शुभ दीपावली

शुभ दीपावली
आप सबको दीपावली की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं । रोशनी और खुशी के इस पावन पर्व पर ईश्वर आपकी सारी मनोकामनाएँ पूरी करे और घर में सुख सम्पन्नता बरसाए। खूब पटाखे चलाइये, मिठाईयाँ खाईये और खुशी मनाइये।
शुभ दीपावली ।
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Happy Diwali
Wish you a very happy Diwali, the festival of color and lights. I wish that all your dreams come true with the grace of God. Enjoy the festival with lights, crackers, sweets and spread happiness around.

Do not forget to decorate your desktop with this wallpaper I created from one of my own clicked very recent picture.

A Post About my Blog

अपने कॉलेज के लोगों से मिलकर हमेशा अच्छा लगता है। ज्यादा मजा आता है जब अचानक इंटरनेट पर मुलाकात हो जाये। ऐसे ही मेरे चिट्ठे पर आलोक जी पधारे जो मुझसे आठ साल पहले PEC से स्नातक हुए थे । इन्होंने न सिर्फ मेरे चिट्ठे पर टिप्पणी छोड़ी बल्कि अपने चिट्ठे पर एक प्रविष्टि भी करी। धन्यवाद आलोक साहब, बहुत अच्छे ।
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It always feel so good to meet the people who have graduated from our school or college, especially if this meeting is virtual through this blogosphere. Another fellow hindi blogger Alok visited my blog and not just left a comment here but also published a post on his blog linking to my blog. Thanx Alok.

Take Some Rest

आराम करो

आराम जिन्दगी की कुंजी, इससे न तपेदिक होती है।
आराम सुधा की एक बूंद, तन का दुबलापन खोती है।
आराम शब्द में राम छिपा जो भवबंधन को खोता है।
आराम शब्द का ग्याता तो विरला ही होता है।
इसलिए तुम्हें समझाता हूँ, मेरे अनुभव से काम करो।
ये जीवन, यौवन क्षणभंगुर, आराम करो, आराम करो।

- गोपालप्रसाद व्यास

अभी कुछ दिनों पहले यह कविता पढी, यूँ कहिए की दिल को छू गयी। अब अगर मुझ जैसे आरामपसंद इंसान को नंही तो भला किसे पसंद आयेगी। जब भी काम थोड़ा बढ जाता है तो यह कविता पढता हूँ और आराम से सो जाता हूँ। मेरी मानिये तो आप भी यही कीजिए।

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Recently, I read this hillarious poem written by "Gopalprasad Vyas". It is really very funny and everytime I read it, I am laughing out loud. It talks about the importance of "taking rest" in life and how useful it is for us. Well, it will loose all its fun and satire, if I try to translate it into english, but if you can read hindi, you should click on the image to read the whole poem.

