutions. While these actions provided support to themortgage market, they led to increased losses at the GSEs, which wereultimately borne by taxpayers, and reflected the conflicted nature of the GSEs’dual mandate.

Mar 2008:Bear Stearns’s demise. JP Morgan announced itsacquisition of Bear Stearns on Mar 18.

Now the focus was on Lehman. The chief concernswere Lehman’s real estate–related investments and its reliance on short-term fundingsources, including $7.8 billion of commercial paper and $197 billion of reposat the end of the first quarter of 2008. There were also concerns about thefirm’s more than 900,000 derivative contracts with a myriad of counterparties.

On March 18, Lehman reported better-than-expectedearnings of $489 million for the first quarter of 2008. Its stock jumped nearly50%, to $46.49. But investors and analysts quickly raised questions, especiallyconcerning the reported value of Lehman’s real estate assets.

Lehman built up its liquidity to $45 billion atthe end of May, but it and Merrill performed the worst among the fourinvestment banks in the regulators’ liquidity stress tests in the spring andsummer of 2008.

The company was also working to improve itscapital position. First, it reduced real estate exposures (again, excludingreal estate held for sale) from $90 billion to $71 billion at the end of Mayand to $54 billion at the end of the summer. Second, it raised new capital andlonger-term debt—a total of $15.5 billion of preferred stock and senior andsubordinated debt from April through June 2008.

On June 9, Lehman announced a preliminary $2.8billion loss for its second quarter—the first loss since it became a publiccompany in 1994. The share price fell to $30. Three days later

Lehman announced it was replacing Chief OperatingOfficer Joseph Gregory and Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan. The stockslumped again, to $22.70.

On June 25, results from the regulators’ mostrecent stress test showed that Lehman would need $15billion more than the $54billion in its liquidity pool to survive a loss of all unsecured borrowings andvarying amounts of secured borrowings.

By July 10, Lehman’s major tri-party repo lenderspulled back. (Also because JPMorgan, Lehman’s clearing bank, had refused tonegotiate for Lehman.)

Sep 04: LBtold JPMorgan about the upcoming 3^rd quarter result and the plans tobolster capital by: Investment from Korea development bank, sale of IBdivision, sale of real estate assets, division of company, etc.

September 9: news that there would be noinvestment from Korea Development Bank shook the market. Lehman’s stock plunged55% from the day before, closing at $7.79.

That same day, Fuld agreed to post an additional $3.6billion of collateral to JPMorgan. Lehman’s bankruptcy estate would later claimthat Lehman did so because of JP Morgan’s improper threat to withhold repofunding. Zubrow said JP Morgan requested the collateral because of its growingexposure as a derivatives trading counterparty to Lehman. StevenBlack, JP Morgan’s president, said he requested $5

billion from Lehman, which agreed to post $3.6billion.

10-Sep2008: Lehman reports $28billion of shareholder equity (more reported equitythan it had 1 year earlier). Shareholder equity is a measure of solvency. (=totalassets minus its total liabilities.). Shareholders' equity represents the amount bywhich a company is financed through common and preferred shares.

However, it was believed that its real estate and otherassets have been overvalued by 60-70billion dollars.

10-Sep night: a New York Fed official circulated a “LiquidationConsortium” game plan to colleagues.The plan was to convene inone room senior-level representatives of Lehman’s counterparties in thetri-party repo, credit default swap, and over-the-counter derivatives markets—everyonewho would suffer most if Lehman failed—and have them explore joint fundingmechanisms to avert a failure.

According to the proposed game plan, SecretaryPaulson would tell the participants they had until the opening of business inAsia the following Monday morning (Sunday night, New York time) to devise acredible plan.

11-Sep: JPdemanded another $5billion from Lehman in cash.

Friday, September 12, Lewis (BofA CEO) calledPaulson to repeat his assessment—no government support, no deal. (Next day he finalizedbuying Merrill Lynch).

Sat Sep 13 night: Deal with Barclays lookedprobable, if the private consortium assist by taking care of $40-50billiontoxic assets

Sun Morning: 14-Sep: Barclaysinformed that FSA has declined to approve the deal. (The issue boiled down to a guarantee—the New YorkFed required Barclays to guarantee Lehman’s obligations

from the sale until the transaction closed, muchas JP Morgan had done for Bear Stearns in March.Under U.K. law, the guaranteerequired a Barclays shareholder vote, which could take 30 to 60 days. Though itcould waive that requirement, the FSA asserted that such a waiver would beunprecedented, that it had not heard about this guarantee until Saturday night,and that Barclays did not really want to take on that obligation anyway.)

Monday15-Sep: 1:45AM Lehman filed for bankruptcy.

A heartfelt message

2011-07-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

The following is a translated version of a message we received from the father of a kid, suffering from cancer. Some of us had joined hands to contribute money to enable the father to have his son operated. Such messages, show us how even our little deeds could make such a huge impact on someone's life:

“My dear sisters and brothers, I am an uneducated and underprivileged person who lost my parents at an early age and could not get enough education. Yet, struggling with daily bread and butter, I have never committed a crime or deceived anybody knowingly or unknowingly. I surrendered myself to religion and my venerable Guruji who taught me to ever remain honest and humble, even in the face greatest of provocations. I always got opportunities to earn money using devious means but have eschewed that path even in the face of greatest of provocations. Guruji used to tell me that one day misfortune will befall you yet you will meet the most beautiful people one can ever meet and they will show you the path of enlightenment. Today is the day. God has sent you to me to emancipate me. Your love and dedication to my dying child have brought back my lost faith on humanity. Irrespective of whatever happens, I have decided to dedicate my life for the service of humanity. You all have taught me that that I have to love the world, make a supreme sacrifice. You have taken me to the path of enlightenment in this most difficult interregnum. May God bless you all, may you live ever happily, and may no disruption ever touch your mind.

I want to say more but I am not endowed with eloquence, even in my mother tongue. Hence I pray silently for you. For me, silence is the greatest beatitude which forms a swirling pearl of prayer in this complex and inexplicable cauldron called life.

As sun sets in the ocean, I commend all of you to the holy feet of the Lord."

Oscar's farewell mail and the reply:

2011-07-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Oscar:

Done many a build ,release,code deployment,

I have changed my mode of employment,

From Monday here you will me not see,

My new office will be at JPMC,

My manager Zoom is leaving too,

One thing we won’t miss will be NSAM2,

By many loathed by few liked,

What matters is my salary’s hiked,

Zoom also here has called it a day,

He’s leaving the city , I am just two buildings away.

For merriment,drinks or just an hello,

My contact details are given below.

My Reply:

Hey Oscar, you’ll be dearly missed

Whenever the NSAM2 is hung & we are pissed

For you always saw the brighter side;

You brought the smiles, when the world cried

You’ll be remembered in every release

Your expert impressions will never cease

Even though you are changing your employment’s mode;

We take heart; that you’re still just down the road.

We’re sure you won’t forget your companions here

Some of the memories you’ll still hold dear

You’ll remain the winner in approach & skill

I, no doubt, have BIG shoes to fill

For some queries, or just a drink or two

Home-cooked delicacies or advice from you

To top them with your rhymes and repartee

We’ll plan to meet; and have a party!!!

Milky's farewell Poem

2011-07-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

We’ll remember the jokes we shared,

And the moments, we cribbed or cared

All the taunts of “billi” and sardaar

The home made tid bits, which created a war

Friends do meet again, may be moments or times apart

‘coz their distances aren’t measured in Miles or Yard

Lucky we were, to have u in our life

‘coz u make wishing good-bye so hard!!

A Welcome Change

2011-07-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

From the confines of Desks & Cabins,
To fields with virgin greenery;
From Doors guarded by Men & Machines;
To homes with horizon as their boundary!

From a Mercedes Benz bus,
To shoes soaked in clay;
From machines dispensing 6 flavors of coffee,
To people fetching water from kilometers away.

From fingers on keyboard & mouse,
To Digging earth with Axe & Spade.
From emails saying "Chocolates at my desk"
To Aanwla candies, totally handmade.

What have I given back?
An answer to this, I often seek;
May be now I can say -
"A few more trees of
Kokum, Bamboo, Aanwla and Teak" :)

Answers To klueLESS / Mindgame / Mindquiz

2010-09-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

After so many days, trying out the Original Mindquiz, which was named klueLESS.

Here are the answers to levels I’ve solved. These are just for references. Please don’t play the spoilsport. Use them only if u are reallllllllllllly stuck.

Here is the link to the original game. Hats off to its creators.

Let me know, if u need explanations. Comment here leaving your id.

http://www.iimi-iris.com/iris/irising/klueLESS/

Answers:

1. Click at the top of the center gate.

2. Click when the text is displayed.

3. Name the Goddess: Iris

4. Complete Me with a beta sign: Ray-ban

5. You haven’t seen all yet: cobain

6. He’s waiting for your call. Dial him: 666

7. “Straightforwardness and simplicity are in keeping with goodness.” ~ Seneca : level8

8. Look out on the road. Authenticate for "lights on the road": Metal/Pixel

9. “Load-Nero”: Leonardo

10.Something wrong: Audi (Loved this level)

11.Wiwvr/suicv : fifth/quint

12.Vat 69, no exit and other pictures: hotel/California

13.Gurobbx: thebook

14.And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror. : Mozilla (Liked the hint)

15.Recognise, what else: Vodafone

16.Some things don't always make sense... let them be.: adioswhit

17.Mr. Fat has just resigned. I am the new Chairman of the Board.: scaramanga

18.35363687 y dnt u msg me bk: elements

19.Authenticate for they're telling you something: gorgeous/animated

20.Lllisteennocteiyuhmpgoleeahuknsltri. The name of honour more than I fear death: doors

21.Who are they? Sdneirf (try entering friends, and you’ll be stuck there forever J)

22.Take me around town: flake/ground

23.Picture of Zip: Gringo/oncemore

24.Remember all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more:

Now the game gets interesting.
Soln 1: Take Blue Pill:
25. 66, 77, satellite, victrola: Iridium

26.I am: Leg

27.The real maker: wes cherry

28.Now u r back to 24 J Awesomeness !!

24.Red Pill: Iridium/Wes Cherry

25.What do they call it at home: gorinnosho (it was damn difficult, but the clue was hidden beautifully.)

26.Ring on orange background: clockwork/orange (Beautiful; isn’t it)

27.No trix being played here. Just identify this one. 36-24-36: Vitalstatistix

28.Marine symbols: skipped (To enter the hall of fame J)

29.This is level 30. To find level 29: cq409324mj4598

30.J

You can also find solutions to other mindgame/mindquiz too on my blogs. Just search for them.

You can also

The Stray Balloon

2010-07-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

With millions thoughts, nestling inside my head

I was coming back from office, walking in a tired gait

The day had gone good; still I was exhausted;

Eager to reach home, I just couldn’t wait.

There were similar faces around

As far as I could see

Except, there was a stray balloon

A little ahead of me.

On the other side of the road, however

There were many more, waiting to be sold

And with them was a small girl,

Hardly ten years old.

She was too busy bargaining,

with a doting mother;

Clearly her work day,

was far from over.

She was not aware of

That balloon gone astray

All she was concerned about

Was earning her day’s pay.

I picked up the balloon and

Don’t-know-why I smiled;

As if I’ve just picked up,

Countless chuckles inside.

To return it back to her

I crossed the road with a zeal

I was feeling like a star,

As if it was a “Big Deal!!”.

Somewhere I hoped to see some joy

Or at least - some surprise

But all I found

Were two blank eyes.

With no expression or words,

She just took it away.

But holding that balloon for those 2 seconds,

Had made my day!!!

Ha Ha.....Best April Fool Trick

2010-03-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

APRIL FOOL

(what else......)

Friday Fun - on the web now

2010-03-26T03:01:00.000-07:00

I'm missing the #FridayFun, which were the Sanjeevani Booti for us slogging Lakshmans in IT industry.

Just thought of starting something on the web for #FridayFun. Every Friday, I'll try to have a fun activity posted on twitter/facebook/orkut/blogger.

Just plug-in, contribute and have fun.

Today's game: Just try to complete the quote/sentence with something witty:
(Give your answer in comments)

All Work and no play ........................... 

Beautiful Poem on Pune Blast

2010-02-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

Eleven young souls in some place better
Words flow down as eyes get wetter
Details of bombs, numbers or some other
The residue always has a clueless mother

Clueless, for it’s unfair in times of opportunity
Some gone, some left with strange immunity
Immunity to what does not affect us
Someone else’s bakery, someone else’s bus.

On the bus, we did talk about the bombs
Solar systems and political storms
The good leaders condemned the ghastly act
The sum of a mother’s tears a small fact

The police will catch the cowards one day
The courts will ask “What do you have to say”
They will rant on and on for a year or two
As networks flash stills from Pune and Kathmandu

Then one day the judge will have enough
Hang him high, the coward claims to be tough
But the application will stay somewhere in a file
A mother waits all this while.

A plane will get hijacked ten years from now
As cowards fly away, we will shout and not bow
We do not give into cowards
We just don’t give a damn, actually

God, let me turn this around a bit
Not that anyone should be hurt or hit
But what if in that bakery there had been a Minister’s Son
This country would act, things would be done

Forget the Minister, what if my child was there
Then I may know what is fair and unfair
What if the media had lost one of their own?
Images of blood and flesh would not be shown

For every viewer who is fascinated with mayhem
India TV, there is a anxious mother waiting in pain
She prays her daughter is not in that café
She prays she is busy learning ballet

An Army waits for marching orders
Some inside us, some on the borders
We have had enough, we always had enough
Let us be tough, and not act tough

Every Indian life is more than your compensation
Let us break those caves, before they break this nation
We are ready to go back in our economy along the way
The price of war is less than this price we pay

A German bakery today, a Swedish bus tomorrow
Eleven today, a hundred tomorrow
Let’s kill the immunity we all have inside
Not eleven, but that day another billion died.

(This beautiful and heart-touching poem came to me in a forward, and is composed by Gaurav Parab.)

1411 - where the hell this figure came from?

2010-02-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

1411 - It's a catchy number, but is not my ATM PIN. As per the widely advertised #SaveOurTigers campaign, this is the number of tigers left in India. I'm sure we all must have initially wondered, how did we arrive at this number but later convinced ourselves that the government must have done a proper counting and published the figure somewhere. Our Discovery - Wild and NatGeo fed minds led us believe that Aircel or Indian Govt. might have put radio tracking devices and hence counted the striped beauty.

