Multiverse Theory

"This new concept is, potentially, as drastic an enlargement of our cosmic perspective as the shift from pre-Copernican ideas to the realization that the Earth is orbiting a typical star on the edge of the Milky Way."                                 Sir Martin Rees, 1998,  current Astronomer Royal of Britain




  There are stars with enough mass to collapse on themselves, forming what have been theorized as black holes.  It is thought that within these black holes there is a point called "singularity" at which all physical laws may cease to exist.  At this point the curvature of space-time becomes infinitely large, and modern science can no longer predict what will happen.  Einstein's theory of relativity cannot determine what effect singularity will have on an object, forming an uncertainty in our universe.  It is from this uncertain state that many theories have arisen surrounding singularity.  It has been theorized that beyond singularity exist tunnels - shortcuts - to other ends of the universe.  These "wormholes" could be a solution to interstellar travel, which currently is limited by relativity.  However, many complications surround this possible theory.  Most notable is the fact that the gravitational force of a black hole would crush any possible interstellar spacecraft, which is something that will have to be worked out.  While this theory about singularity is questionable at best and will probably be left to science fiction, there is another theory about the center of a black hole that has been gaining more acceptance from respected physicists and astronomers, and describes a whole new view about our known universe.


        At the point of singularity it is agreed that it is impossible to predict physical behavior.  This could mean that beyond this point of singularity there may be an entirely new set of physical laws.  It is quite possible that after singularity, there may be an absence of such basic forces as gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces.  If this were to happen, or if just one of these forces did not exist or was changed, then technically it would not be a part of this universe.  Our universe is defined as the observable (if not explainable) aspects of the cosmos that involve the galaxies, stars, planets, and life that we know.  Should a basic component of our physical laws be changed, none of what we know would exist.  According to Before the Beginning, by Sir Martin Rees, "If nuclear forces were slightly weaker, no chemical elements other than hydrogen would be stable and there would be no nuclear energy to power stars.  But, if the nuclear forces were slightly stronger than they actually are relative to electric forces, two protons could stick together so readily that ordinary hydrogen would not exist, and stars would evolve quite differently."  (Rees 232)  This demonstrates the small chance that it took for things to actually turn out like they did, and implies that it may be difficult for things to ever duplicate themselves should this idea of a "Multiverse" be more than just a theory.


        The Multiverse theory for the universe has been a recently accepted theory that describes the continuous formation of universes through the collapse of giant stars and the formation of black holes.  With each of these black holes there is a new point of singularity and a new possible universe.  As Rees describes it, "Our universe may be just one element - one atom, as it were - in an infinite ensemble: a cosmic archipelago.  Each universe starts with its own big bang, acquires a distinctive imprint (and its individual physical laws) as it cools, and traces out its own cosmic cycle.  The big bang that triggered our entire universe is, in this grander perspective, an infinitesimal part of an elaborate structure that extends far beyond the range of any telescopes."  (Rees 3)  This puts our place in the Multiverse into a small spectrum.  While the size of the earth in relation to the sun is minuscule, the size of the sun, the solar system, the galaxy, and even the universe, could pale in comparison to this proposed Multiverse.  It would be a shift in thinking that may help explain our big bang theory and possibly give light to the idea of parallel universes.


        While the idea of a parallel universe may sound farfetched, a recent book from an Oxford physicist named David Deutsch entitled, "The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes - And Its Implications" describes the possibilities of tapping in on parallel universes.  He proposes that through a parallel universe one computer would be able to find an identical counterpart computer from the other universe, and collaborate with it to increase knowledge of the other universe.  This involves the collaboration of many theories that have yet to have much proof.  However, it is another arm of the Multiverse theory that has become more accepted in recent years that could possibly yield positive benefits for society.