More in Hindi

एक और प्रयास
हिंदी में लिखने के मेरे विचार को काफी सराहा गया है और इससे मेरा उत्साह भी बढा है। हालंकि साथ ही इस बात का एहसास भी हो रहा है कि हिंदी में लिखना इतना आसान नंही है। बात सिर्फ लिखने तक ही सीमित नंही है,वह तो मैं कुछ ही दिनों में इस कुंजीपटल का अभ्यस्त हो जाऊँगा । बात विचारों की है। अब आप कहेंगे कि मेरी सुई फिर वंही आकर अटक गई, लेकिन क्या करूँ, समस्या भी तो बड़ी है। अव्वल तो विचार ही अंग्रेजी में आते हैं, फिर अनुवाद करते समय कमबख्त अपने शब्दकोष में कमी पड़ जाती है। हद तो तब होती है जब अंग्रेजी का वर्ड दिमाग में होता है और हिंदी का शब्द गले तक आते आते फिर नीचे चला जाता है। फिर अक्षरग्राम, अक्षरमाला तथा अन्य चिट्ठों पर ठोड़ी सी विहंगम दृष्टि डालनी पड़ती है और काम बन जाता है। लगता है अब नियमित रूप से हिंदी लिखने पढने का काम शुरू करना पड़ेगा, तभी कुछ बात बनेगी और थोड़ा आत्मविश्वास भी आयेगा। आप लोग मेरी प्रविष्टियाँ पढते रहिए और बेफिक्र होकर टिप्पणी करते रहिए, चाहे अपनी राय प्रकट कीजिए, चाहे मेरी बात का समर्थन कीजिए या आलोचना कीजिए, पर टिप्पणी जरूर कीजिए। मुझे प्रसन्नता होती है ।
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My friends have appreciated my decision to start writing in hindi and I too liked it. But the problem is still the same. Its not about typing hindi using the standard english keyboard. To some extent, this has been taken care of by the UTC, Universal Text Coding, which makes it easy to type as compared to earlier. So with some practice, I will certainly be fluent in that. But the problem is thought process. Studying english over the period of time (since Kinder Garden) and then with english as the medium of study in graduate and advanced degrees, I feel that my thought process is now dominated by english. I am not opposed to that, but this is making writing in hindi a bit difficult. First, I have to translate my thoughts and views and then usually I fell short of the hindi vocabulary. After a bit effort and going over through other hindi sites, however, I can come over this obstacle. But now I need to start reading and writing in hindi regularly. You please keep reading and posting your comments, whatever you feel like. Blogger or myself do not charge for posting comments..we are generous. So, keep reading and posting. I like it.

Reconnect with Mother Tongue

मेरा मात्रभाषा प्रेम
काफी समय से मैं हिंदी के चिट्ठे पढ रहा हूं ऐवम् अपनी मात्रभाषा को चिट्ठों की दुनिया में सजीव देखकर मुझे बहुत प्रसन्नता होती है । कभी‍‍‍‍‍‌‍कभी ऐसा महसूस होता है जैसे मानो की इंगलिश ने मुझे हर दिशा से कसके जकड़ रखा है । कहा जाता है कि समय के साथ मस्तिष्क का विकास होता है, सोचने‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‌-समझने की शक्ति बढती है, विचार बढते हैं, लेकिन यहाँ तो कमबख्त, विचारों की भाषा ही बदल गयी । मैंने सोचा की इससे पहले की स्थिति काबू से बाहर हो जाये, जरा स्वयं को हरकत मे लाया जाये और अपनी मात्रभाषा से फिर से सम्बन्ध जोड़ा जाये । बस फिर क्या था, शुरू हुई एक जद्दोजहद, हिंदी की लिपि और अंतर्जाल पर उसकी उपलब्धि पर एक छोटा सा अनुसंधान, अन्य चिट्ठाकारों से सलाह मशविरा और अंतः अपनी एक कोशिश, जो आपके सामने है । मिर्ची सेठ ने बताया, तो पता चला की गूगल का ये ब्लॉगर हिंदी को सपोर्ट करता है ऐवम् प्रयोग करने में भी आसान है । लेकिन समस्या यह हुई की एक ही चिट्ठे में दो भाषाओं का समागम हो नहीं सकता और मेरे कंधो पर पहले से ही दो चिट्ठों का भार है और कंधे भी मेरे दो ही हैं, भई आखिर हम भी इसी पृथ्वी के हैं, मंगल से थोड़े ही टपके हैं । इस समस्या का समाधान भी थोड़ा सोच विचार के खोज ही लिया, कर दिया पूरब और पश्चिम का मिलाप और प्रस्तुत कर दी आपके समक्ष अपनी पहली प्रविष्टि।
हिंदी में चिट्ठे बनाने के संदर्भ में और जानकारी के लिये पढ़ें अक्षरग्राम ।

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This is an effort to reconnect myself with my mother tongue. I have been reading the hindi blogs for quite a while and felt good that people are working to make my language internet-compatible. I have felt that slowly slowly english, aptly tagged as father-tongue of India, has covered my thought process. In spring this year, I met a student working on a linguistics project and needed help with the script and pronunciation of Hindi. To my surprise, I had to do some effort to write grammatically accurate hindi. This is a bad sign. Then I started reading hindi websites, news and eventually blogs. And today, I started posting in hindi......I am happy.