Wonder of wonders, it's not true. The number is actually nothing more than a pure guesstimate. Here is formula used to arrive at this figure:

2007 Tiger Census Report: Number of tigers - Max=1650; Min=1150. Take an average, yes a simple statistical average; result=1400; Adding an optimistic growth of around 4 tigers per year they put forward the figure of 1411, conveniently ignoring more than 100 deaths reported since that report.

1411 is just an inflated figure and an exaggeration. The actual number is much lower. We should either act now saving them OR start looking for our next National Animal. May be a goat, to show solidarity to the national animal of our neighbors.

An article on Jyoti Basu, which has now been removed

2010-01-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

The following article by Kanchan Gupta appeared on Business Standard, but has now disappeared from the site. Not sure if it`s done out of respect of his death or scared of Bhadralok`s Gherao-s.

Kanchan Gupta: Relooking West Bengal

Jyoti Basu led the state from darkness to despair, literally and metaphorically

Kanchan Gupta / January 16, 2010, 0:41 IST

Had it been Jyoti Banerjee lying unattended in a filthy general ward of SSKM Hospital in Kolkata and not Jyoti Basu in the state-of-the-art ICCU of AMRI Hospital, among the swankiest and most expensive super-speciality healthcare facilities in West Bengal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would not have bothered to arrange for a video-conference for top doctors at AIIMS to compare notes with those attending to the former chief minister of West Bengal.

Jyoti Banerjee, like most of us, spent his working life paying taxes to the government. Jyoti Basu spent the better part of his life living off tax-payers’ money — the conscience of the veteran Marxist was never pricked by the fact that he appropriated for himself a lifestyle shunned by his comrades and denied to the people of a state whose fate he presided over for a quarter century. Kalachand Roy laid what we know today as Odisha to waste in the 16th century; Jyoti Basu was the 20th century’s Kala Pahad who led West Bengal from despair to darkness, literally and metaphorically.

Uncharitable as it may sound, but there really is no reason to nurse fond memories of Jyoti Basu. In fact, there are no fond memories to recall of those days when hopelessness permeated the present, and the future appeared bleak. Entire generations of educated middle-class Bengalis were forced to seek refuge in other states or migrate to America as Jyoti Basu worked overtime to first destroy West Bengal’s economy, chase out Bengali talent and then hand over a disinherited state to Burrabazar traders and wholesale merchants who overnight became “industrialists” — with a passion for asset-stripping and investing their “profits” elsewhere. A State that was earlier referred to as “Sheffield of the East” was rendered by Jyoti Basu into a vast stretch of wasteland. The Oxford English Dictionary would have been poorer by a word had he not made “gherao” into an officially-sanctioned instrument of coercion; “load-shedding” would have never entered into our popular lexicon had he not made it a part of daily life in West Bengal though he ensured Hindustan Park, where he stayed, was spared power cuts. It would have been churlish to grudge him the good life had he not exerted to deny it to others, except, of course, his son Chandan Basu who was last in the news for allegations of cheating on taxes that should have been paid on his imported fancy car.

Let it be said, and said bluntly, that Jyoti Basu’s record in office, first as deputy chief minister in two successive United Front Governments beginning 1967 (for all practical purposes he was the de facto chief minister with a hapless Ajoy Mukherjee reduced to indulging in Gandhigiri to make his presence felt) and later as chief minister for nearly 25 years at the head of the Left Front government which has been in power for 32 years now — the “longest elected communist government” as party commissars untiringly point out to the naïve and the novitiate — is a terrible tale of calculated destruction of West Bengal in the name of ideology. It’s easy to criticise the CPI(M) for politicising the police force and converting it into a goons brigade, but it was Jyoti Basu who initiated the process. It was he who instructed them, as deputy chief minister during the disastrous UF regime, to play the role of foot soldiers of the CPI(M), first by not acting against party cadre on the rampage, and then by playing an unabashedly partisan role in industrial and agrarian disputes.

The fulsome praise that is heaped on Jyoti Basu today — he is variously described by party loyalists and those enamoured of bhadralok Marxists as a “humane administrator” and “far-sighted leader” — is entirely misleading if not undeserving. Within the first seven months of the United Front coming to power, 43,947 workers were laid off and thousands more rendered jobless as factories were shut down following gheraos and strikes instigated and endorsed by him. The flight of capital in those initial days of emergent Marxist power amounted to Rs 2,500 million. In 1967, there were 438 industrial disputes involving 165,000 workers and resulting in the loss of five million man hours. By 1969, there were 710 industrial disputes involving 645,000 workers and a loss of 8.5 million man hours. That was a taste of things to come in the following decades. By the time Jyoti Basu demitted office, West Bengal had nothing to boast of except closed mills and shuttered factories; every institution and agency of the state had been subverted under his tutelage; and, the civil administration had been converted into an extension counter of the CPI(M) with babus happy to be used as doormats.

After every outrage, every criminal misdeed committed by Marxist goons or the police while he was chief minister, Jyoti Basu would crudely respond with a brusque “Emon to hoyei thaakey” (or, as Donald Rumsfeld would famously say, “Stuff happens!”). He did not brook any criticism of the Marich Jhapi massacre by his police in 1979 when refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan were shot dead in cold blood. Till date, nobody knows for sure how many died in that slaughter for Jyoti Basu never allowed an independent inquiry. Neither did the man whose heart bled so profusely for the lost souls of Nandigram hesitate to justify the butchery of April 30, 1982 when 16 monks and a nun of the Ananda Marg order were set ablaze in south Kolkata by a mob of Marxist thugs. The man who led that murderous lot was known for his proximity to Jyoti Basu, a fact that the CPI(M) would now hasten to deny. Nor did Jyoti Basu wince when the police shot dead 13 Congress activists a short distance from Writers’ Building on July 21, 1993; he later justified the police action, saying it was necessary to enforce the writ of the state. Yet, he wouldn’t allow the police to act every time Muslims ran riot, most infamously after Mohammedan Sporting Club lost a football match.

Did Jyoti Basu, who never smiled in public lest he was accused of displaying human emotions, ever spare a thought for those who suffered terribly during his rule? Was he sensitive to the plight of those who were robbed of their lives, limbs and dignity by the lumpen proletariat which kept him in power? Did his heart cry out when women health workers were gang-raped and then two of them murdered by his party cadre on May 17, 1990 at Bantala on the eastern margins of Kolkata? Or when office-bearers of the Kolkata Police Association, set up under his patronage, raped Nehar Banu, a poor pavement dweller, at Phulbagan police station in 1992? “Emon to hoyei thaakey,” the revered Marxist would say, and then go on to slyly insinuate that the victims deserved what they got.

As a Bengali, I grieve for the wasted decades but for which West Bengal, with its huge pool of talent, could have led India from the front. I feel nothing for Jyoti Basu.

(This is taken from Google's cache of http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kanchan-gupta-relooking-west-bengal/382787/. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 17 Jan 2010 18:44:43 GMT. )

"Ibn e Batuta" making some sense...

2010-01-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

Ishqiyaa lyrics goes like this:

Ibn-e-batuta ta ta
Bagal mein joota ta ta
Ibn-e-batuta ta ta
Bagal mein joota ta ta
Pehne to karta hai churrr
Udh udh aave aa aa, daana chugey aa aa
Udh udh aave aa aa, daana chugey aa aa
Udh jaave chidiya phurrr

It's a catchy song, no doubt. But the first question comes in mind, is what the hell does Ibn-e-batuta means. And most of us are right, when we think it doesn`t mean anything. It`s actually the name of a famous Muslim scholar and traveller whose full name was - hold your breath - Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta.

Now, that`s more complicated than the song itself. So keep crooning ta..ta. Filhaal, Tata

MindQuiz-3 answers

2010-01-15T08:25:00.000-08:00

http://www.mindquiz.co.nr/start.htm Comment here or mail me for explanation of the answers.

S1: S2

S2: If RAW is war, then Google is

Elgoog

S3: 2, 3, 5, 7

S4: this level is hacked. Use whatgoesupmustcomedown to move to next valid level.

S6: Michel Jackson is Black or White?

black

S7: If this level is ur anus, what's the next level?

Neptune

S8: If Gold goes to silver, Then Silver Goes to

copper

S9: if this level is nine, what should be the next level????

Ten

S10: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 ____

LEVEL 1: Which country is hidden in this para:

England. But if you are not getting it right, even this page is hacked. Move to fire.htm

LEVEL 3: product of all the numbers that lie between ‘-900.789’ and ‘987.023’.

zero

LEVEL 4: Put a mathematical sign between 5 and 6 so that the number produced is greater than five but less than six.

decimal

LEVEL 5: Use logic to move to next level.

logic

LEVEL 6: What is common b/w "Banana" and "Grapes".

LEVEL 7: A certain crime is punishable if attempted but not punishable if committed. What is it?

Suicide

LEVEL 8: Google windows with files selected

LEVEL 9: There’s a hidden chamber in this library. Find it out from below. -Neo Shit 6753124

histone

LEVEL 10: Find next 10 numbers in series. 314159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209

7494459230

LEVEL 11: What famous expression is this? 100S549 A3100F 4E621T00 28Y2167

safetyinnumbers

LEVEL 12: What hidden in these letters? h r o o b d

robinhood

LEVEL 13: In a shop, a burger can be purchased in quantities: 6, 9 and 20 only. Looking at this, we can say one can purchase exactly 15 pieces by buying a 6 and a 9, but can’t buy exactly 10 burgers. What is the maximum number of burgers that a customer cannot purchase?

43 (first good question)

LEVEL 14: geometrical equations

Octadecagon

LEVEL 15: Which is the special 5 letter English world, from which if we remove 80% letters, it still sounds same?

Queue

LEVEL 16: Blank Screen. (2^nd gud question. V tuff)

T3j2lst

LEVEL 17: next two numbers in the series: 0, 8, 11, 69

8896

LEVEL 18: 10^-8 sec information technology infant

shakeitbaby

LEVEL 19: Guess the next two letters in the series below:G T N T L I T....?

sb (Nice question)

LEVEL 20: 1. Ambulance 2. Fire 3. Spark 4. Hospital 5. Water

32514 (stupid Q for level 20)

LEVEL 21: 1st February, 2nd March, 4th May, 8th July

16thNovember (another simple Q)

LEVEL 22: So, you have reached till here! That's really good. You are half genius. But sorry, you can't go further! You aren't Einstein! So, thanks for playing. Please send your feedback to mind.quiz.2008@gmail.com

Mentrox (simple but sweet)

LEVEL 23: 00111

Jamesbond (interesting one)

LEVEL 24: One fine morning, I was printing a page, but my stupid printer printed like this! I could not understand it!!! Please help me!!!

5c1ence (the picture might not appear on the page; but if you are really a genius (like me ;-) ) you’ll solve it from the hints.

LEVEL 25: The sum of the current ages of Billy and Robert is 52 years. At present, Billy is twice as old as Robert was when Billy was half as old as Robert will be when Robert is three times as old as Billy was when Billy was three times as old as Robert. Determine the current ages of Billy and Robert. {Remove decimal places, if any.}

325195 (Great question. Took the maximum time to solve this one.)

LEVEL 26: There is a six sided die, having random positive integers on each side (not necessarily 1 to 6). Integers do not repeat. Now, someone rolls the die! After rolling, it is placed against a wall, so that side facing the wall, and bottom side are not visible, rest all sides are visible. In this way, the die is rolled 3 times, and the person who rolls the die calls out 2 values for each roll. Out of these 2 values, first one is the sum of the front and the top numbers, and second is sum of all four visible numbers. Here are results of 3 successive rolls, Roll #1 = 18, 28 Roll #2 = 7, 18 Roll #3 = 6, 22 Predict the numbers on the die and write them in increasing order to form a number. Use it to move to next level.

2457811 (another gud Q)

LEVEL 27: Digest this......"B dj blrtquctek tm cmjjulbcdte tm abj," rdbk Jq. Fdsseqr, taqmwbls abr nblseq dt je rbkewdyr, "tadt ae wbhh cmje bltm d adlkrmje oqmoeqty. Nuqtaeq, tadt bt br tae kerbqe mn tae oqerelt omrrerrmq mn tadt oqmoeqty, tadt ae ie bjjekbdtehy qejmvek nqmj abr oqerelt roaeqe mn hbne dlk nqmj tabr ohdce, dlk ie iqmusat uo dr d selthejdl - bl d wmqk, dr d ymuls nehhmw mn sqedt exoectdtbmlr."

greatexpectations

LEVEL 28: Decode the following secret message.Q6Q9Q7 A1Q4Q3 A1 A5Q3Z6Q8Q7A2

Youareagenius (Another simple but sweet question)

LEVEL 29: What are the next 3 letters in this sequence? Clue: numbers S S E N T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T ?

FFF

LEVEL 30: Guess the next term in this awkward series 0840 0916 0952 1028 ___________

1104 (wasn’t that awkward)

LEVEL 31: In 2005, govt. organized a family survey. There was a surveyor, who went to a home for the survey. He rang the door bell, and a lady opened the door. The surveyor asked her how many family members were there in the family. She replied that they had 5 members, mother, father and three sisters. The surveyor then asked her about the age of the sisters. The lady replied that product of the ages of the three was 36. That was however not enough for the surveyor. He asked for more information. After a long request, lady said that the sum of house numbers of her house, and the next house is equal to sum of ages of the sisters. The surveyor was still not convinced. The lady however didn't agree to give any more information. Surveyor sadly went away. Few days later, he heard a conversation and came to know that one of the sisters was the eldest one. As soon as he heard that, he shouted, "Eureka!!!! I got it, I got it!!!!!" Can you guess the ages of the three sisters??

5125 (Simple q, BUT THE TRICK MADE IT A GUD ONE)

LEVEL 32: If EELS + MARK + BEST + WARY = EASY What does HELP + BARK + WARD + LEAD equal?

