The Laptop Lament

Today is Vishwakarma Puja - the day to worship our tools and weapons. This festival is marked by worshipping the God of Architecture and Engineering, Vishwakarma, by industrial houses, artists, craftsmen, weavers etc. According to mythology, Vishwakarma, the son of Brahma is the one he who created the entire universe as well as the heaven and the earth. Vishwakarma is also credited for creating the missiles used in the mythological era, including the Vajra, the sacred weapon of Lord Indra, from the bones of sage Dadhichi. He is regarded as the architect of ancient cities like Hastinapur, Indraprastha, Dwarka and Sone Ki Lanka.

Being a Computer Engineer, my greatest tool is my computer since all my work revolves around it. My whole world comes to a dead halt when my laptop stops functioning properly. So, I have decided to worship it on this pious occasion by lighting an incense stick nearby (but carefully so that I don’t end up burning its parts J ), putting some petals over it and invoking prayers, all for its long life.

My laptop has troubled me from time immemorial. The most irksome fact is that it used to work fine and fantastic the whole semester but give up at the last moment during the practicals, when I needed it most. As a result I was often forced to borrow my friend’s laptop or their parts during exams. Sometimes it was the OS crashing, the adapter not working, keyboard malfunction or the erratic behavior of touchpad; I have experienced it all!

Despite its unreliability at decisive moments, my affection and devotion for it has never ever diminished, not even a little bit. I still love it from the core of heart and can’t spend a single day in peace without it.

Presently, my laptop has been diagnosed with a very serious disorder. The power jack of my laptop is damaged, perhaps one of the pins holding it onto the motherboard has dislodged from its place, causing to break the solder around it. The sad thing is that it cannot be repaired as a repair would mean replacement of its motherboard which would cost me around 13000 bucks, a little less than the price of a new desktop PC. I have just two options to bank upon, option one, go to a metro city like Delhi or Mumbai, and get the power jack soldered properly in its place (which is not an easy task either) or, two, keep using it as it is and be a witness to the scene when it takes its last breath! (The problem can cause further damage to the laptop.)

As of now, I don’t know what course of action I am going to take, but I really hope and pray that my beloved laptop gets well soon. God bless my lappy. Amen!

Love you dear Dubba J

Reservations and its Repercussions

Today the UP government took one additional step towards deepening the trench between classes. It has strictly ordered UPTU to waiver their entire tuition fees as well. Why do all SC’s ST’s and OBC’s need a fee waiver now? Don’t they get their admission forms at half the price of what a general category student gets? Shouldn’t these provisions only be for children of financially backward families regardless of the caste they belong to?

The government is fostering communalism rather than eradicating it by supporting quota system. Students from general quota have started despising those who are getting undue advantage of this reservation system. People have started to suspect the capabilities of SC’s, ST’s and OBC’s. Whenever such a student makes it to any top educational institution, we tend to say - ‘Oh him… he hails from a backward class, he is there only because of reservation.’

Why most of the Indian population is still economically downtrodden? Why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer? Why we are technologically incompetent when compared to other countries? It’s because our government is invariably failing to identify who deserves to get a benefit out of the quota system and who does not. And the result - people lacking the requisite caliber are occupying offices, while those having it are roving on the roads.

I agree that the socially unprivileged classes have faced decades of oppression and their poor plight needs to be given a thought. But what about those who are already occupying high posts in government and private offices and are simply carefree about their children’s future; thanks to the Indian quota laws! Why doesn’t the government simplify things by making reservations completely income based?

Fortunately, 63 years old Independent India has been witnessing an absolute change in the mentality of its citizens towards the socially unprivileged classes. Today if you ask someone what caste he belongs to, you would be looked down upon by many eyes. Those who differentiate people on the basis of their castes are considered backward and impolite these days. So if the Government really wants to lend a helping hand to these unprivileged or should I say privileged classes, give them benefits at the elementary level. Make their education free up to class 12. But after that, let only the brightest shine!

If Government continues with its present reservation policies, soon there would be many undeserving Mayawatis holding key positions in the country and doing nothing but blowing their own trumpets shamelessly by erecting their own statues here and there!

Clarification: Posted above are the personal views of the author. No offence intended to any community.

