we are miniscule

Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.”  - Anatoli Boukreev

google "litter on mt. everest" and we'll be surprised to see that it is no less than a dumping ground.

in fact, there are articles online where in mt.everest is called world's highest dumping ground.
we as climbing enthusiasts, we should be ashamed. to be precise, this is a shame.

mountains have been always given a sacred place and is this how we treat the tallest mountain on this planet ?  there is a reason why mt.everest is not called "sagarmatha" in nepalese and "Chomolungma" in tibetian . it is given the highest regard and is seen as god.

we are miniscule and these temples only help us get better than what we were

the treat for the eyes after all the pain

in my perception, the attitude conquering the tallest peak or be it any peak is just plain wrong. it has to be about conquering the fear, the aching muscles, the "can i do it ?/ can this be done ?" thoughts.  the brief window of 15 days, generally between may1 - may 15 is the permission given by nature for human kind to experience the beauty it offers. the brief window where in we can find out the what one can do.

mountains, peaks, waterfalls, deserts are all temples which pose challenges so that we can get better than what we were before attempting to scale them, cross them. these are temples where we can seek the answers to the underlying fears. Overcoming our own fears and accomplishing the enduring challenge only makes us better and conquer our fears. NOT conquer them.

it is because of this attitude problem, the tallest peak is in sorry state of affairs. one cant imagine the status if the tallest peak was accessible all through the year.

Nature works in mysterious ways and always proves its superiority (because it is supreme). This time it took avatar of an avalanche and some other time it had taken the avatar of a tsunami.

it is high time that people learn how miniscule they are in this universe. the faster the better.
or else, in George Carlin's words - the planet will be here and we'll all be long gone. The planet is going to shake us off like a bad case of fleas.

double standards

http://guardianlv.com/2013/11/india-mars-mission-to-launch-amidst-overwhelming-poverty/

वोह करें  तोह  रास  लीला , वाही  हम करें  तोह character  ढ़ीला ???

Dear writer of the article,
When USA was at war against the Vietnam, in 1969, they went to the moon.
Coming to the "Overwhelming" poverty, rightly pointed by you, most of the poverty is not eradicated because ours is a country where people fight to be called under-privileged. Nothing can be done about that, sadly. Undevelopment is because of lack of willingness and not because of lack of technology.


So, India is proud to point it out to the world that it launched the MOM because IT CAN and that too at the minimum cost of Rs 450 crores. And, with a population of 120 plus crores, it averages out to less that 4 Rs per capita..a cup of chai is now at a minimum of Rs 5.

And lastly, yes, we have poverty and that is why we build cars in under Rs 2 lakh. We take pride in it because WE CAN build it.

securing the FOOD

long ago...long long ago...
nobody knows how long ago...
this happened...at least in panchatantra or jataka tales...
there was a benevolent king, whose name is not of concern.
once, during his kingdom tour, in mufti, he noticed that some poor and cripples were begging for alms in front of a temple. after all, benevolent he was...he introduced a scheme where lunch and dinner was free and nobody would go hungry in his kingdom again...the smart prime minister opposed it and hence was given pink slip...day by day, number of blessings showered on king increased ( to be read as number of lazy bugs binging on free food increased) and even the kings army suffered from lots of free food...
it is but natural for any country / kingdom to have a traitor, this kingdom also had. the news that army was fat and weak reached the enemy king and he planned an attack...
the benevolent king was shocked at the state of his army and none of his ministers could give an idea to save the kingdom. so, the minister who was given pink slip was summoned...
he took innumerable banana leaves, smeared them with food and got them dumped in front of city gates.
the enemy king mistook that these leaves were from the army and thought his army would be outnumbered easily and took to his heels...
All is well that ends well...

but then, map the characters in this story to the characters running our country today...
to my knowledge, nobody is capable of mapping themselves to the wise ministers role...