Hard (easiest question after S1)

LEVEL 33: In England, there is a magic temple with 365 doors. Each door has a lock which alternately opens and closes with the press of a single button on its gate. The priest, for some weird fancy, starts his morning rounds on 1st January 2003 and presses all the buttons opening all the doors. On the next day, he presses the buttons on all doors which are multiples of two, closing them. Day three and he did that to multiples of three, then four, and so on and so forth, till the end of the year when he presses the button on door 365. Question: find the first 5 numbers of doors that remain open on 1st January 2004? (Combine all numbers without any spaces.)

1491625

LEVEL 34: Here is a list of 44 words, each of which corresponds to a symbol given above. Identify which word corresponds to which symbol. When you do, the words arranged have a fallacy in them. Understand it to find the 45th symbol and move to next level. ALEPH-NULL, AMPHIBRACH, ARIES, C-CLEF, COLORADO, DELEATUR, DIESIS, EARTHED, ERROR, ESCAPEMENT, EXPLOSIVES, EXPONENTIALISATION, EXTERNAL-MEMORY, EYE-SPLICE, FOUR, GHOSTS, HICKCOCK-HAND, HUNDREDWEIGHT, IDEA, INCH, INFLORESCENCE, KANIZA, KITE, NECKER, NEON, NEPTUNE, NIPPER, NO-ENTRY, NOT, OBLANCEOLATE, OUROBOROS, PAWNS, RIME, RUNE, SCHWA, SIKHISM, SKODA, SMILEY, SOLIDUS, TANGRAM, TAU-CROSS, WAVELENGTH, WEDNESDAY, YEMEN.

e4 (best question in this mindquiz. However lifted from my favt mindsport quiz.)

LEVEL 35: What are the next two numbers in the series: 202, 1222, 32, 42, 5262, 7, 28

293031

LEVEL 36: Try finding a number, such that if we move the last digit (last means last!!) of it to the first digit, it gets doubled.

105263157894736842

Only the above works, though other possible answers are: 263157894736842105, 052631518947368421, 315789473684210526, 368421052631578947, 157894736842105263

LEVEL 37: Recently on Mars a binary code contest took place. The contest consisted of a binary code transmission where the spaces between the letters were missing and there was no punctuation. Each letter of the alphabet was translated into its binary equivalent based on its position in the alphabet, a=1, b=10, c=11, d=100, e=101, f=110, g=111, h=1000, i=1001, j=1010, k=1011, l=1100, m=1101, n=1110, o=1111, p=10000, q=10001, r=10010, s=10011, t=10100, u=10101, v=10110, w=10111, x=11000, y=11001, z=11010. What is the answer to the question being asked?

10111100011010010011001111111110
101100001100101011001110100101111111

Whatisoneplustwo (nice question)

LEVEL 38: tudy the following three combinations and completing the last one. 1. URURURURURURUR 2. UUUUUUURRRRRRR3. UUURRRRRRRUUUU

UURRUURRUU _ _ _ _

RRUR (what is this question doing at level 38? Should have been in S levels)

LEVEL 39: According to Mukul, which has been the longest year till date?

GalacticYear (frustrating at first, but feels good once you solve it urself)

LEVEL 40: Find next term in the series: NGC 6822, NGC 185, PGC 460, NGC 147, Leo A _________

IC1613 (worst question in the game)

LEVEL 41: chessboard with check-mate for black

Doublecheck (though it’s a double check, but I don’t think this exact configuration is possible in chess.)

LEVEL 42: A magic house has 14 members, including Daddy and a door. The door has a certain number of locks, and there are certain numbers of keys! (This is magic house, you should believe anything! So much so that even a door may have thousands or lacs of locks, and same with keys!) For the sake of security, there is an arrangement such that No two locks can be opened by same key, and all locks need to be opened in order to open the door. Using this information, find out the minimum number of locks and keys you need to distribute among the family members, such that any six or lesser members of the family are not able to open the door, but any combination of seven members is able to do it. Combine the two numbers, to form a single number and use it to move on.....

300324024

LEVEL 43: MIRRORS HINT: A Ray of light has the secret

Plot (V. Nice question)

LEVEL 44: L DP ZKDW L DP

Rbk

Congratulations!!!! You've done it!

You have completed Mind Quiz. Cool, Wow, Amazing!!!

You have proved that you are a genius!!!

Sorry, but you got no prize from us. But, hey! you are here. What can be bigger prize than that???

Solution to Ripley's IQ game

2009-06-18T02:05:00.001-07:00

Found an interesting game (somewhat like Brainvita) on net. Here's the puzzle:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/nanafaith/eyeq.htm

After several retries, i was able to solve it. Here's the solution:

Considering A B C D E from top and 1 2 3 4 5 from left to right
R= right U=up L=left D=down
e3R c3D d1R e5UL b1D c3L a1DR d1U e2R e4UL c3L b1D e1U

Enjoy :)

answers to Mind Quiz 4

2009-05-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Completed MindQuiz-4 yesterday and as requested by some, below all the answers. Don't giveup and try to solve the puzzle yourself...it's obviously solvable 'coz I solved it. Look at the answer, only as the laaaaaaaast resort.

(For the explanation to any of the answer, leave a comment on the blog OR email me or do both)

S1:
Q: Cockroach, Rat, Cat series
A: Dog

S2:
Q: a, bc, def, ghij series
A: klmno

S3:
Q: Mars Rocket
A: Mars

S4:
Q: quatre next level?
A: cinq

S5:
Q: India cod boxer
A: Carbondioxide

S6:
Q: Knee Light
A: neonlight

S7:
Q: Boy Pizza fill in the blanks
A: American

S8:
Q: Elf, an alien, doesn't understand significance days of the week. If he was asked on which day he would like to cook Fry-Fish, what would his IQ say?
A: Friday

S9:
Q:What does this represent? H I J K L M N O
A: Water

S10:
Q: Find a hidden country in this: When I was on a trip to Java islands, I went for a trip to forests. The most dangerous incident that took place with me was the one that took place in night. I was walking on the ground when a banteng landed just in front of me. Thank god, I was with a hunter.
A: England

1: Malayalam : English
A: hsilgne

2: DEEPS
A: speedup

3: A.D.I.D.A.S.
A: AllDayIDreamAboutSports

4: Which of the seven black shapes are identical to the red one?
A: bde

5: 1000, hundred, 366, twenty-four series
A: 60sixty

6: You are given a 10x10x10 cube composed of 1x1x1 "mini-cubes" glued together. If the outer most layers fall off, how many "mini-cubes" would have fallen off?
A: (1000-8.8.8 = 1000-512 =) 488

7: Forwards, I am quite heavy, but backwards I am not.
A: TON

8: Mukul, the astronaut has 5 sons; youngest is Venus, then Mars, then Saturn, then Neptune. What is his fifth son's name. Use fifth son's name to move to next level.
A: What. (Also worth trying is entering Mars)

9: If it is given that you breathe more in summers than in winters and also that you breathe more in day than at night, that in which month you breathe the most and in which the least?
A: JulyFebruary

10:
A: (View Source) billgatessucks

11: illusion
A: badeyes

12: If you are given that you can use only four different weights to measure all whole number weights lying between 1 and 80, including both, then what would be those weights?
A: 261854

13: Rapidshare recently released a new Captcha, when made people irritated, truly irritated. And I will also irritate you. Enter all the letters containing cat over them in this Captcha:
A: yocko (One of the worst puzzles)

14: alphabet towers
A: mumbai

15: FIND THE COMMON
A: adsbygoogle

16: Your mission is to transfer frogs of left hand side to right hand side, and vice versa. After completing the mission, you will see a message. First word of the message is the answer.
A: parabens

17: Here are few interesting statements. Some are true, and some are false. Indentify each to move to next level. Use T for True and F for False.

1. One meter long stick can be divided into three exactly equal parts.
2. Sherlock Holmes said, 'Elementary, my dear Watson!'
3. Consumers need to be cautious that water boiled in a microwave oven can suddenly "explode."
4. No Nobel Prize is awarded for mathematics because Alfred Nobel's wife had an affair with a mathematician.
5. Lightning strikes have killed people who were talking on the telephone.
6. The winning numbers in a New York state lottery drawing on 11 September 2002 were 9-1-1.
7. Venus has days longer than years.
8. Weight of all the ants in the world combined is much lighter than weight of all the humans combined.
9. 1/0 is equal to infinity.
10. Cheese is a mouse's favorite food.

A: fftftttfff

18: At this moment, clock is showing 11:56:45 PM. What will be time after 23999999994 hours 911515 minutes and 5615985 seconds? (Write answer as HHMMSS)

A: 055130

19: 33 444 66 7777 8 33 444 66 is the answer

A: einstein

20: In a land ruled by a powerful King, everything was going peacefully. But one day, his Queen, at night, screamed like hell. When king got to her, she told that her Two diamonds, Seven rubies, Nine pound gold, Three pound platinum, Five plates of silver, Ten dozen of bronze utensils, Four necklaces, Six gowns, end Eight crowns had been stolen by some thief. Hearing that, king became angry like hell, and called his private detective Jack, to handle the case. Within a day jack was able to spot the name of thief. What the name of thief? (Add "s" after the answer. Eg, if your answer is xyz, then type xyzs).

A: aces

21: what you see is what you don't get

A: naruto (One of the best puzzles)

22: I have three dice. I spin them randomly. After spinning, I note the numbers on top of each dice. I take number on top of first dice and multiply it by 2 and add five. Then I multiply the result by 5. After that I add it to number on second dice. Then I multiply it by 10 and add number on third dice. My total is 686. What were the numbers I got on the die?

A: 436

23: A+A+B+C = 13
A+B+C+D = 14
B+B+C+D = 13

A: 4325 or 2183 or 3254 etc.

24: 1.2 + 4.5 + 6.7 + 9.0 + 7.68 = ?

A: 540

25: Today is April 22, 2008, Today is ___________

A: earthday

26: The IDEA of selling ORANGE instead of a SPICE has really worked out.

A: mobile

27: In recent racing championship, Harry finished above Jason and Imotep. Dick finished above Harry, Jason and Imotep. Tom finished above Nevill and Dick. Dick finished above Vince and Ronald. Jason finished below Ronald and Dick. Vince finished before Nevill, Imotep and Jason. Imotep finished below Vince, Ronald and Nevill. Harry finished below Ronald and Dick. Nevill finished below Dick, Vince and Jason. Imotep finished below Jason and Dick. Vince finished below Harry and Dick. What was the order of their finishing the Race?

A: gafbhdec

28: This is a tricky one. In order to solve this puzzle; you really need to employ your brains. But remember, once a gentleman said, "If you don't succeed, look around for something to help you." Well, ok, I must admit this is not the answer. But does it worth to believe a gentleman's saying who doesn't even know you are solving Mind Quiz?

A: oneorderpuzzle

29: Tom and Jerry went for picnic. Jerry had bought his favorite cheese sandwich for himself. But Tom forgot to bring his lunch. When he asked Jerry to share, Jerry refused. This made Tom angry. Seeing this, Jerry started running away with his sandwich and Tom started chasing him. Nearby there was a 399424 sq. feet forest. How far can Jerry run into this forest?

A: 316feet

30: In English alphabet, there are only 7 letters that hold particular property. Four of which are A B D and O. Find out the remaining three (first spot the property, of course).

A: pqr

31: Suppose, as your punishment for playing Mind Quiz so slow, you are locked inside a mystic room. The room has six doors, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Of these doors, you can use three to enter only, and three to exit only. One person comes in through the door 6, and three minutes later another person comes in through door 1. He says: "We will set you free, if you pass a test to prove yourself for Mind Quiz. You will have to pass through all six doors, each door only once, and in correct order. Also, door 1 must be followed by door 2 or 5, door 2 by 3 or 5, door 3 by 4 or 6, door 4 by 1 or 6, door 5 by 2 or 4 and door 6 by 3 or 4." After that, they left threw the door 2. in which sequence you must pass the doors?

A: 364125 (One of the good puzzles)

32: 25 7 15 5 21 14 1 9 18 21 5 19 1

A: youareagenius

33: There are two slips of paper (with two numbers written on them), and three persons Amit, Bobby and Coole. Amit and Bobby are told to pick up the two slips, one each, and read what's written on them. Now, they see each other's slip, without showing it to Coole. They come to know that number on Bobby's slip exceeds number on Amit's slip by 1. Coole then asks about their numbers. Amit and Bobby only tell him the above fact, and also that sum of digits on Amit's slip is 89 and Bobby's slip is 45. Using this information Coole is able to find the two numbers. What is number on Amit's slip?

A: 9999899999 (Another good puzzle)

34: A century cannot end on perticular day(s) of the week. What are those day(s)? (Use short form of the days eg, Sunday=sun, Monday=mon, Thursday=thu)

A: tuethusat (another good one)

35:

One day wondering around in a nearby garden in my town, I met an interesting person. His name was "Oliver Kanzekame". Hearing his name, I instantly got into a conversation with him. It might fell quite awkward that how can someone start talking to a stranger just by hearing his name. I myself couldn't understand it. As I believe, there was some dark magic controlling me. By the way, conversation got interesting soon. He told me many things about himself. He was a great fan of Harry Potter. He loved social networking sites. His e-mail address was oliver.mystery@gmail.com. From my side, I told him that I was making Mind Quiz, and about my writing hobby. He was very much impressed by idea of Mind Quiz and offered to contribute something for it. He wished to tell you something. But What?

A: alohmora

36: Mirror Image of 04:25:37

A: 073423 (loved this puzzle)

37: 10 11 101 111 1011 1101 10001

A: 1001110111

38: What could represent the next two symbols in this series?

A: 8899 (extremely easy for level 38)

39: Sometime ago, while traveling in US, I read about a peculiar case in newspaper. A man was accused to have stolen some precious jewels. He was trying to run away with them, when a smart policeman overtook him and caught him. The lawyer for the accused asked the police officer how was he able to catch the accused, who was already 27 steps ahead of him, when he started running after him? Officer replied, "Yes, he takes 8 steps for every 5 of mine." Then lawyer interrogated, "If that was the case, how were you ever able to catch him?" Officer answered, "That's easy sir, I take longer stride. Two steps of mine are equal to five of his. So, it took me lesser steps then his, and I was ultimately able to catch him." After making few calculations, officer was able to tell the number of steps taken by him, and the thief, before he was able to catch him. Find out total number of steps taken by each.