Kalpavriksha in Kashi

Did you know that kalpavriksha exists in real? Yes, this morning I was bewildered after reading a newspaper report which said that there is a Kalpvriksha in Kashi and that too just a few steps from the doorstep of my house. People have already started thronging the Varanasi Cantonment area with hope of getting their wishes fulfilled. For those who are still unable to associate with this name – Kalpvriksha/Kalptaru/Devvriksh(wish fulfilling divine tree) is a mythological tree which finds its mention in our holy scriptures. Popular belief says that if you sit under the tree and desire for something, your wishes get granted. Hindu folklore has it that along with the Kamadhenu, or 'wish-giving cow', the Kalpavriksha originated during the Samudra Manthan or "churning of the milk ocean", and the King of the gods, Indra returned with it to his paradise. Symbolically, the Kalpavriksha is the symbol of one's identity and its potential. The roots are the deeper spiritual dimensions and the trunk one's constitution. The branches, leaves and fruits represent our constitution, abilities and skills, actions and achievement. Until today I used to believe that this is a fictional tree which might be present on this earth thousands of years ago but it’s not existent on this planet anymore. But the Dainik Jaagran report corrected me.

I had happened to pass by this tree many a time but had never imagined that it would come under the spotlight someday. The tree is peculiar enough to catch one’s attention on the first glance itself. I remember discussing about its peculiarity with my mom when we first saw it during an evening walk. The swollen trunk of the tree gave us the perception that it was not just one tree but two or three such trees are entwined together. The trunk is so thick that a motorcycle or even a car can pass through a hollow made through it. The body of the tree has a silvery sheen and is huge. Leaves resemble that of a bel tree. The tree looks very ancient. Kalpavrikshas are believed to have a life of more than 2500 years. There are only about 7-8 Kalpavrikshas known in the country till date. This one is the latest discovered by a team of forest department officers in Varanasi.

After reading the news I couldn’t stop myself exploring the internet to get the details of this mystic botanical species.

KALPAVRIKSHA

Scientific name: Adansonia digitata, Family: Bombacaceae

Common Names: (English) baobab, cream-of-tartar tree, guinea tamarind, lemonade tree, monkey bread tree, sour gourd, upside-down tree; (Hindi) gorak ali, gorak amla, gorak lichora, gorakh-cinch, gorakh-imli, kalpa-vriksha, khura-sani-imli

Physical Characteristics: The tree is characteristic of thorn woodlands of the African savannahs. A digitata is resistant to fire, termite and drought, and prefers a high watertable. Adansonia digitata is a large, round canopied tree with a swollen trunk, about 10-25 m in height, often with a bole of 3-10 m; bark is soft, smooth, fibrous, reddish-brown, greyish-brown or purplish-grey. Leaves are dark green, with short, soft hairs. Fruit has a hard, woody shell, covered with yellowish-grey velvety hairs. Flowers are waxy white with white, silky hairs inside, large, crinkly, spreading petals and bear an unpleasant scent. Digitata means hand shaped, referring to the shape of the leaf. The flowers are mostly pollinated by bats, which probably get attracted to its strong carrion smell. Natural regeneration occurs when the fruits fall off the tree and crack. Ants enter the fruit and feed on the pulp. In this way, soil is introduced into the fruit and it becomes moist with the onset of the rains, thereby allowing germination to take place.

Uses: Food: An edible white, powdery pulp found in the fruit is very rich in vitamin C and B2 and makes a refreshing drink. Young leaves are also rich in Vitamin C, contain uronic acids, and are high in demand in West Africa as a soup vegetable and a condiment. The small stem and roots of the seedlings are eaten as vegetable. Having high water content, the wood is chewed by humans and animals in case of extreme water scarcity. The wood can be used as a salt substitute. The acid pith is used as a substitute for cream of tartar in baking, to curdle milk and smoke fish. It is also roasted and used as a coffee substitute. The seeds contain appreciable quantities of tartaric acid and potassium bitar; they are refreshing to suck, and when soaked in water make a palatable drink.

Fodder: Young leaves, fruit, pods and seeds provide fodder for game and domestic animals. During drought, donkeys and game animals chew both the bark and fibrous wood for sap.

Apiculture: The tree is a source of fine quality honey. Wild bees manage to perforate the soft wood and lodge their honey in the holes. In many parts of Africa, the hollow trunks are used for beekeeping.

Fuel: The long-fibred wood is suitable for firewood. The shell and seeds are also used for fuel.

