We spent the day (Sunday) with Vibhat Nair who blew in from Bombay on a weekend visit. Its always great fun. He's smart, stimulating, and cares about people. But he also makes a lot of fun of me. This time he claimed that I 'like to suffer' and that this blog is not interesting. Well, he has a big paunch and its not looking likely to reduce anytime soon. And he snores a fit to bring down the roof. So there !!
He lives in South Bombay and was not affected by the recent train bombings, instead apparently his home was used a refuge for the night by his mother and a bunch of her colleagues/friends who couldn't get home, and it ended up being quite a merry night for them.
I'm back from Timbaktu just for a day or so since Vibhat was here, and it was a Sunday, and I head back tomorrow again, Monday. I am working on their 2005-2006 annual report and its pretty late and I spent a lot of time in July doing other stuff, so I'm trying to push hard to get this done (or get what I committed to do for them, done).
At the end of this week, I'll go in to Juniper and sign the required papers and get the required signatures and then formally 'disengage' from juniper. Sobering but necessary. I haven't made much progress on my new laptop search.
12 comments:
To enliven the proceedings, here's a nice little puzzle (I define nice puzzles as simple questions with answers that are obvious only with the right way of looking at them.)
A group of 400 students stand 20 students in each row and 20 students in each column.
Person A goes ROW wise and mentally makes a note of the shortest person in each row. Then he picks the tallest of these people. Denote this persons height P_1.
Person B goes Column wise and mentally makes a note of the tallest person in each column. Then he picks the shortest of these people. Denote this persons height P_2.
What claims can be made about P_1 and P_2
( a ) P_1 >= P_2
( b ) P_1 <= P_2
( c ) P_1 = P_2
( d ) No relationship exists.
Arvind
this is very unfair to short people. this vertical fascism. i would like to restate this problem, more relevantly, as follows.
a group of 400 clever and fat investment bankers (90% Jewish) or intelligent and soft software experts (90% Indian) stand 20 cute piggies in a row and 20 cute piggies in a column.
Regional VP A goes ROW wise and mentally makes a note of the thinnest piggie in each row. VP A then picks the fattest of the thin pigs. Denote this piggies waistline, obese.
Regional VP B goes COLUMN wise and mentally makes a note of the fattest piggie in each column. Then he picks the thinnest of these piggies. Denote this piggies waistline super obese.
Is the answer to this (well-stated problem) correct??
What claims can be made about P_1 and P_2
( a ) P_1 >= P_2
( b ) P_1 <= P_2
( c ) P_1 = P_2
( d ) No relationship exists.
pals,
if not empirically superior, there is a lot of empirical relevance to what you stated earlier about recent goings on. but its so cold. the flash burn of hatred is welcome warmth compared to the coldness of your world. crimes of madness or surgical termination?
i am seriously losing it....
* Sorry for the side trip, but this is the easiest way now for me to get something through to sukesh.
* All pre-specified opinions on what is beautiful (warm/cold feelings) are neither relevant or necessary.
* All that which is true is beautiful. With that definition so much of life can be tolerated, appreciated, enjoyed and even to some extent controlled.
* If this is all we can be in our evolutionary course, this state with all its wars, greed and so on, it is beautiful in a way that is merely a point in the broader evolution of life. So, if it means that humanity ends in a cataclysmic war and in a glacial scheme of evolution there is yet another, perhaps more evolved creature, then that too would be beautiful.
Arvind
you are a nihilist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism
its just a name (but sometimes names are useful). so this is not an accusation. i think a true yogi or buddha would be somewhat this way. the buddhas aim for a certain indifference (which is also your brand indifference) and that is very inaccessible...at least to me and for now.
and i do not believe you are as much as this.
clarify that you can murder as indifferently as you can tolerate murder. i will take your word for it.
piggies A
5.9 5.5 5.0 5.0
6.1 5.6 4.9 4.9 P_1 = 5.0
6.2 4.8 5.1 4.8
B 6.2 5.6 5.1 So P_2 = 5.1
so (b) and (c) are false
it should be (a) but i am probably missing the point
sori....(a) and (c) are false.
it should be (b)
pals,
re "* All pre-specified opinions on what is beautiful (warm/cold feelings) are neither relevant or necessary."
not necessary true. but just because they are unnecessary does not mean they don't exist. like much (all?) of our lives (mine?).
if they exist they are relevant. and the indifference we have or aim for is ultimately indifference to these things.
if one does not feel this hot/cold then one indeed is a buddha and so no need to go any further.
pals,
u r not thinking important thing through. i am not thinking your puzzle through (i get thadaal distracted/sleepy/anxious etc when i try).
but atleast important things i am trying to thnk through.
I would very much like to get in touch with Vibhat. I know him from IIT KGP, and have lost touch for something like 15 years. Please ask him to send me an email at home.suresh@gmail.com
Suresh -- I forwarded your contact info to Vibhat. Hope he has gotten in touch with you. -- Vijay
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