A: 3075

40: __, RY, CH, IL, AY, __, LY, ST, __, __, ER, ER

A: RYNEERER

41: ziv blf mfgh

A: areyounuts

42: On seeing 48 as a number, you don't notice anything special. But, tell it to a mathematician, and it will give a curious fact about it. This number is such that, if you add one to it, it becomes a perfect square, and also if you add one to half of it, then also it becomes a perfect square. Interesting, isn't it? Well, you gotta find out next such number to move to next level.

A: 1680

43: In city of Dhushivas, a traditional gathering was organized, consisting of people from three different villages. Each village has people of only one distinct tribe. So, gathering had people of three different communities. In total a hundred people were invited. After some traditional functions, it was time for group meal. In the meal, people belonging to Vishvas community were served four plates each, people of Dhushas community were served two plates each and of Shivas were served only one plate among four of them. Not a single person was spare, and not a single plate was left. Then how many people of Shivas, Vishvas, and Dhushas were there?

A: (two correct answers, but only this works) 721315

44: figure shows a grid of ten circles, in which ten numbers are to be placed. Numbers in A, B and F, G have already been filled. Condition for filling the numbers is such that sum of squares of any two adjacent numbers must be equal to sum of squares of diagonally opposite numbers. For example, 16*16 + 2*2=260 and 14*14+8*8=260. you need to fill the remaining circles, and combine them as CDEHIJ to get the correct answer.

A (most stupid puzzle of all..this has too many correct answers, but this one works) 492219472613

45: Clue: Just work on the positions of the peices. No checkmate, No famous game, nothing else. I've made this puzzle, so don't go researching for this board. Think why I've written "Use L for white, D for black"! After that, you need to look for a series, and predict position of missing piece

For those who were not getting the above puzzle, here is a choice. This puzzle will also take you to next level.

You just have to arrange 8 queens on a chess board, so that none of the queens attacks any other. And also no three queens are in same straight line. Just note down the positions of the queens(eg, a5, g7, etc.) then sort them using word or excel (to prevent confusion of arrangement of postions) and then combine the postions (eg, a5b7c8d4...) to form the answer!

A: (first one is impossible to understand, and second has 92 correct answers...so another stupid puzzle...here's the one that worked) : a4b2c8d5e7f1g3h6

46: He is like the fox, who effaces his tracks in the sand with his tail.

The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone.
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.

And you also need some physics to crack this!!!

A: bohr

47: Find next term in series:

0, 36, 168, 480, 1080, 2100, 3696, 6048, __________

Here are few advices for you:

1. Don't waste your time using google for this one. You will not find anything, I have made it sure.
2. No use of hit and trial!!! (or it may work if try in right way and try too many times)
3. You will now be able to understand the series just by staring at the screen. note it down, work it out on paper, and then use your mind! Good luck!

A: (most time taking puzzle of all, and also one of the most difficult series, i have ever seen) 9360

48: say "A" and transfer the card on top of the arranged pack, to the bottom of the pack without turning it. Now, say "C" and do the same with next card and now "E" and do the same. Observe that you have pronounced "Ace" and transferred three cards one by one to the bottom of the pack. Now turn over the card on the top now. It must be ace. Separate the Ace and place it on the table, separated from the pack in your hands. Similarly, spell "TWO", "THREE", "FOUR", "FIVE", "SIX", "SEVEN", "EIGHT", "NINE", "TEN", "JACK", "QUEEN", "KING" one by one, and you must get respective cards on top. Separate them one by one. In the end, you must be having all the cards from Ace to King arranged in serial order.
A: 387AQ642JK1095

49: image gives you the road map of interconnection of towns 1 to 16. A person needs to visit each town, starting from town 1 and return to town 1. But, he is bounded by a condition that he can visit any town only and only once, and can move only on straight roads connecting the towns. He cannot turn from one road to another, at the crossing of two roads. Find out the sequence in which he must visit the towns. (Combine the numbers in the sequence without spaces to get the answer. For example, if your answer is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then you use 12345.htm as file name.)
A: (Great puzzle) 195148415610213731116121

50: Suppose 26 frogs are arranged in this manner (i.e. 17 more follow ninth one). The first block is empty. What you have to do is to make the frogs arrange in reverse order, ie, from 1, 2, 3, 4 ...... 25, 26 change it to 26, 25, 24 ...... 3, 2, 1. The empty box must be in current position only. This you have to do in fewest possible moves. Legal moves are (1) Frog can go backwards or forwards (2) Frog can jump to the empty box, if only it is present next to it (3) It can leap only one frog. As said, you have to do this in least possible moves. When you get it, the number of moves you took is the answer (type it in words). (HINT: this puzzle has a general formula. Try to get it using your brain. Type the answer in words.).
A: threehundredfiftyone

CONGRATULATIONS !! :-D

Now that's innovation

2009-05-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of creativity and innovation of Google, but this one tops the chart:

Click here to know the story.

विवेक के लिए...

2009-04-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

वक्त है खूबसूरत, भले recession जमा हो,
पेहेनना तुम sun-goggles, भले अँधेरा समाँ हो,

राजू श्रीवास्तव के जोक्स हों न हों, हँसते रहो बिन टेंशन तुम
cricinfo के stats याद कर कर के, करते रहो mention तुम;
करते रहो mention तुम;

अब तो बक बक करने की, पूरी आजादी है,
हो गई, मेरे दोस्त की शादी है।
हो गई, मेरे दोस्त की शादी है।

casino की trips se, या fossil की घड़ियों से ,
या फिर US trips की photos की वजह से,
Aeropostale की T-Shirts से,
और i-touch में बजते अल्ताफ रजा से,

इन सब बातों से, यादों में बंसने की,
हमारी बारी है।
हो गई, मेरे दोस्त की शादी है।
हो गई, मेरे दोस्त की शादी है।

Skiing में गिरना हो, या algonquin की हो बहार
तेरी ball पे छक्के पड़ें, या Pool में तुझसे हर कोई जाए हार,

छोटू के "challenges" हों, या दारु की बोतलें छुपानी पड़ें,
पर दीवाली-Christmas जैसी parties हमेशा चलती रहे;
भले किसी का knee-dislocate हो, पर birthdays में लातें हमेशा पड़ती रहे;
गम हो या खुशी हो, बस बीड़ी तेरी जलती रहे ।

बीड़ी तेरी जलती रहे,
ये दुआ हमारी है
हो गई, मेरे दोस्त की शादी है
हो गई, मेरे दोस्त की शादी है

- Many many best wishes on your wedding Vivek
From all your TDC friends
Ankush

To, Dear Fake IPL Blogger

2009-04-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

Man, u r doing a great job. I appreciate your writing skills and above all, the naming convention u follow.

I don't know, if u r really amongst one of them, or just a marketing trick, but u rock!!

However, here are some suggestions and my feelings on IPL.

First of all, I am not a big fan of IPL. I don't get the same thrill as I get while watching an ODI, but still I like IPL as it could be a defining moment for India. International cricket super stars playing under the flag of Indian Cities and states and competing for a trophy having the map of India depicted on it, is surely something to be proud of.

However, the tournament can do a lot of things to make it more interesting and marketable. Here are just a few of them. I have many more such ideas hidden inside my business brain, but they don't come free :)

A couple of ideas, without the consultancy fee:

(Mr. Fake IPL Blogger, could you pass on these ideas to Lalit Modi and co.?)

1. Umpire's eye view. We now have so many cameras placed everywhere inside the cricketing arena. Why not put a camera on Umpire's Hat, with a corporate logo of course, to balance off the costs and at the same time, get some decent profit. I am sure, we'll need to see the Umpire's eye view a lot of times making the camera an instant hit and also a good source of earning revenues. Viewers won't complain either.

2. Why is the DLF Maxima, is still just a six, with a fancy name attached to it. Howz anyone gonna remember that name, after the tournament and how's it any different, in the first place?

Calling Rabri Devi as Rakhi Sawant or Dr. Manmohan Singh as Raghu Ram of Roadies, won't make them more interesting....it's just foolish and instead frustrate the viewers. A DLF Shot must be of 8 runs and a Maxima should add at least 10 runs to the score board. May be, when the ball crosses a certain distance or even better, hits a handsomely paying corporate logo displayed on a huge board somewhere in the stands. Imagine, the chasing team needing 10 or 20 runs in the last two balls. All focus will be set on that revenue-generating display board. Good for the batsman, better for the viewers, but best for the IPL's balance sheet. God have mercy on the baller, though :)

3. This one is a no-brainer. Please, no more strategy breaks. IPL is about making more runs, and not more strategies (unlike KKR). I understand, it's difficult to show many ads in this shorter version of the game, but these strategy breaks are stupid. If really needed, ask the cheerleaders to promote a brand on every boundary or wicket. In the longer run, I don't see any future for these cheer leaders either. SRK, Preity and Big Sister are enough. I'll understand if SRK decides to stay away from managing his team and multiple captains, but he can still demand a huge cheque in return for his services of dancing at the dias with cheer-leaders (who if looked closely, may look like Ka Ka Ka Ka Kiran...oops that's outdated...it's Ka Ka Ka Karan now).

Senseless Political Rantings

2009-04-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

As if Samajwadi Party had not done enough to criminalize UP and hold back its development, it now has included non-development and terrorizing the country in its election manifesto. Not only, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav has declared to legalize the organizations, which are the terror factories of the country, but he is actually taking pride to take away the biggest assets of India in today's world, viz - English Speaking and Information Technology.

This news is not only a shame to the educated and sensible Indians, but also a slap in the face of "Star Prachaaraks" of the party. Sanjay Dutt, who had managed to gain some sympathy after the seemingly harsh court verdict, thanks to his Gandhigiri image, is now bent to losing it all by giving stupid comments against TADA and the police.

I now wonder, what will be reaction of Mr. and Mrs. Bacchan on all this. Mrs. Jaya Bacchan has told that her hero was one of our most inept PMs "Mr. Chandrashekhar", so I assume, she won't mind India going to dumps as far as she gets to sit inside the Parliament.

However, if Mr. Mulayam Singh happens to end further computerisation of the country, thousands of fans of Big B will lose the chance of reading his blogs daily and I think, this won't make Mr. Bacchan very happy.

To Mr. Bacchan,

Dear Sir, I am a huuuuuuuuuge fan of yours and love both your acting and writing skills. As a fan, I am taking the liberty of requesting you to please not associate yourself with such politicians OR their party. I understand, that you are not doing anything which involves you to politics directly, but "they are". These politicians are trying their best to encash your respectability and steal a mileage for their own benefit.

Last day @ TDC

2009-03-13T17:16:00.001-07:00

After about four years in Morgan Stanley account, time has come to move on. Today was my last working day with MS and also the last working day at Toronto. It had been a wonderful experience learning so much and hence, feeling nostalgic about it was kind of natural; but the Qualcomm guys made our exit memorable by giving us a surprise lunch party.

and finally...Hail Vidhya

Goodbye Niagara

2009-03-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

How could have we left Canada, before bidding a final goodbye to our most favt place. NIAGARA FALLS. Hence we went for a final shopping trip to Buffalo and say good bye to Niagara falls. The feeling of coming to Niagara for the last time was making us nostalgic, but there was also the excitement for going to back to home.

3 day trip to Quebec

2009-02-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

We finally managed to plan and visit Quebec, the snow capital of the world in freezing winters. And all the pain was worth it. Our earler trip to Quebec was in summers and even then Quebec was a treat for the eyes. It's a completely different look in the winters. Witnessing the magnificence of the frozen Montmorency falls, which are even higher than Niagara Falls was once in a life time experience. Where else can u see people walking over a river or climbing a frozen waterfall. Ice-hotel is also splendid. Having a complete hotel made of ice...walls, pillars, chandeliers, rooms, beds, stairs, balconies, chairs, chapel, rides, bar and even the drinking glasses made of ice. WAO! We missed the dog-sledding due to extremely bad weather, but is on our list. Hopefully, the next album will have pix for it :)

Here are the others:

Niagara on Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T10:24:00.000-08:00

Went to our most fav location to celebrate V-Day this year. Frozen Niagara was fabulous as expected, and the charm of the day, made it look even more romantic.

We had an Italian dinner at Mama Mia's with Manicotti and Cafe Diane.

Here's what we did on last V-Day

Skiing..

2009-01-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

We finally managed to go for skiing. We had to keep postponing the programme since several weeks now. Even today, we initially canceled it, when the temperature was minus 30 degrees celsius and predicted to reach -35. However, thanks to Priya's Tea-on-balcony boasting, we all were motivated again to make our long held wish a reality. Still, Priya is going to take the burden of getting many villages of chickens killed today. As Nipun and BD are on a prowl.

We also went to Bheeshma's b'day party immediately after coming back and had a nice time and an even nicer dinner (The pix of those are at Picasa).

New Year's Celebrations at TDC

2009-01-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

After a successful Christmas Party, our spirits were high for another party. New Year was a perfect opportunity, and the first friday of 2009 was a nice excuse to kick start our Friday Fun events. We organized a Turncoat competition and asked the participants to speak both for and against a given topic.

Abhijeet agreed to start the event and was given the topic, "Casual Wear should be allowed in Office" and stated that Casual wear brings a refreshing ambiance, reduces protocols, increases productivity and also the colorful atmosphere has a positive effect on subconscious human mind. Switching to the cons, he brought to attention that Formal wear helps in imbibing the sense of equality and conveys professionalism. It also posts a decent picture in front of our clients.

Vidhya got a very interesting topic, "24 hrs News channels - Boon or Bane" and said its a boon because we can get minute to minute updates of our world but a bane because showing news whole day will be boring and a wastage of money and energy.

Rohan got a contemporary topic of whether to choose IT or not, if entering the job market today. He said that joining other industries will give a chance to explore more creativity and possibly better working hours, whereas IT industry is still India's hub and we can contribute to it.

Premjith got a topic, which even US congress is debating, "Should the Auto Industry be bailed out". He pointed out that saving Auto industry is necessary to save millions of jobs and also to save the already faltering economy. They also need a bailout to keep their eco-friendly researches going on. On the other hand, the industry had earned billions since many years and did not make good use of it. Also, failure to curb this tendency may set a bad example for others.

I, Ankush, was asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working in a very large organization and I highlighted the advantages being the brand name, wider options in choosing projects, technologies, businesses and even location to work; while the disadvantages being not a fast career growth, difficult to reach top management and not many options to choose, while leaving the company.