Fibre: The fibre from the bark used to make excellent cordage, ropes, harness straps, mats, snares and fishing lines, fibre cloth; musical instrument strings tethers, bed-springs and bow strings. Strong, tough and tear-resistant paper is produced from the fibre.

Timber: The wood is whitish, spongy and light. It is used for making canoes, rafts, insulating boards, wooden platters and trays, boxes and floats for fishing nets.

Gum or resin: Glue can be made by mixing flower pollen with water.

Tannin or dyestuff: The wood contains some tannins, and the acid pith is used to coagulate rubber. In East Africa, the roots produce a useful red dye.

Lipids: A non-drying, golden yellow oil of agreeable taste, which may be obtained by distilling the seeds, A.digitata seeds are also used as a substitute for cooking oil.

Alcohol: The Wasandawe of Tanzania uses the liquid from the pulp for brewing beer.

Poison: The bark is boiled for days to extract a substance poisonous to ants. Fruit pulp burns with an acrid, irritating smoke that can be used to deter insects troublesome to livestock.

Medicine: Hyposensitive and antihistamine properties are present in the leaves, which are used to treat kidney and bladder diseases, asthma, general fatigue, diarrhoea, insect bites, and guinea worm. Leaf and flower infusions are valued for respiratory problems, digestive disorders and eye inflammation. The seed paste is used for curing tooth and gum diseases. Gum from the bark is used for cleansing sores, as an expectorant and a diaphoretic. The bark is used in steam baths for calming shivering and high fever. A decoction of the roots is taken as a remedy for lassitude impotence and kwashiorkor. The bark is boiled and taken as a cure for body pains. This infusion is also used to treat colds, fever and influenza. Seeds are used to cure gastric, kidney and joint diseases; they are roasted then ground and the powder smeared on the affected part or drunk in water.

Other products: Ash from the shell, bark and seed, rich in potash, is widely used in making soap, prepared by boiling the bark and fruit ash in oil. The shell can be used as a dish, water dipper, vessel for liquids, snuffbox, fishing float; it also makes an excellent rat trap. The powdered husk may be smoked as a tobacco substitute or added to snuff to increase pungency. The pulp extract can be used as a hair wash.

Soil improver: Decaying wood of a tree that has died of old age or from lightning is spread on fields as a fertilizer. Ashes from the shell bark and seed are rich in potash and are useful as a fertilizer.

Ornamental: A. digitata is a popular species for bonsai specimens.

Other services: In dry regions, A. digitata plays a vital role in water storage; a hollowed trunk may hold 400 gallons, water stored in them is said to remain sweet for several years if the hollow is kept well closed. In East Africa the trunks are hollowed out to provide shelter and storage, and in West Africa the hollowed trunks are sometimes used as tombs.

With the plethora of uses cited above, the tree truly deserves to be called kalpvriksha because of its ability to amply provide for human needs. So next time, when you plan to visit Kashi, don’t forget to add this tree to your must-see list.

//Muley Brahma twachaa Vishnu shikhayaam Mahadev, patre patre devaaye Kalpavriksha namostutey//

Source : World AgroForestry Centre’s Tree Database, Wikipedia

Wasn't Orkut Enough?

I joined Orkut in 2006, two years after it registered its presence in the internet fraternity. One could join this social networking site only through an invite at that time. I myself had asked one of my ‘member’ friends to send me an invite, so that I too, could become a proud member of this vigorously burgeoning family. I still remember the kind of sentiments that this nascent site had invoked in me. I didn’t have a net access in my room that time and so I spent hours sitting in my internet lab either searching for long lost buddies or sprucing up my social profile. I didn’t even mind waiting in never ending queues in front of the locked doors of the room to be the first one to grab a seat. Believe it or not, personal thank you messages were sent to all visitors who used to land up in my profile either by chance or by choice. Rejecting friend requests was out of question; be it from a stranger or a mere acquaintance. Celebrations followed when the number of friends hit the hundredth mark. Number of scraps was the newest exhibitive among friend circles. Fan count became the status quo. Joining coolest communities became a rage.