the poor are being helped by giving them rice at rs 1 / a kilo, no doubt... but, has anyone thought what could be the repercussions of this ? in my view,
people (labourers/poor) are given free food in this country ...
why do we study ? work ? to earn...why earn ? to feed...
if feeding is met, then why work ? in a few days time, nobody will be available for labour. why should they work ? their food needs are met!
now, agriculture is labour intensive... with no labourers, agricultural productivity of this country will go down...
and then, how on earth, will these benevolent KINGS provide rice / wheat at Rs 1 a kilo ?
answer is already out there...
either this :
Sir, am from a very poor country called India...could you give alms ?
or
mortgage the country!

jai hind

Are we erasing our past by writing our future ?

full is empty ? yes, it is!

it is 2am. and a thought.
is full empty ?

Optimist : glass is half full. Pessimist : glass is half empty. Engineer : glass  has twice the volume it is holding.

now, what is the hardest substance ? for now, am going with diamond, keeping aside the present day scientific advancements. mohs scale of mineral hardness
diamond, is hardest. an allotrope of carbon. so is graphite. but is soft. reason : difference in spacial arrangement of carbon atoms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diamond_and_graphite2.jpg

in diamond, the carbon atoms are arranged in the form of cube at a length of 0.15 nm, forming covalent bond. the 4 valence electrons of 1 atom are shared with 4 of the other carbon atom.

dia of each electron : 0.0000056 nm

roughly 200000 electrons can be fitted in that cube length.

to get an estimate of the distance in our units... our avg height is 1.5m and the next person is roughly at 400 kms away. practically, the space in between is empty.

take water in the glass. at the angstrom level, it is empty. so is gas. so is everything. 

there is vast emptiness.

so, here are some questions / answers / confusions

is hard hard ? is soft hard ? 

but, full is definitely empty. 

We, the people !

This city is very strange. literally.
Highly inhospitable. weather is always at its worst.
This city experienced few rains in last couple of weeks. It rained cats and dogs for 15 min and the traffic ground to a halt.
water water everywhere.
the highly acclaimed OMR (six lanes and has a toll booth) has knee deep water. 15 min of rain and this is the status.
यहाँ रोड में खड्डे नहीं है। खड्डे में रोड है .
the ECR is no better either. it has no footpath. one has to walk in flooded portions else he could be mowed down by a speeding bus / water tanker.
and, interestingly, no one complains.
people here are, donno what to say!
the roads are dug to accommodate underground drains and these channels are above the ground level. when authorities get to know that it was wrongly designed and not serving purpose, they will, may be, shell out more money to repair and dig again. sustained employment, you see!
the city has quite a bit of roads with road divider in the middle. yet, half the traffic is in the wrong direction, because 'U' turn is far off.
The buses stop in the middle lane of OMR for the passengers to get off / get in.
The share autos take a turn just about anywhere. no rules.
there is no hotel which serves dal-chawal, chapati-dal at night.
This is going to be endless list of complaints of a person who is an immigrant in this city.

why cant people here complain to get there city back in order ?

this is the answer i get : if city is in order, there will be more immigrants and may be that cant be tolerated.

Shades of the Sea

what is hell ? has anybody seen it ? well, i have. In my humble opinion, feeling very sleepy at 2330 hrs, time of year being last week of may(peak summer) , place being chennai and above all, POWER CUT. all of this in combination is the perfect recipe of hell.

another recipe, long and tiring day at office, totally hungry, with plans of cooking upma of all dishes (simple to cook). everything is almost set and about to start the fire, POWER CUT.

with these two events, happening on 2 consecutive days, was totally out of mind. next, a walk to the beach.

5min there and am at peace and in 1 single piece. i saw a boat on the shore and my mind responded f4 and 20s  should do the job. walked back home, collected my gear and walking again with a happy heart, started clicking.

Also decided to start a new collection of photos. Title being Shades of the Sea. Will see how far it goes. Will see how many shades i will be able to see.