There were also some remarkable discussions on Work-from-home policy, Life without Google.com, and many such interesting topics. Ravikumar Vavilla and Jayaraman Keerthi, who also were the judges for the event, must have brainstormed a lot to find such interesting and yet debatable topics. The event culminated with the distribution of prizes where Abhijeet bagged a well deserved first prize, Nipun - 2nd Prize, Premjith, Vidhya and myself the consolation prizes.

Hence, we celebrated the new year, not only having fun, but also pushing ourselves to think from all the perspectives for a point. Even the audience enjoyed the discussion and learned a lot from it.

Hoping, we'll be able to remember the lessons learnt from this event whole year, and also wishing everyone a very happy 2009, I close.

What an experience

2009-01-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Though I wish, I don't ever get this experience, but still.....what an experience must have this been:

My First Poem

2009-01-16T12:10:00.000-08:00

This is the first poem I wrote...some consider it stupid, some funny, some classic, and some even dirty...i consider it interesting. Most of the people miss a very serious poetry in this..but that's what the Poet's art is :). There are many memories associated with this one, so to refresh them, blogging it today:

भारतीय रेल

भारतीय रेल की बोगी,
आपने भी होगी भोगी!

एक बार हम भी कर रहे थे यात्रा,
पर देख कर सवारियों की मात्रा;
छूट गया हमारा तो पसीना,
पर फिर भी, तान कर सीना

घुसने का करने लगे प्रयास,
पर औरों को यह बात न आई रास।

पहले दरवाज़े से घुसे, तो दूसरे से निकाल दिया,
साथ ही चटका हमारा कंकाल दिया।

ख़ुद को घुसाने के लिए भी,
कुली का लेना पड़ा सहारा;
हम तो अन्दर घुस गए,
पर सामान; बाहर ही रहा हमारा।

अन्दर का दृश्य तो, बड़ा ही घमासान था,
वह तो अपने आप में, कुरुक्षेत्र का मैदान था।

खैर, बर्थ न मिली, तो रेल के earth पर ही लेट लिए,
श्वान की भाँती, ख़ुद के शरीर को समेट लिए।

इधर हमारी आँखें झपकीं,
उधर हमारे चेहरे पर, दो बूँद जल सी टपकीं

.......टप टप ....

ऊपर देखा, तो एक शिशु लीक कर रहा था,
और वह भी, काफ़ी quick कर रहा था
फिर उसकी मातेश्वरी की जो देखी काया,
याद टुनटुन का शरीर हो आया,

प्रथम स्मरण हमने सारे देवन को किया,
फिर हाथ जोड़ कर, उनसे, विनम्र निवेदन किया,

"बच्चे को रोक लीजिये प्लीज ! "
इसपर वह बोलीं खीज,

"बच्चा क्या मेरे कहने से रुक जायेगा?
विधाता का बनाया विधान, यूँ ही झुक जाएगा?"

मैंने कहा कि, "कहीं मुसीबत न हो जाए,
नींद में सुसु भी, शरबत न हो जाए।"

उन्होंने कहा, "ठीक ही है, इसने कृत किया,
एक कवि को, उसकी योग्यता के अनुसार ही पुरुस्कृत किया।"

मैंने पुछा, "कवि हूँ मैं;
ये आपने कैसे जान लिया?"
जवाब मिला, "बेहाल हाल,
से पहचान लिया।"

मैंने कहा, "मैडम! मैं कवि हास्य व्यंग का हूँ।
नवरंग था कभी, अब बदरंग हूँ।
फिलहाल तो गुस्से से लाल पीला हूँ,
रंगीला था पहले, अब सिर्फ़ गीला हूँ। "

mad मैडम ने नेहले पे देहला दिया,
उत्तर क्या दिया, मेरा दिल दहला दिया,
बोलीं, "बच्चे का क्या भरोसा........
अगली बार कुछ और ही परोसा?"

दूसरों को हंसाते हो,
कहीं ख़ुद मखौल न हो जाओ;
चले जाओ दूर कहीं,
dettol से burnol न हो जाओ।"

सूझा न हमको कोई जवाब,
इसलिए निकल लिए, वहां से जनाब ।
तब से कर ली, हमने है तौबा,
पैदल सफर कर लेंगे,
पर भारतीय रेल -
न बाबा !!!

Satyam Nursery Rhymes

2009-01-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

Raju Raju sat on the wall

Raju Raju had a great fall

Balance sheet died

Shareholders cried

Raju Raju made a fraud

---------------------------------

Raju Raju

Yes papa

Cheating us

No papa

Telling Lies

No papa

Open the balance sheet

HA HA HA

-----------------------------------

Ramalinga Raju,

Went up the hill

To fool his company's investors !

He fell down,

And lost his Crown,

His company came tumbling after.!!

Christmas Party at TDC

2009-01-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

Nothing is business as usual, when it's the Christmas season in Toronto...or very little. To satiate the appetite for a party, the associates in Toronto decided to take some time out of their busy schedule and celebrate the holiday season in their own style. After some quick brainstorming, we decided that Pizzas would be the best option. As an additional topping, we decided to have a game of Secret Santa to garnish the geek food in Christmas flavor. The news of Pizzas for lunch, cheered up everybody, and the flooding of Inboxes and Instant Messenger windows of the organisers were a proof for the same.

Thankfully, the pizzas were delivered right on time and within seconds, the room was filled with the sight of huge open pizza boxes, the sound of crunching and munching and the aroma of spicy sauces. Like brave soldiers, they rested only after the mission was complete :) !

After a quick round to their respectives desks to check their calls, mails, etc. they were all back with their secret gifts to play Secret Santa. The game was aready a proven success, but this year it was all the more fun, because of increased participation and alluring gifts. Crying for gifts, hiding their favourite ones to keep it from being stolen and even sweetly fighting for them, by the software engineers converted any skeptic to believe on the saying that, "There's a child in every grownup"; and the innocence of a child's smile was evident on everyone's lips after the game.

Thanking Santa for the gifts, wishing each other a merry christmas, praying for love and peace in the world and hoping for the next party soon, we culminated the event and got back to work.

cheapest international calling card

2008-12-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

After trying out all sorts of calling cards, reliance, airtel, tata international calling facilities and others, I've finally found a great option for international calling. Though its original rates, are good enough in itself; what makes it best and cheapest, is when you know some referral code. If you join it, using the referral code, you get double the value of your recharge. I finally manage to call India with less than 3 cents per minute :)...Man; that's less than the local call rate, I used to pay in India. If you wanna try it out, visit stanacard.com and join using this referral code: 303485 or simply join from here http://www.stanacard.com/?ref=303485 ...enjoy, the easy to dial, pinless and still the most secure option and local number like dialling (not the big numbers as in many others).

Diwali Party

2008-12-26T16:21:00.001-08:00

Where the $700 billion has gone?

2008-12-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

Friday was the deadline for banks to apply.

On Oct. 14, the Treasury Department set aside $250 billion of the program to buy senior preferred shares and warrants in banks, thrifts and other financial institutions. According to the Treasury, half that money was allocated to nine big banks, and, according to statements from individual banks, another $38 billion has been earmarked for regional or small banks.

On Monday, the government announced that $40 billion, its single largest TARP investment, was going to American International Group.

TARP has committed or approved the following funding:

AIG: $40 billion

JPMorgan: $25 billion

Citigroup: $25 billion

Wells Fargo: $25 billion

Bank of America: $15 billion

Merrill Lynch: $10 billion (note 1)

Goldman Sachs: $10 billion

Morgan Stanley: $10 billion

PNC Financial Services: $7.7 billion

US Bancorp: $6.6 billion

Bank of New York Mellon: $3 billion

State Street Corp: $2 billion

Capital One Financial: $3.55 billion

Fifth Third Bancorp: $3.45 billion

Regions Financial: $3.5 billion

SunTrust Banks: $3.5 billion

BB&T Corp: $3.1 billion

KeyCorp: $2.5 billion

Comerica: $2.25 billion

Marshall & Ilsley Corp: $1.7 billion

Northern Trust Corp: $1.5 billion

Huntington Bancshares: $1.4 billion

Zions Bancorp: $1.4 billion

Synovus: $973 million

First Horizon National: $866 million

City National Corp: $395 million

South Financial Group: $347 million

Valley National Bancorp: $300 million

Citizens Rep Bancorp: $300 million

UCBH Holdings Inc: $298 million

FirstMerit Corp: $248 million

Umpqua Holdings Corp: $214 million

Washington Federal: $200 million

First Niagara Financial: $186 million

Peoples Bancorp: $39 million

Encore Bancshares: $34 million

HF Financial Corp: $25 million

Bank of Commerce: $17 million

Broadway Financial Corp: $9 million

TOTAL: $213.39 billion

OTHER COMPANIES HOPING TO TAP INTO TARP:

American Express Co is seeking about $3.5 billion

National Penn Bancshares has applied for $150 million

INSURANCE COMPANIES

In addition to TARP's $40 billion for AIG, the Federal Reserve is separately giving AIG up to $112.5 billion for asset purchases.

Other insurers are interested in cash infusions, but they must own a thrift or bank to qualify. On Friday, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc agreed to become a small savings and loan, making it eligible for up to $3.4 billion from TARP.

SMALLER BANKS, AUTOMAKERS

Nov. 14 is the deadline for smaller banks to apply for TARP funds. The deadline will be extended for non-publicly traded banks.

General Motors Corp , Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC have asked for billions of dollars in TARP funds. However, the Bush administration has said the program was designed to help the financial services sector.

NO THANKS

These companies have said they would not take part in the TARP program:

- Charles Schwab Corp

- Hudson City Bancorp

- Capital City Bank Group

- Commerce Bancshares

- Northfield Bancorp

- Essa Bancorp Inc

- Rockville Financial Inc

- First Commonwealth Financial Corp

- Chicopee Bancorp Inc

- Bryn Mawr Bank Corp

- Kearny Financial Corp

- Fist Financial Bankshares Inc

- Cheviot Financial Corp

- Southside Bancshares

- Investors Bancorp

- First Advantage Bancorp

Note 1: Capital injection to Merrill Lynch deferred pending its merger with Bank of America, according to Treasury Department.

My Disney

2008-12-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

the old 500 mile email story

2008-12-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

The author of the below email story was once a Morgan-Stanley employee. Perhaps someone responded to his last line :)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following is the 500-mile email story in the form it originally appeared, in a post to sage-members on Sun, 24 Nov 2002.:

From trey@sage.org Fri Nov 29 18:00:49 2002
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2002 21:03:02 -0500 (EST)
From: Trey Harris
To: sage-members@sage.org
Subject: The case of the 500-mile email (was RE: [SAGE] Favorite impossible
task?)

Here's a problem that *sounded* impossible... I almost regret posting the
story to a wide audience, because it makes a great tale over drinks at a
conference. :-) The story is slightly altered in order to protect the
guilty, elide over irrelevant and boring details, and generally make the
whole thing more entertaining.

I was working in a job running the campus email system some years ago when
I got a call from the chairman of the statistics department.

"We're having a problem sending email out of the department."

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"We can't send mail more than 500 miles," the chairman explained.

I choked on my latte. "Come again?"

"We can't send mail farther than 500 miles from here," he repeated. "A
little bit more, actually. Call it 520 miles. But no farther."

"Um... Email really doesn't work that way, generally," I said, trying to
keep panic out of my voice. One doesn't display panic when speaking to a
department chairman, even of a relatively impoverished department like
statistics. "What makes you think you can't send mail more than 500
miles?"

"It's not what I *think*," the chairman replied testily. "You see, when
we first noticed this happening, a few days ago--"

"You waited a few DAYS?" I interrupted, a tremor tinging my voice. "And
you couldn't send email this whole time?"

"We could send email. Just not more than--"

"--500 miles, yes," I finished for him, "I got that. But why didn't you
call earlier?"

"Well, we hadn't collected enough data to be sure of what was going on
until just now." Right. This is the chairman of *statistics*. "Anyway, I
asked one of the geostatisticians to look into it--"

"Geostatisticians..."

"--yes, and she's produced a map showing the radius within which we can
send email to be slightly more than 500 miles. There are a number of
destinations within that radius that we can't reach, either, or reach
sporadically, but we can never email farther than this radius."

"I see," I said, and put my head in my hands. "When did this start? A
few days ago, you said, but did anything change in your systems at that
time?"

"Well, the consultant came in and patched our server and rebooted it.
But I called him, and he said he didn't touch the mail system."

"Okay, let me take a look, and I'll call you back," I said, scarcely
believing that I was playing along. It wasn't April Fool's Day. I tried
to remember if someone owed me a practical joke.

I logged into their department's server, and sent a few test mails. This
was in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, and a test mail to my own
account was delivered without a hitch. Ditto for one sent to Richmond,
and Atlanta, and Washington. Another to Princeton (400 miles) worked.

But then I tried to send an email to Memphis (600 miles). It failed.
Boston, failed. Detroit, failed. I got out my address book and started
trying to narrow this down. New York (420 miles) worked, but Providence
(580 miles) failed.

I was beginning to wonder if I had lost my sanity. I tried emailing a
friend who lived in North Carolina, but whose ISP was in Seattle.
Thankfully, it failed. If the problem had had to do with the geography of
the human recipient and not his mail server, I think I would have broken
down in tears.

Having established that--unbelievably--the problem as reported was true,
and repeatable, I took a look at the sendmail.cf file. It looked fairly
normal. In fact, it looked familiar.

I diffed it against the sendmail.cf in my home directory. It hadn't been
altered--it was a sendmail.cf I had written. And I was fairly certain I
hadn't enabled the "FAIL_MAIL_OVER_500_MILES" option. At a loss, I
telnetted into the SMTP port. The server happily responded with a SunOS
sendmail banner.

Wait a minute... a SunOS sendmail banner? At the time, Sun was still
shipping Sendmail 5 with its operating system, even though Sendmail 8 was
fairly mature. Being a good system administrator, I had standardized on
Sendmail 8. And also being a good system administrator, I had written a
sendmail.cf that used the nice long self-documenting option and variable
names available in Sendmail 8 rather than the cryptic punctuation-mark
codes that had been used in Sendmail 5.