Facebook saw me as its user a year later, at the end of 2007. I did not join it on will; circumstances pushed me to do so. The incessant e-mail requests and reminders by friends pressed me to check out this latest fad. Though it was creating ripples in the virtual societies, it failed to inspire a thrill in me. Instead I was very unhappy to see new competitor sites coming up. I used to get anxious and annoyed when people talked about joining Facebook, Minglebox, Mypace or LinkedIn. Perhaps I was well aware of the future consequences of this latest trend. I didn’t want my contacts which I found after so many years with so much difficulty, to get drifted away to some other site so easily. After all, it meant my own migration as well because a network would be nothing without friends that constitute it. Keeping pace with one social network was in itself a big commitment with respect to time; I was not at all in favor of giving another chunk of my precious time to a site which served exactly the same purpose. I reluctantly joined in, but pledged to keep my loyalty with the elder brother. The extent of my despondency is very much clear from fact that its 2009, and I haven’t even filled up my profile information yet. I am there just because my friends are there.

I know for sure that majority of those reading this post would say that they prefer Facebook over Orkut. Facebook has become choice of the sophisticated whereas Orkut remains the love of tenderfoot. Those giving a preference to Orkut are looked upon as technologically backward. One of the possible reasons could be the false pride that Indians get by following American and European culture. Facebook is highly popular there, in contrast with Orkut which has a fan following majorly in Brazil and India only.

Recently I have been spending a lot of time on Facebook trying to uncover the basis of my mental bias against it. Some of points that I came across are as follows:

1. First impression is the last impression. The mundane white and blue background with painfully small fonts, make the user interface unappealing.
2. The whole space looks cluttered with all of the quiz and game results, comments, advertisements and updates thrown unkemptly at the same place.
3. Quizzes and games, albeit addictive, seems to me a total waste of time. They keep you unnecessarily logged in without serving any fruitful purpose. If am fond of gaming, I would rather play nicer and challenging ones elsewhere rather than satiating myself with the limited ones provided by Facebook!
4. There is a restriction on the amount of information that you can view about a stranger. This feature, in a way, hampers the basic purpose of a social networking sites as it becomes difficult to ensure whether a person is familiar to you or not. And social networks are also for making new contacts; how will one decide whether a particular person is worthy of making a friend unless he/she knows a little bit about him/her.
5. Navigating around in Facebook is a pain in the neck.
6. Too much of updates from friends, becomes irritating.
7. The additional features that many Facebook supporters argue about are nothing but time wasting tactics. A networking site is just meant for catching up with old friends and not getting trapped in the virtual arena all day long.
8. Orkut communities score far over Facebook groups because of features like discussion forum and polls.
9. Privacy control, which was earlier an issue, has now been incorporated in Orkut. You can sensibly choose for yourself what to conceal and what to reveal.
10. Some may put forward this agreement that Orkut is copying Facebook nowadays, I say, even Facebook is not lagging behind. After all who came up first with the innovative idea called “Social Network”
11. I am a strong believer in the ‘KISS principle’, Keep it short and simple. Orkut fits better to this definition.
12. And last but not the least, Google has established a brand value among its users in the recent years and I just love Google products.

Although choosing one out of the two is matter of choice and personal taste, your pick certainly affects your friends’ preference and so on. Now whenever I come online, I need to open both the sites to stay in touch with the latest, which is not something I approve of. So guys, what do you say –“Wasn’t Orkut enough? “

Wordly Wise

You must have asked yourself or your parents at some point of time or the other what your name means or signifies. But have you ever wondered at the meaning of your car’s or bike’s name?

Today as I was browsing through my dictionary, I stumbled over a word which was so much familiar that it never occurred to me to look up for its meaning until I read it somewhere as a part of a sentence. And then I went blank! So here, I present to you, a compiled list of such words with their literal meaning which you might miss otherwise, owing to their very familiarity.

(Names of some popular four wheelers)

ACCORD - (v.) give, bestow; be in agreement, agree; match, fit; complement; (n.) agreement; settlement; harmony; (Music) three or more different notes that play at the same time

ALTO – (n.) a singing voice with a lower range than a Soprano, a person with an alto voice

AZURE - (n.) sky-blue color

BOLERO - (n.) Spanish dance; sweater, short coat

CAYENNE - (n.) capital city of French Guiana; (n.) type of plant that produce hot peppers; fruit of the cayenne plant; hot red spice made from the dried ground pods and seeds of hot peppers

COROLLA – (n.) petals of a flower

FIAT – (v.) do, let it be done (Latin); (n.) decree, command

FIESTA -holiday, festive celebration; celebration of a religious holiday (in Spain and Latin America)

