Thursday, September 25, 2008

Project10tothe100

Google celebrating its 10th birthday has come out with an idea called Project10tothe100. The site is http://www.project10tothe100.com/index.html. It invites people to help others in the areas of Community, Energy, Education, Environment, Health, etc. What more, great rewards await the winners. The deadline is October 20th of this year.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Nobel for Indian ?

I just read in Rediff today that three Indian economists are in contention for Nobel prize in economics this year. They are J N Bhagwati, Avinash Dixit and
Partha Dasgupta. This is really heartening news. Let us wait with baited breath until October 13 when the winner will be officially announced. It will really be a shot in the arm for our country passing through inflationary crisis and boost our sagging morale.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Inadequacy

"Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” Gustave Flaubert wrote these lines in his magnum opus "Madame Bovary".

Not all feelings and thoughts can be captured perfectly in words. Beauty transcends words. We always feel it when we use phrases like we are running out of adjectives, etc.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Leadership

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

These are the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French author and aviator, on leadership. I like this quote very much. The saving need of the hour in our country is sagacious leadership. Every time bomb blasts rock a city, there are accusations all around. People blame politicians, politicians blame each other. There seems no end to the blame game. Media runs amok harping on intelligence failure, disgruntlement, etc. Home minister issues a statement that perpetrators will be punished. But we see nothing happening. How long we people are going to face the brunt of these senseless attacks ?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Yet Another Poem

I came across this poem recently and cannot resist putting it here. Dehumanizing aspect of war cannot be better illustrated I feel. The poem is by Randall Jarrell

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Arun Kolatkar

I am dazzled by Arun Kolatkar's poems. He evokes stunning visual imagery with his choice of words. His collection of poems "Jejuri" is a masterpiece. I am giving here one of his works.

A Low Temple

A low temple keeps its gods in the dark.
You lend a matchbox to the priest.
One by one the gods come to light.
Amused bronze. Smiling stone. Unsurprised.
For a moment the length of a matchstick
gesture after gesture revives and dies.
Stance after lost stance is found
and lost again.
Who was that, you ask.
The eight arm goddess, the priest replies.
A sceptic match coughs.
You can count.
But she has eighteen, you protest.
All the same she is still an eight arm goddess to the priest.
You come out in the sun and light a charminar.
Children play on the back of the twenty foot tortoise.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Yet Another Browser

Google has come out with a new browser Chrome to take on Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Let us see how it fares compared to well established Internet Explorer and popular Firefox of Mozilla.

Lord Ganesha



Salutations to Lord Ganesha on this auspicious day of Vinayaka Chaturthi.