The pieces fell into place, all at once, and I again choked on the dregs
of my now-cold latte. When the consultant had "patched the server," he
had apparently upgraded the version of SunOS, and in so doing
*downgraded* Sendmail. The upgrade helpfully left the sendmail.cf
alone, even though it was now the wrong version.

It so happens that Sendmail 5--at least, the version that Sun shipped,
which had some tweaks--could deal with the Sendmail 8 sendmail.cf, as most
of the rules had at that point remained unaltered. But the new long
configuration options--those it saw as junk, and skipped. And the
sendmail binary had no defaults compiled in for most of these, so, finding
no suitable settings in the sendmail.cf file, they were set to zero.

One of the settings that was set to zero was the timeout to connect to the
remote SMTP server. Some experimentation established that on this
particular machine with its typical load, a zero timeout would abort a
connect call in slightly over three milliseconds.

An odd feature of our campus network at the time was that it was 100%
switched. An outgoing packet wouldn't incur a router delay until hitting
the POP and reaching a router on the far side. So time to connect to a
lightly-loaded remote host on a nearby network would actually largely be
governed by the speed of light distance to the destination rather than by
incidental router delays.

Feeling slightly giddy, I typed into my shell:

$ units
1311 units, 63 prefixes

You have: 3 millilightseconds
You want: miles
* 558.84719
/ 0.0017893979

"500 miles, or a little bit more."

Trey Harris
--
I'm looking for work. If you need a SAGE Level IV with 10 years Perl,
tool development, training, and architecture experience, please email me
at trey@sage.org. I'm willing to relocate for the right opportunity.

Mumbai Attacks - just some quotes

2008-11-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

Just putting some quotes together...making a picture, is your job:

1. R.R. Patil. Deputy C.M. Maharashtra : "इतने बड़े शहर में एक दो घटनाएं हो जाती हैं । "

2.

"When I went out today photographing, a lot of local people were coming up and being apologetic and saying, `Sorry, this isn't what India is normally about.' All the people in the hotel are very kind to me. They're very humbled by this...They're apologetic about what's going on in their city." - Daniel Gautreau, a Canadian who's been in Mumbai since Monday.

3. "बिहारी, मराठी भूल जाओ। हम सब हिन्दुस्तानी हैं। " - An NSG commando

4. "It's not burning there, it's burning here (pointing to his heart)" A man near the funeral pyre of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.

5. "We will send ISI chief to India to help in the investigation. We are not in this, then why should we be ashamed? We have nothing to hide." Pakistan Prime Minister on 28th Nov.

"Umm....scrap the above. We will not send the ISI chief to India." Pakistan Prime Minister on 29th Nov.

6. "Whoever these terrorists are, they are not true Muslims. They are maligning my religion. As per Quran, anyone who kills even one innocent person will go to Hell and anyone saving even one innocent soul will go to heaven." - A Muslim Mumbaikar.

7. "भारत माता की जय !! भारत माता की जय! " - Common People across the street.

When the night is dark enough...

2008-11-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

The path may be dreary
Your goal not near by
But the target should be clear
And don’t let your dreams die.

Strive for what you want to achieve
Don’t fear from the slope
You can conquer the mountains
Just start with a hope.

Win over your misfortunes
No-matter-what comes your way
Keep making the picture,
Your eyes will see it real some day.

Relish even the gloomy moments
Smiles can conceal the tear
And when the night is dark enough,
Remember –
“THE DAWN IS NEAR !!”

Ankush Agarwal

Vote for it: http://www.poetry.com/voteforme/poemvote1.asp?PID=9407420

इजाज़त

2008-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

हम जिस ज़मीं पर ठोकर लगा आये थे,
सुना है उन पत्थरों पर, अब फूल खिलते हैं |
दोस्ती तो है इक आदत बुरी मेरी, मगर
ये अजनबी क्यों इस अपनेपन से गले मिलते हैं ?

चंद पलों में, कई सदियां गुज़रने के बाद,
दिल ने कुछ कहना चाहा ही था;
आंखें भरी भी नहीं, ज़ुबां हिली भी नहीं,
बस कानों ने सुना - "चलते हैं"

चेहरे पर चिपकी मुस्कराहट, देखी तो मगर
सोचा न कभी, क्या किसी कोने में आंसू भी पलते हैं ?
जुदा होने कि इजाज़त, वो मांगते हैं हमसे,
हम खुदा तो नहीं, हम भी कुछ बातों से डरते हैं |

बीती हुई कुछ यादों की गर्मी बची है बस,
जिनके सहारे हमारी ज़िन्दगी के पल पिघलते हैं ;
सपनों को पुकारे जो, इक ऐसी रात का इंतज़ार है मुझे ,
ये बात और है कि कुदरत में,रोज़ सूरज ढलते हैं ||

'तू ' - मेरी एकमात्र कविता

2008-11-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

दिल ये चाहता है,

सुना तुझे अपना हाल दूँ,
सदा के लिये मेरी बन जा
आ; तुझे कविता में ढाल दूँ |

ज़ुल्फ की काली घटाओं में छुपा,
प्यारा चांद सा गाल दूँ,
जिसकी न कोई हो मिसाल,
एैसी तेरी मिसाल दूँ |

रेशमी हों , या नागिन कि तरह ?
कैसे तेरे बाल दूँ ?
या दिल जिसमें उलझा मेरा
उसे कह एैसा जाल दूँ ?

बस चले गर मेरा, तो दुनिया भर का
शबाब तुझमें डाल दूँ ;
नज़रों पर जो थोड़ी इनायत हो जाये,
मौत को भी मैं टाल दूँ ||

मेरे सिवा न कोई समझ सके,
बना तुझे एैसा सवाल दूँ,
सारा जहाँ भी न कर सके बराबरी,
अँकुश का इतना तुझे प्यार दूँ ||

Hindu Rate of Wrath

2008-11-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

An article published in Outlook. Though a bit tilted, it does makes some interesting points:

Is there such a thing as 'Hindu terrorism', as the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for the recent Malegaon blasts may tend to prove? Well, I guess I was asked to write this column because I am one of that rare breed of foreign correspondents—a lover of Hindus! A born Frenchman, Catholic-educated and non-Hindu, I do hope I'll be given some credit for my opinions, which are not the product of my parents' ideas, my education or my atavism, but garnered from 25 years of reporting in South Asia (for Le Journal de Geneve and Le Figaro).

In the early 1980s, when I started freelancing in south India, doing photo features on kalaripayattu, the Ayyappa festival, or the Ayyanars, I slowly realised that the genius of this country lies in its Hindu ethos, in the true spirituality behind Hinduism. The average Hindu you meet in a million villages possesses this simple, innate spirituality and accepts your diversity, whether you are Christian or Muslim, Jain or Arab, French or Chinese. It is this Hinduness that makes the Indian Christian different from, say, a French Christian, or the Indian Muslim unlike a Saudi Muslim. I also learnt that Hindus not only believed that the divine could manifest itself at different times, under different names, using different scriptures (not to mention the wonderful avatar concept, the perfect answer to 21st century religious strife) but that they had also given refuge to persecuted minorities from across the world—Syrian Christians, Parsis, Jews, Armenians, and today, Tibetans. In 3,500 years of existence, Hindus have never militarily invaded another country, never tried to impose their religion on others by force or induced conversions.

You cannot find anybody less fundamentalist than a Hindu in the world and it saddens me when I see the Indian and western press equating terrorist groups like SIMI, which blow up innocent civilians, with ordinary, angry Hindus who burn churches without killing anybody. We know also that most of these communal incidents often involve persons from the same groups—often Dalits and tribals—some of who have converted to Christianity and others not.

However reprehensible the destruction of Babri Masjid, no Muslim was killed in the process; compare this to the 'vengeance' bombings of 1993 in Bombay, which wiped out hundreds of innocents, mostly Hindus. Yet the Babri Masjid destruction is often described by journalists as the more horrible act of the two. We also remember how Sharad Pawar, when he was chief minister of Maharashtra in 1993, lied about a bomb that was supposed to have gone off in a Muslim locality of Bombay.

I have never been politically correct, but have always written what I have discovered while reporting. Let me then be straightforward about this so-called Hindu terror. Hindus, since the first Arab invasions, have been at the receiving end of terrorism, whether it was by Timur, who killed 1,00,000 Hindus in a single day in 1399, or by the Portuguese Inquisition which crucified Brahmins in Goa. Today, Hindus are still being targeted: there were one million Hindus in the Kashmir valley in 1900; only a few hundred remain, the rest having fled in terror. Blasts after blasts have killed hundreds of innocent Hindus all over India in the last four years. Hindus, the overwhelming majority community of this country, are being made fun of, are despised, are deprived of the most basic facilities for one of their most sacred pilgrimages in Amarnath while their government heavily sponsors the Haj. They see their brothers and sisters converted to Christianity through inducements and financial traps, see a harmless 84-year-old swami and a sadhvi brutally murdered. Their gods are blasphemed.

So sometimes, enough is enough.At some point, after years or even centuries of submitting like sheep to slaughter, Hindus—whom the Mahatma once gently called cowards—erupt in uncontrolled fury. And it hurts badly. It happened in Gujarat. It happened in Jammu, then in Kandhamal, Mangalore, and Malegaon. It may happen again elsewhere. What should be understood is that this is a spontaneous revolution on the ground, by ordinary Hindus, without any planning from the political leadership. Therefore, the BJP, instead of acting embarrassed, should not disown those who choose other means to let their anguished voices be heard.

There are about a billion Hindus, one in every six persons on this planet. They form one of the most successful, law-abiding and integrated communities in the world today. Can you call them terrorists?

By Francois Gautier

(The writer is the editor-in-chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l'Inde.)

awww

2008-11-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

click on the pic, to see it properly.
Thx to "Desi in Toronto" for this.

Obama's photo album

2008-11-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

Here is it

second karwachauth

2008-10-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Tanu's 2nd karwachauth. And again in Canada. But this time, the proudy "Chandra Dev" showed mercy and didn't came very late.

Niagara - from US side

2008-10-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

In Alex's words, "You guys really like Niagara!". Ofcourse Alex! How could we not? This is an addition to our nth trip to Niagara Falls, but a first from the US side. Getting soaked in the waters of Niagara, feeling the force of Niagara on your face, and even realizing its potential, when losing breath standing under it at the Cave of the Winds, is something, we ought to remember for ever. And ever.

Something to ponder upon...

2008-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

FALL in love

2008-09-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

A "FALL in love" trip to the biggest park in the second biggest country of the world. The bright Falls color reminded of the colorful world we live in and admire the work of GOD, as the greatest artist and painter.

Once it was Lehman Brothers...

2008-09-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

I vividly remember being in awe of the Lehman Brothers building, when I first saw it. Right in front of it, was my own office...the 750 building of Morgan Stanley, but I took more pictures of the Lehman Building, than of my own office. The Lehman Brothers ticker was visible to most of us from our own desk and constantly reminded us of the worthy competitor we have.

However, its glory was suddenly lost in the market jitters. And, we are not happy about it. Not just because, I have friends in LB, but also we needed such a competitor and LB never deserved this fate. The luck played a more prominent role in its end, than anything else.

We have new ticker to concentrate on now - The Barclays Capital Group....more commonly known to us as BGI. I have spent a lot of efforts, supporting the huge order flow of BGI, in my earlier project...I am sure, it would have been even more interesting now.

Once a Morgan-Stanley building, and very recently a Lehman Bros. building, here is what it looks like now:

(Tx to Jay, for remembering how desperate I was for this picture and mailing it to me right on time.)

Trip to Buffalo City

2008-09-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

A very nice and easy-on-pocket shopping trip to Buffalo City. The round trip costed us just 3.5 USD per head, and to top that, unlimited coke and coffee free. Beat that !! We also enjoyed the experience to view Niagara from the Rainbow bridge, be on the No Man's Land, standing with one foot in USA and the other in Canada...literally. And shopping at the fashion outlets in buffalo, is obviously great.

Cricket @ Toronto

2008-09-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

With the end of summer season, ends another wonderful cricketing season also. Here are some snaps to celebrate the memories of some of the great times we spent together.

bomb blasts - an act of foolishness

2008-09-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

why don't the terrorists understand that blasting around cities is never going to achieve anything for them. Attacking unarmed and innocent people by remaining hidden themselves, not only proves their cowardice but also utter foolishness. The message they send is that they themselves are a loser and can't achieve anything with their will power. Such blasts will bring the Indians together and understand that the demands of the terrorist is unjust and definitely wrong. India, is not a country, which can be stopped with such stupid acts. Instead, they make us stronger and also help in garnering world support.

However, what deserves condemnation is not such foolish acts, but the behavior of our politicians. Even after so many acts, they fail to come together and pass stronger bills. They are still too busy in vomiting useless speeches, talking about elections, and making fake CDs.

I pray to GOD, Allah, Ishwar to bless some sense to terrorists and also to these politicians, so that they can clear the bills pending by 5 states to counter such stupid attacks and also bring a bill like USA-PATRIOTIC act in the center.

Chinese Lantern Festival

2008-08-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

Went to CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) and Ontario Place to witness the grand Chinese Lantern Festival and the screening of a dinosaur movie at the IMax, the screen of which was a huuuuuuuuuuge one (3 storey high and ten times the size of a normal movie screen). It was an experience in itself to feel the big dinos from so close. The Lantern festival was so well built with many of the world's renowned architectures and kingdoms.

TCS Picnic 2008

2008-08-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

This time we went o Magic hill for picnic. The place was not as good as expected, but still we enjoyed being in a large group. And I hit the hole in golf :D

Canada Day celebrations

2008-07-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

Canada Day celebrations at Mississauga. I was amazed to see Shiamak Davar's group dancing on desi numbers on Canada Day. Overall, it was good fun. There were special rhythmic fireworks at night, shooting on the beats of a song. To witness this, there was a large crowd gathered at the Civic Center.

Pride Parade - Censor Cleared ones

2008-06-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Pride Week is an event held in Toronto, Ontario during the last week of June each year. It is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area. It is the one of the largest organized Gay Pride festivals in the world, featuring several stages with live performers and DJs, several licensed venues, a large Dyke March, and the Pride Parade.

In 2004 the Toronto Star reported that 1,200,000 people lined the parade route. The festival is often touted as being one of the largest cultural festivals in North America and the 12 city blocks that make up the festival site is closed to vehicular traffic.