FORD – (v.) cross a river; (n.) shallow place where a river can be crossed

GYPSY - (n.) member of a nomadic people originally from India; (adj.) of or pertaining to the Gypsy people; of or pertaining to the language of the Gypsy people; (n.) Romany, language of the Gypsy people

HONDA - (n.) knot at the end of a rope through which a loop can be pulled

IKON - (n.) figure, image; statue; idol, sacred image; image of holy person; holy statue of Jesus Christ or Virgin Mary

INDICA – (n.) class of cannabis(hemp plant) found in hot climate

LANCER – (n.) soldier on horseback armed with a lance(steel-tipped wooden spear)

MARINA - (n.) small harbor with docks and services for pleasure boats

MONTERO – (n.) hunter, huntsman, one who hunts; round Spanish cap with earflaps worn by hunters

NANO – (pref.) one billionth, extremely small

OMNI - (pref.) all; everything (Latin origin)

ROVER – (n.) wanderer, roamer, one who meanders; machine that stretches and twists fibers to prepare them for spinning; operator of a roving machine

SAFARI – (n.) expedition for hunting or exploration; people participating in a hunting or exploratory expedition; equipment needed for a hunting or exploratory expedition; long journey, adventure

SONATA – (n.) musical composition of three to four movements for one or two instruments

SUMO - (n.) form of Japanese wrestling in which a contestant loses if forced from the ring or if any part of his body except the soles of his feet touches the ground

ZEN – (n.) a Japanese form of Buddhism

(Names of some popular two-wheelers)

ALBA (Yamaha) - n. troubadour love song or poem

APACHE (TVS) - n. criminal, ruffian; n. member of the Apache tribe (American Indian tribe); name of an American military helicopter;

AQUILA (Kinetic) - n. constellation in the northern hemisphere lying across Milky Way portrayed by the figure of an eagle (Astronomy); eagle, genus of eagles (Ornithology); town in Italy; town in Mexico

AVENGER (Bajaj) - n. person who seeks revenge

CHARISMA (Hero Honda) - n. persuasive charm or attractiveness; person's flair; magnetism, leadership ability; (Christianity) given talent in a heavenly manner

CRUX (Yamaha) - n. heart of the matter, main point

GLADIATOR (Yamaha) - n. armed man who fought people or animals in public shows (in ancient Rome); one who participates in a public fight or controversy; boxer, wrestler

KINE (Kinetic) - n. tamed bovine animals as a group not taking into account sex or age; cattle or cows

LIBERO (Yamaha) - n. (Soccer) sweeper (defender who plays closest to his own goal behind the rest of the defenders)

MACHISMO (Bullet) - n. assertive masculinity which is often characterized by aggressiveness and dominance over women, male chauvinism, quality of being macho

NINJA (Kawasaki) - n. feudal mercenary agent trained in martial arts and employed for undercover operations such as assassination and sabotage (Japanese)

NOVA (Kinetic) - n. star which suddenly becomes very bright and then returns to its previous brightness over a period of time (Astronomy)

PULSAR (Bajaj) - n. (Astronomy) celestial body which radiates electromagnetic pulses at regular intervals (believed to be a rapidly spinning neutron star)

SPLENDOR (Hero Honda) - n. magnificence, grandeur; brilliance, brightness, radiance

UNICORN (Honda) - n. mythical horse-like creature with one spiraling horn growing from its forehead

ZEUS (Suzuki) - n. Olympian king of all gods and father of the human race (Greek mythology)

ZING (Kinetic) - v. move quickly; make a sharp whistling sound; n. energy, excitement; something lively; sharp whistling sound

In fact there are a lot of other words with positive and beautiful connotation used as brand names and product names which go unrecognized by us. To list a few more:

(From the computer world)

VISTA – n. prospect; (from Italian) view, sight, panorama; comprehensive mental view of a visualized future situation or event which will happen in the future

DELL – n. small valley, vale

FEDORA – n. type of hat

ADOBE – n. brick made from dried clay

UBUNTU – n. the idea that people are not only individuals but live in a community and must share and care for each other

…

So what are you waiting for, grab your dictionaries and let such rather unexplored words become a part of your vocabulary. And then flaunt your enviable vocab!

Courtesy: Babylon Pro English – English Dictionary