For offline hindi typing, I am using Takhti, a very convenient and easy-to-use application. For more help in hindi blogging, check Akshargram.

Blog in Space

Sometime ago, I registered for a strange kind of service (obviously free) which claimed to relay your blogs into space in its transmissions. I completely forgot about it till yesterday, when I got an email from them claiming that my blog was transmitted into space using their satelite broadcasting equipment. They also gave me this certificate (soft copy obviously) which I found really cool to be posted it. After all its my blog's first certificate. It looks pretty realistic with the technical jargon...and I surely will let you know, in case, ETs contact me.

Education is Life itself ????

Yesterday, I added the links on my blog about the schools I have been to. While going over my undergrad school's (Punjab Engineering College) website, I saw this picture showing the my college's philosophy. It says:

Education is a social process...

Education is growth...

Education is not only preparation for life,

Education is Life Itself.

I went down the memory lane, about 7 years ago on August 18,1998, my first day in college after I got admission there. I was sitting on the stairs in front of the entrance of the auditorium, exactly in front of this sign. At that time, I found it really kool, fandoo, awesome, impressive etc. I am sure now that I dint understood the real meaning, the real depth in this statement. But now I do understand the importance of education. Education doesnt mean just the degree or diploma you get....it means how much you have learnt. Each phrase of this statement is so meaningful (if you think about it). The four memorable years, I spent in PEC, I dint just learned from the books or classes, but I learned through the life there. Seven years ago, I found this phrase really kool, fandoo, awesome and impressive, but today, I find it inspiring, meaningful and sensible...................... because, now I am educated !!!

A Trip to Mountains

For quite sometime, I was getting the feel that I am not using my dear camera, Olympus C-765UZ anymore. This is very much unlike me. I can't live without my camera. So, motivated by my desire to take some good pictures and driven by my passion for photography, yesterday evening, I ventured outside to capture the fall colors. But it seems that Mother Nature had something else in her mind. The trees outside were not blooming with the beautiful natural fall color combinations. They are waiting ..and so are we. I will go on a trip again next weekend and see my luck.
But still, I managed to get some good snapshots of the natural scenery. Initially, the results were not good, but after a little adjustment with white balance, I was able to get some excellent shots. Check out some of the imags below.

Discrimination by Mother Nature

This picture depicts that Mother Nature is sometimes discriminatory. Thats the only reason I could guess for only one tree to be colorful while rest all are still green and waiting ..!!!

View Behind Winery

A view behind a winery with its pond. The trees at the back have started the transformation of changing colors....so desolate...so lonely..!!!

Beautiful Red House

Snaphot of a beautiful red house and its silo with mountains and looming clouds in the background..!! This picture was taken from the car running at 45-50 mph (thats true).........!!!

Mayor of Bellefonte

A beautiful edifice "Mayor of Bellefonte" located in a beautiful victorian small town in Pennsylvania known as Bellefonte (Estd.1785).

The Untouchables

My liking for mafia/mob movies continues with another post. This time it is "The Untouchables" starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, De Niro and Andy Garcia. Based on a fictional story in the prohibition era Chicago in 1920s, this movie has two real characters Al Capone and Elliot Ness, and rest all is a good work of fiction. Sean Connery got an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The soundtrack is really awesome and was nominated for several awards at that time. Unlike Goodfellas, this is the story about the passion and determination of a Treasury Agent to bring down the kingdom of gangster Al Capone. Some quotes I liked, are:

1. You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone!

2. Never stop, never stop fighting till the fight is done.

3. If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't get it from the barrel, get it off the tree.

War Against Bloggers

A serious incident has recently grabbed international attention amongst bloggers. A private MBA institue in India has started harrassing eminent and well known Indian bloggers, Rashmi Bansal and Gaurav Sabnis for their posts. Rashmi Bansal has done a serious attempt to expose the false claims made by this institute in her monthly youth magazine JAM. Gaurav Sabnis has posted to bring out the fine prints in the tall claims made by this institute. I wont even write the name of this institute or post any of its link. They have served legal notices to these two people and Varna alleging that these guys are defaming their prestigious institute (another false claim). Within a few days, lots of fake blogs have come up with only one post against Rashmi and Gaurav. Gaurav Sabnis has resigned from his job. For a detailed and regularly updated post on this war between a rogue institute using its money and influence and eminent bloggers using their faith in freedom of speech, please go to DesiPundit and support the bloggers.

Corrosion of a Mind

Sometimes life brings one to a certain point where the person feels standstill, simply standstill, no motion, no activity. It feels good initially because he can relax; he can chill out and regain his passion and zeal. But when this period stretches beyond the expected limit, it creates some different kind of emotions like uncertainty, insecurity, ambiguity and even despair. After awhile, it gives the feeling of being corroded. Corrosion is the process of gradual decay and deterioration when anything is left on its own subjected to the natural reactants (common example is rusting of iron). The most dangerous trait of this corrosion process is that it is irreversible. Whatever has been corroded cannot be converted back to its original form. On a closer perspective, it can be seen that even human beings are also susceptible to this dangerous phenomenon. However, in humans the loss is not in terms of physical matter, but rather of intellectual matter. As long as our life is in our control, our intellectual matter keeps on developing and evolving. But when our life gets dependent on some external parameters and comes to a standstill, we start experiencing corrosion, the degradation. This is dangerous, extremely dangerous. In order to grow ahead in life, we need to evolve continuously …without any standstill….!!!

Dancing Robots

Check out this amazing traditional Japanese dance by four robots made by a Japanese company. The dance moves are very aesthetically put together to show their movements in different directions i.e. axis and degrees of freedoms (sometimes it is easy to explain in technical terms). You can observe that robots are not doing any special movements which human cannot do. The engineers have taken utmost care to make them as closest to humans as possible. These robots will also balance on one leg and shuffle weights on their legs during their moves.

I tried to take some snapshots from the online video, but was not able to do so :(. Thanx to a close friend for sending this link.

Goodfellas

The title of this post alongwith the picture is self-explanatory. Goodfellas is based on the true story of mob people Jimmy Conway and Henry Hill. Its based on the true events in 1960s and 1970s inlcuding the famous Lufthansa Heist. Some more interesting information about goodfellas and wiseguys (the terms used for mob people) can be found here. I liked the three main characters, Henry Hill, Jimmy Conway and offcourse Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci got Oscar for this role). Some good quotes of this movie, which I liked in particluar are:

1. At the age of twelve, my ambition was to become a gangster. To be a wiseguy was better than being President of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world.

2. One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.

3. If you're part of a crew, nobody ever tells you that they're going to kill you, doesn't happen that way. There weren't any arguments or curses like in the movies. See, your murders come with smiles, they come as your friends, the people who've cared for you all of your life. And they always seem to come at a time that you're at your weakest and most in need of their help.

4. For a second I thought I was dead. But, when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they'd been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead.

It is a must-watch movie and the more you see it, more you will like it. I am gonna buy its DVD and a poster too.

EPIC 2014

Recently I came across a video showing EPIC 2014. It is the future history of the media and will definitely leave you agape once you see where this flow of information will take you, us and this civilization one day. It is an 8 minute video and will open and play itself in a separate window. Click on either of the following links and click on that page to view the video:

EPIC 2014 Link 1

EPIC 2014 Link 2

I will wait for your comments..!!!