Here are the photos, which have been cleared by the censor ;-) for the rest, mail me.

Volleyball match

2008-06-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Went to Centennial Park's Beach Volleyball courts for some action packed games of Volleyball. It was a thrilling way to end our tech-fest week "Prevoyance 08" unwinding all techy-talks with ungeeky acts including random b'day bumps to Muthu :)

Check my album on Picasa for better resolution pix.

Niagara @ night

2008-06-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Talent Day at TDC

2008-06-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

A lovely day celebrated for a noble cause. We celebrated talent day, with people pledging for others to perform any item. I was asked to play the balcony scene from "Romeo & Juliet". Luckily, my moustache gave me an edge over Alex, who had to play Juliet :D. Sailendra's dance was one of the highlights as well. Some of the photos are uploaded here and the most in demand video of us playing the romantic scene, which finally became comedy, because of our pathetic act :p.

However, the cause was fulfilled, as we collected some good money for donation towards disabled children.

Talent Day at TDC

2008-06-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

the world's worst poet

2008-06-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

It gives me a sense of satisfaction, that I am not branded as the world's best poet, though I tried hard for it. However, read on about the person, who has managed to keep this recognition:
(As published in National Post)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: June 11, 2008, 2:54 PM by Marni Soupcoff
Ian Hunter
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 16, a collection of 35 poems by William Topaz McGonagall (1825-1902) was sold at auction in Edinburgh for more than $10,000. That's not a high price for, say, a single poem by Robert Burns. But for McGonagall, known as "the world's worst poet," it is remarkable.
In his day, McGonagall was often pelted with eggs and rotten fruits at public recitals (often given in pubs to protest against excessive drinking). McGonagall would be sad to learn that perhaps his most famous poem, Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silver Tay, is used in schools as an object lesson in how not to write poetry. When he died penniless in 1902, McGonagall was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh in an unmarked pauper's grave.
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silver Tay!
I hope that God will protect all passengers
By night and by day,
And that no accident befall them while crossing
The Bridge of the Silvery Tay, For that would be most awful to be seen
Near by Dundee and the Magdalen Green.
McGonagall must have had a touch of the prophet about him because a decade or so after he wrote that poem (in fact on Dec. 20, 1879), the Tay railway bridge collapsed in a gale; there was a train passing over and 75 passengers plunged to their death. An inquiry concluded that the bridge (rather like McGonagall's poems) was "badly designed, badly built and badly maintained." On hearing of the disaster, McGonagall felt compelled to compose again:
O ill-fated bridge of the silvery Tay, I must now conclude my lay, By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say, Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses build.
The less chance we have of being killed.
Born in Edinburgh of Irish parents, McGonagall followed the weaver's trade, although without much success. In June 1878, he was sued by a Dundee grocer for theprincely sum of six pounds; the best McGonagall could offer was to repay the debt at the rate of three shillings a week. When the grocer protested that it would take 120 weeks to repay, McGonagall solemnly insisted that he could not do more because his primary responsibility was to the muse of poetry.
Since the time of Robert Burns (1759-1796), all Scots poets have attempted to write about Nature's glories and the lessons she imparts; McGonagall was no exception (however lamentable the results):
As I chanced to see trouts leaping in the River o' Glenshee,
It helped to fill my heart with glee, And to anglers I would say without any doubt
There's plenty of trouts there for pulling out.
McGonagall also fancied himself an actor although (perhaps understandably) his services were seldom in demand. On one occasion, he paid the Director of a theatre to be allowed to play the title role in Macbeth. McGonagall persuaded sufficient friends and acquaintances to attend the play as to avoid a financial disaster. But it was not an artistic triumph; at the end, when Macduff should kill Macbeth, McGonagall became convinced that the actor playing Macduff was deliberately trying to upstage him, and he refused to die.
One of the most poignant incidents in McGonagall's career occurred in 1892 when, following the death of poet laureate Alfred Tennyson, McGonagall walked the 60 miles from Dundee to Balmoral Castle through pelting rain in an attempt to persuade Queen Victoria to name him as poet laureate. The castle gatekeeper informed McGonagall that the Queen was not in residence (which was untrue) and McGonagall gathered his greatcoat around him, turned and trudged back home. This humiliation did not deter from lauding his Sovereign in verse:
Beautiful Empress of India and England's Gracious Queen, I send you a Shakespearian Address written by me.
And I think if your Majesty reads it, right pleased you will be. And my heart it will leap with joy, if it is patronized by Thee.
As will by now be obvious, McGonagall was deaf to poetic diction, meter and rhyme, and had nothing to say. As one critic put it, he was "so giftedly bad he backed unwittingly into genius."
In 1894 McGonagall became Sir William, having been knighted in absentia by King Thibaw Min of Burma and given the title White Elephant of Burma. McGonagall henceforth used this title shamelessly to promote his verses.
But it is McGonagall who has laughed last. For over a century, his poems have never been out of print. There is a McGonagall Square in Dundee, and a McGonagall Society which assembles once a year to eat a banquet in reverse order, starting with desserts, moving through entrees, and concluding with appetizers. The world's worst poet lives on.

Dear omnivore

2008-06-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

A great article published in National Post. Worth reading, whether you are a vegetarian, egg-etarian or Non-Veg:
-----------------------------
Taylor Clark, Slate.com Published: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
-----------------------------
Admit it, my flesh-eating friends: You know nothing about us vegetarians. So read on. I believe it's high time we cleared a few things up:-

Every vegetarian remembers his first time. Not the unremarkable event of his first meal without meat, mind you. No, I mean the first time he casually lets slip that he's turned herbivore, prompting everyone in earshot to stare at him as if he just revealed plans to sail his carrot-powered plasma yacht to Neptune.
For me, this first time came at an Elks scholarship luncheon in rural Oregon when I was 18. All day, I'd succeeded at seeming a promising and responsible young man, until that fateful moment when someone asked why I hadn't taken any meat from the buffet. After I offered my reluctant explanation -- and the guy announced it to the entire room -- 30 people went eerily quiet, undoubtedly expecting me to launch into a speech on the virtues of hemp. In the corner, an elderly, suited man glared at me as he slowly raised a slice of bologna and executed the most menacing bite of cold cut in recorded history. I didn't get the scholarship.
I tell this story not to win your pity but to illustrate a point: I've been vegetarian for a decade, and when it comes up, I still get a look of confused horror that says, "But you seemed so ... normal." The United States boasts more than 10 million herbivores today, yet most Americans assume that every last one is a loopy, self-satisfied health fanatic, hell-bent on draining all the joy out of life. Those of us who want to avoid the social nightmare have to hide our vegetarianism like an Oxycontin addiction, because admit it, omnivores: You know nothing about us. Do we eat fish? Will we panic if confronted with a hamburger? Are we dying of malnutrition? You have no clue. So read on, my flesh-eating friends -- I believe it's high time we cleared a few things up.
To demonstrate what a vegetarian really is, let's begin with a simple thought experiment. Imagine a completely normal person with completely normal food cravings, someone who has a broad range of friends, enjoys a good time, is carbon-based and so on. Now remove from this person's diet anything that once had eyes, and -- wham! -- you have yourself a vegetarian. Normal person, no previously ocular food, end of story.
Some people call themselves vegetarians and still eat chicken or fish, but unless we're talking about the kind of salmon that comes freshly plucked from the vine, this makes you an omnivore. A select few herbivores go one step further and avoid all animal products -- milk, eggs, honey, leather -- and they call themselves vegan, which rhymes with "tree men." These people are intense.
Vegetarians give up meat for a variety of ethical, environmental and health reasons that are secondary to this essay's goal of increasing brotherly understanding, so I'll mostly set them aside. Suffice it to say that one day, I suddenly realized that I could never look a cow in the eyes, press a knocking gun to her temple, and pull the trigger without feeling I'd done something cruel and unnecessary.
I am well-aware that even telling you this makes me seem like the kind of person who wants to break into your house and liberate your pet hamster -- that is, like a PETA activist. Most vegetarians, though, would tell you that they appreciate the intentions of groups like PETA but not the obnoxious tactics. It's like this: We're all rooting for the same team, but they're the ones in face paint, bellowing obscenities at the umpire and flipping over every car with a Yankees bumper sticker. I have no designs on your Camry or your hamster.

Now, when I say that vegetarians are normal people with normal food cravings, many omnivores will hoist a lamb shank in triumph and point out that you can hardly call yourself normal if the aroma of, say, sizzling bacon doesn't fill you with deepest yearning. To which I reply: We're not insane. We know meat tastes good; it's why there's a freezer case at your supermarket full of woefully inadequate meat substitutes. Believe me, if obtaining bacon didn't require slaughtering a pig, I'd have a BLT in each hand right now with a bacon layer cake waiting in the fridge for dessert.
But, that said, I can also tell you that with some time away from the butcher's section, many meat products start to seem gross. Ground beef in particular now strikes me as absolutely revolting; I have a vague memory that hamburgers taste good, but the idea of taking a cow's leg, mulching it into a fatty pulp, and forming it into a pancake makes me gag. And hot dogs ... I mean, hot dogs? You do know what that is, right?
As a consolation prize we get tofu, a treasure most omnivores are more than happy to do without. Well, this may stun you, but I'm not any more excited about a steaming heap of unseasoned tofu blobs than you are. Tofu is like fugu blowfish sushi: Prepared correctly, it's delicious; prepared incorrectly, it's lethal.
Very early in my vegetarian career, I found myself famished and stuck in a mall, so I wandered over to the food court's Asian counter. When I asked the teenage chief culinary artisan what was in the tofu stir-fry, he snorted and replied, "S--t." Desperation made me order it anyway, and I can tell you that promises have rarely been more loyally kept than this guy's pledge about what the tofu would taste like. So here's a tip: Unless you know you're in expert hands (Thai restaurants are a good bet), don't even try tofu. Otherwise, it's your funeral.
As long as we're discussing restaurants, allow me a quick word with the hardworking
chefs at America's dining establishments. We really appreciate that you included a vegetarian option on your menu (and if you didn't, is our money not valuable?), but it may interest you to know that most of us are not salad freaks on a grim slog for nourishment. We actually enjoy food, especially the kind that tastes good. So enough with the bland vegetable dishes and, for God's sake, please make the Gardenburgers stop; it's stunning how many restaurants lavish unending care on their meat dishes yet are content to throw a flavorless hockey puck from Costco into the microwave and call it cuisine.
Every vegetarian is used to slim pickings when dining out, so we're not asking for much -- just for something you'd like to eat. I'll even offer a handy trick. Pretend you're trapped in a kitchen stocked with every ingredient imaginable, from asiago to zucchini, but with zero meat. With no flesh available, picture what you'd make for yourself; this is what we want, too.
For those kind-hearted omnivores who willingly invite feral vegetarians into their homes for dinner parties and barbecues (really! we do that, too!), the same rule applies -- but also know that unless you're dealing with an herbivore who is a prick for unrelated reasons, we don't expect you to bend over backward for us. In fact, if we get the sense that you cooked for three extra hours to accommodate our dietary preferences, we will marvel at your considerate nature, but we will also feel insanely guilty.
Similarly, it's very thoughtful of you to ask whether it'll bother me if I see you eat meat, but don't worry: I'm not going to compose an epic poem about your club sandwich.
Which leads me to a vital point for friendly omnivore-herbivore relations. As you're enjoying that pork loin next to me, I am not silently judging you. I realize that anyone who has encountered the breed of smug vegetarian who says things like, "I can hear your lunch screaming," will find this tough to believe, but I'm honestly not out to convert you. My girlfriend and my closest pals all eat meat, and they'll affirm that I've never even raised an eyebrow about it.
Now, do I think it strange that the same people who dress their dogs in berets and send them to day spas are often unfazed that an equally smart pig suffered and died to become their McMuffin? Yes, I do. Would I prefer it if we at least raised these animals humanely? Yes, I would.
Let's be honest, though: I'm not exactly Saint Francis of Assisi over here, tenderly ministering to every chipmunk that crosses my path. I try to represent for the animal kingdom, but take a look at my shoes -- they're made of leather, which, I am told by those with expert knowledge of the tanning process, comes from dead cows.
This is the sort of revelation that prompts meat boosters to pick up the triumphant lamb shank once again and accuse us of hypocrisy. Well, sort of. (Hey, you try to find a pair of non-leather dress shoes.) My dedication to the cause might be incomplete, but I'd still say that doing something beats doing nothing. It's kind of like driving a hybrid: not a solution to the global-warming dilemma but a decent start. Let's just say that at the dinner table, I roll in a Prius.
Finally, grant me one more cordial request: Please don't try to convince us that being vegetarian is somehow wrong. If you insist on being the aggressive blowhard who takes meatlessness as a personal insult and rails about what fools we all are, you're only going to persuade me that you're a dickhead. When someone says he's Catholic, you probably don't start the stump speech about how God is a lie created to enslave the ignorant masses, and it's equally offensive to berate an herbivore.
Because, really, peace and understanding are what it's all about: your porterhouse and my portobello coexisting in perfect harmony -- though preferably not touching. We're actually not so different, after all, my omnivorous chums. In fact, I like to think that when an omnivore looks in the mirror, he just sees a vegetarian who happens to eat meat. Or, no, wait, maybe the mirror sees the omnivore through the prism of flesh and realizes we all have a crystalline animal soul, you know?
This is excellent weed, by the way, if you want a hit. Hey, while you're here: Have I ever told you about hemp?

Carassauga

2008-05-26T06:39:00.001-07:00

The festival of culture celebrated in Canada. All over mississauga, various countries setup their pavilion and display their culture thru songs/dance/food/jewelery/fashion shows, etc. We were lucky to see so many cultures in 3 days. Ranging from the Calypso, Reggae of Carribean to the Belly Dances of Egypt and Cyprus, from Magic shows of Italy to Kung-Fu of China, Wild dances of Hawaii to Sweet dances of Poland, Indian Bharatnatyam to Pakistani Fashion show...watching all this was an unforgettable experience.

TDC Goes Traditional

2008-05-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

An excellent writeup by Surma on the Ethnic Day celebrated at TDC:

TDC goes Traditional !!

Toronto Development Center (aka TDC) has always been a fun place to work in, a cordial happy atmosphere that inspires professionalism and innovation. So when an e-mail titled “Ethnic Wear Day at TDC” floated into our mailboxes, it resulted in the normal buzz of excitement and speculation.

With a multicultural population ranging from Indians to Japanese to Russians and of course Canadians, this was destined to be a colorful event! For days discussions centered around clothes – a rare occurrence in the male-dominated TDC atmosphere! The air was charged with plans and guesses and finally…… who would win the Mr./ Ms Picture Perfect(to be awarded to the best dressed associate)!

30^th April 2008 – officially Ethnic Wear Day at TDC – dawned bright and shining. The cheerful sky was a sure sign of fun things to come! As the minutes ticked by, the cubicles gradually filled up with color and innovation. Every person was at his ethnic best – each individual mirroring his culture and tradition! Yours truly decided to step into the sidelines and play a true reporter! So here goes the report on Who walked the Red Carpet! And How!

Sailendra Kagolanu : In his starched white Vesti and dazzling Angavastram he was the perfect picture of South Indian superstar RajaniKanth! All that was missing was the superhero’s trademark dark glasses. Even that was taken care of by his style and presence!

Keren Bandner : Our favorite HR Keren was at her stylish best! In her inimitable fashion she was garbed in the Montreal Canadian jersey. That’s what we call a true Canadian to the core!!

Premjith PuthenVeetil : Trust this ever smiling person to pull that magic rabbit out of thin air! In his cream silk shirt and white Mundu he was Picture Perfect. And that is what the votes said as our TDC unanimously handed him the Best Dressed award! And true to his fun loving nature he graced the occasion with a fine catwalk!

Alex Korobchevsky/ Timothy Sung-To Li/ Allen Ko : Gave us wonderful glimpses of Russian and Chinese traditional wear.

Ankush Agarwal/ Grover Ankur / Sachin Gupte : This enthusiastic trio in starched white Kurtas sure stole the show! Ankur especially was seen strutting about in true Politician style.

Tejas Badani : In a blue kurta Tejas could be seen (and heard) campaigning really hard for the Picture Perfect award! With his every ready smile and fun loving nature he sure added a spark to the day!

James Cruz/ Muthukumar Muthukaruppan/ Sateesh Nandula/ Siva Pondugula : They are what we call in TDC as Brand South India! This group of young men came perfectly clad in stached white Dhotis and kurtas. They were fun and excitement personified!

Tyash Ghosh/ Amit Jagdish/ Khalil Khokhar : If you thought they were more Canadian than Indian… rethink! Tyash was the perfect Bengali Babu and Amit grabbed the limelight with his elegant white attire! Khalil was awesome in traditional Black!

Vernon Pereira /Surya Vivek Prakash : With their Canadianzed Indian attires these boys just managed to tread the Thin Red Line, but the precious gifts of smile and fun they brought to the party was much appreciated! Vernon is of course our eternal Cool Dude and Vivek manages to dazzle all with his Harsha Bhogle style commentaries!

And, not to forget the ladies, that is yours truly and Revathy Venugopal : We played safe with the evergreen traditional sari and salwar suit !

The day brought moments of good fun and entertainment! The photo sessions were great and the cake cutting that followed was awesome! All associates in ethnic wear were give chocolates! And a round of applause is certainly due to our photographers Nipun and Muthu!

In a world of fast food and faster lives, the Ethnic wear day was like a breath of Fresh air. It gave us a rare opportunity to take a step back and delve into our roots. That is how I shall always remember Ethnic wear Day at TDC – a day where I found a piece of Motherland in a wonderful land thousands of miles away from Home! A true Homecoming in every sense!

न्यू यॉर्क की यात्रा

2008-04-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

न जाने कितने दिन/महीनों से इंतज़ार था उस जगह को देखने का, जहाँ जाने के लिए दुनिया बेताब रहती है। लेकिन शुरुआत से ही, नक्षत्र ख़राब चल रहे थे। सोचा था कि ६ april को ही पहुँच कर एक दिन घूम कर और थोड़ा आराम-वाराम करके फिर अगले दिन से ऑफिस पहुंचेंगे, लेकिन कुछ confusion के कारण टिकेट ही ७ april का मिला।

उसके बाद चक्कर शुरू हुआ, immigration/custom/border-security का। एहसास हुआ, कि जितने किस्से सुने थे, इनके खडूस होने का, और रंगभेद का, वो काफ़ी सच थे। पहली बार किसी देश के officers को इतना rude और mannerless पाया। शायद चेहरे पर मुस्कान आने पर उनके ज्यादा tax कटते होंगे। एक officer के साथ हुई मेरी बातचीत का एक अंश प्रस्तुत है:
.
.
.
officer: you are going on B1/B2 visa. Do you know, what this is meant for?
बेचारा: yes..this is for pleasure/business trip.
officer: No..this just entitles you to talk to me. You are not allowed to go there for consultation. You are taking the job away from an american citizen.
बेचारा (सोच में): ओह! तो वो web-site में सारी info हमें April-fool बनाने के लिए लिखी थी बुश भइया ने। ये १० साल का "multiple-entry" business visa, तो सिर्फ़ इससे बात करने का लगता है।
बेचारा (कुछ मुखर हुआ): so?
officer: so..you tell me!
बेचारा (फिर से विचारों की दुनिया में): वाह! अगर मैंने इसको बोला कि चलो रहने दो छोड़ो जाने दो यार, तो ये यूं ही मान जाएगा।
officer: where are you going to?
बेचारा (अब तो ये सिर्फ़ सोच ही सकता है..बोलने का हक तो सिर्फ़ सामने वाले के पास है): लगता है, इस US-visa से होनोलूलू और timbuctoo भी जा सकते हैं।
बेचारा (आखिरकार कुछ बोला): New York
officer: who do you work for?
बेचारा: i am an employee of Tata Consultancy Services, currently working for Morgan-Stanley.
officer: give me straight answers. who do you work for?
बेचारा (अब फिर खामोश रहकर विचार-मंथन की घड़ी है): hmmm. who do i work for? i provide consultancy to Morgan-Stanley (MS),..hence I work for them...but wait...i get paid by TCS, so why do i work for MS? that doesn't sounds correct..means, I DO work for TCS...
बेचारा: TCS
officer: then why are you going to MS?
बेचारा(सोच कुछ): good question. ये तो मैंने सोचा ही नहीं। अबकी बार..कुछ भी नहीं बोलूँगा..कुछ नहीं बोलने पर ये अपने आप timeout होकर next question पर खिसक जाता है।
officer: where is the actual work done?
बेचारा (खुश हो जा बच्चे ..वो वाकई timeout हो गया): Our team is at India, Canada and US.
officer (थोड़ा गुस्से में): Where .Is. the ACTUAL. Work. Done?
बेचारा(खुशी वापस। जुबान खोलने को किसने कहा था? ३-३ countries में टीम। उसकी क्या गलती confuse हो गया तो?): Canada and US।
officer: look don't mess with me. if you mess with me, i will throw you out. Now I am asking you the last time. WHERE.IS.THE.ACTUAL.WORK.DONE?
बेचारा(अबे तुझे क्या पड़ी है उसे IT industry समझाने की? तू ये सोच): अब समझ में आया कि IT कि सारी jobs US/UK से india क्यों भेजी जाती हैं।
बेचारा (वो बोल जो उसकी समझ में आए..एक जगह ): New York
.
.
और इस प्रकार मिली उस बेचारे को border cross करने की अनुमति.

फिर भी काफ़ी उम्मीदें लिए पहुँच गए उस देश में जहाँ मियां कोलंबस, गलती से पहुँच गए थे, ये सोच कर कि ये भारत देश है।
विश्व की सबसे बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था और उस देश का सबसे बड़ा शहर - न्यू यॉर्क ! वहाँ पहुंचे सबसे बड़ी air-line - American से। लेकिन उसमें बैठ कर लगा कि लोग बेवजह ही air-india ko gaaliyan देते हैं । इस डब्बे जैसी एअरलाइन से तो अपनी आंटियों वाली एअरलाइन कहीं बेहतर है। तनु कि तबियत प्लेन से ही काफ़ी ख़राब हो गई थी..La Guardia से Jersey तक का सफर बहुत ही मुश्किल से कटा। और हाँ! टैक्सी वाले वहाँ के भी ठगते हैं।

Ramada Inn पहुँचने पर शुरू हुआ मुसीबतों का second round.

good news

2008-04-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have won Orkut's competition for its new name. Though it sounds strange, but they liked my new name - Yogurt.

I have won 500 USD, which came at the right time, as I am going to NY this sunday. They will use this new name in stages spanning 3 months.

currently, you can see this name, only after logging in orkut:

OK...now that the auspicious day is over, I would like to thank everyone who congratulated me and hence participated in being a APRIL FOOL. Thanks guys n gals.

बुरा न मानो होली है

2008-03-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

हर साल सोचने के बाद भी आज तक ये नहीं समझ में आया, कि हमारे यहाँ होली पर "नाकाबन्दी" और "अपनी तो जैसे तैसे" इतना क्यों बजता है !!

इस साल भी इसी गूढ़ प्रश्न पर विचार करने हेतु, सुबह सुबह youtube पर नाकाबंदी लगा दिया , पर सवाल वहीं का वहीं है। खैर , फिर होली के ढेर सारे गाने सुने और india कि होली को miss किया । शाम को दोस्तों को invite किया था, इसलिए पकवान बनाने में तनु कि थोड़ी help kee.
रंग खेलने की बेकरारी को कुछ control करके Canada में गुझिया, समोसे, कचोरी और मालपुआ हजम किया, और मौका मिलते ही टूट पड़े अबीर-गुलाल पर। एक बार फिज़ा mein rang बिखरे नहीं कि बस, चढ़ गई फागुन की मस्ती, और भूल गए कि हम सात समुन्दर पार हैं। जी भर कर होली खेली। पहले आपस में, और फिर लोगों के घर जा जा कर उन्हें रंगा, नींद से जगा कर लोगों के साथ होली खेली, होली खेल कर नहा धो कर वापस आए लोगों के साथ फिर होली खेली :)

उसके बाद ताश और अन्ताक्षरी, प्रेमजीत के हाथों की बनी coffee और सतीश के हाथों की बनी दाल ने मज़ा दुगुना कर दिया।

लौट कर जब रात के एक बजे स्नान किया, to laga ki apnee to HO LI

Canada की सर्दी में, minus 13 temperature में गरमा गरम पानी से रंग छुडाने का भी ultimate मज़ा है। बस अपने दिल को समझाना पड़ता है कि, "भाई , बुरा न मानो -

होली है !! "

(check the pics at my album at www.freewebs.com/ankushag or at my orkut profile.)

India - A third world country?

2008-03-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Stats revealed in Rajya Sabha:

12% scientists and 38% doctors in the US are Indians, and in NASA, 36% or almost 4 out of 10 scientists are Indians.

If that's not proof enough of Indian scientific and corporate prowess, digest this: 34% employees at Microsoft, 28% at IBM, 17% at Intel and 13% at Xerox are Indians.

some startling facts about a country that's still stuck with a Third World tag — 20% of gold in the world is used by Indians and nine out of 10 diamonds used in the world are made in India .

But the sad news: Indian hockey team has failed to QUALIFY for Olympics…first time in eight decades.

Cows don't fly??

2008-02-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

Whoever said that cows don't fly, must be having their toes in their mouth today.

An Air-India plane has hit a Nilgai (A cow). Yes yes, I am talking about an AEROplane, वोई जो आसमान में उड़ता है ।

Read the detailed story here

Valentine's Day at Toronto

2008-02-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

मेरा और तनु का पहला Valentine's Day साथ-साथ। सुबह उठते ही, एक अच्छा सा गिफ्ट मिला, और उसके बाद Downtown जाने की तैयारी। Cab में downtown पहुंचे और लग गए USA की Visa-Line में। लेकिन यहाँ की line, thankfully इतनी लम्बी नहीं थी, और officers भी अच्छे ही मिले। Visa interview के बाद पूरा downtown घूमा। शाम होते ही, अपने veggie होने का दुःख सताने लगा। सारे अच्छे restaurants में सिर्फ़ Non-Veg ही special था। काफ़ी भटकने के बाद लेकिन किस्मत ने साथ दिया और हम पहुँच गए एक झक्कास टाइप restaurant में। वहाँ पर सारे items special थे । हमने स्पेशल garlic-bread, heart shaped pasta with rose sauce और एक मस्त champagne के साथ डिनर किया और फ़िर triple crepe + maple syrup + fruits + ice-cream का dessert.

गाँधी जी को क्यों याद करें?

2008-01-30T12:43:00.000-08:00

दुनिया भी कितनी विचित्र है। यहाँ हम गाँधी जी के सिद्धांतों की बात कर रहे हैं, और वहाँ हमारे राजनेता इसी बात पर उलझे हैं, कि बापू के अन्तिम शब्द क्या थे? उनके पोते ने तो मात्र "हे रा" ही सुना था और गोडसे के अनुसार उन्होने सिर्फ "हाय" कहा था। लेकिन उनके अन्तिम शब्दों के विवाद में उलझे लोगों ने वो नहीं सुना, जो गाँधी जी ने जीवन पर्यंत कहा।

Interesting World

2008-01-24T10:23:00.001-08:00

Three pieces of news, which caught my attention:

1. Some employee in NY, delete ALL her company's data from the system (worth more than 2 bn USD)
2. There seems to be two men hidden in the MARS-picture sent by NASA...not only this, there seems to be a huge lake also in MARS.
3. Do you often ponder upon the question of whether to wait for the bus or walk? Three crazy mathematicians have claimed to solved this dilemma and came up with this formula:

Anyone willing to load the equation in his/her lappy to solve it everytime he/she is faced with the question again?

And yet, people don't believe that it's a wierd world full of strange people :)

A nice poem

2008-01-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.

One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal

One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.

One step must start each journey.
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true,
One life can make a difference,
You see, it's up to you!

So, start making a change in this universe. To start, just shut your monitor off, whenever you leave your computer alone.

Blonde to Bombed

2008-01-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

This is a classic case of being a bombshell to being bombed and shelled:

What an irony for the daughter of tragedy.

<-- It's Benazir Bhutto in her happier days.

and this is an apt depiction of not only Benazir, but of the whole Pakistan -->