        The Multiverse theory itself, regardless of parallel universes, has many implications.  Most notable is the unique, complex process from which our own universe was born, and how easily it could have been different.  It may imply that, out of the possibly thousands, millions, or billions of universes, ours was special enough to develop life, which, in itself is special.  Maybe life in another universe has a different meaning, but we know that our universe, at the very least is special in that it houses our kind of life.  If just one physical law were slightly different, then there would be nobody to appreciate the beauty that we can see on an everyday basis.  This brings up one ultimate question.  If every universe began from another universe, where did it all begin?  Recent physicists imply that there is no room for a creator under the current model of thinking.  However, with such a complex system of laws, principles, and forces that allowed life to exist, one must give to the possibility of a creator behind it all.

Sources:
http://www.changesurfer.com/eventhorizon/ngc917.html
http://users.imag.net/~edm192/
http://library.advanced.org/12713/index.shtml

Book Review: Michael Crichton : Timeline

Timeline is a science fiction novel by Michael Crichton that was published in November 1999. It tells the story of historians who travel to the Middle Ages to save a friend of theirs who already traveled back in time before them. The book follows in Crichton's long history of combining technical details and action in his books, addressing quantum physics and time travel.

The novel spawned Timeline Computer Entertainment, a computer game developer that created the Timeline PC game published by Eidos Interactive in 2000. A movie called Timeline based on the book was released in 2003.

Contents  [hide] 1 Plot summary 2 "Multiverse" Theory 3 Reception 4 Film adaptation 5 References 6 External links

[edit]Plot summary

The novel begins with a couple driving along a road in Arizona towards a near town when they are startled to see a man wandering in the middle of the road speaking deliriously and in need of medical attention. He is soon rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors notice veins, arteries and even bone joints misaligned in the man's body. During this same time in a region in France, Professor Edward Johnston heads a team of historians andarchaeologists studying a site in the Dordogne region of France where the medieval towns of Castelgard and La Roque stood. Suspicious of the detailed knowledge of the site shown by ITC (their funder), Johnston flies to ITC's headquarters in New Mexico to investigate. Soon the archaeologists begin to uncover modern objects in the ruins, recognizing among them, the lens of Johnston's eyeglasses. Researchers Chris Hughes, Kate Erickson, André Marek (a medieval enthusiast), and David Stern fly to ITC. Here they meet Robert Doniger, the founder of ITC. They learn that Johnston traveled back in time to the year 1357, to visit the site they were excavating, but has not returned as expected. Doniger insists that they travel back in order to retrieve Johnston. They are persuaded to do so and undergo the process of transferring their physical selves back to 1357. Accompanying them is a hardened marine and an experienced individual who works with ITC.

When they arrive in the past, the team is plagued by misfortune. They are attacked by a team of horsemen in pursuit of a boy suspected of being a thief, ultimately killing the ITC member and the marine. A grenade smuggled to the past by the marine is activated and sent to the present, destroying the transit pad and complicating the team's return. Kate and André see Johnston being taken away by the men of Lord Oliver of Castelgard. Separated from the others, Chris follows the boy and accidentally declares himself as a noble. The boy leads Chris to Castelgard and is revealed to be Lady Claire in disguise, trying to escape from Sir Guy's clutches. In the castle, Chris and André find themselves challenged to ajoust by Sir Guy and his second (Sir Charles de Gaune). Chris, thanks to André's instruction, survives the joust and André defeats both Sir Guy and his second. Sir Oliver orders the death of André and Chris for dishonouring Sir Guy. Kate helps them escape, but from then on they are pursued by the forces of Oliver, most notably Sir Guy and Sir Robert de Kere.

Lord Oliver believes that Johnston knows a secret passageway into the otherwise impenetrable castle of La Roque. Arnaut de Cervole is approaching Castelgard to lay siege and Oliver must know this secret to successfully defend the castle. Johnston helps Oliver, despite knowing that, historically, he loses the siege, but he never gains Oliver's trust. Chris, André, and Kate use Johnston's clues (which they had uncovered in 1999) to find the secret passageway themselves in order to save Johnston.

Chris and company learn that someone else from 1999 is also in the past with them and has been spying on their transmissions, always staying one step ahead in their pursuit of Lord Oliver. It is revealed that Rob Deckard, an ITC employee and former marine, who went insane from an accumulation of "transcription errors" (slight errors that occur during the process of traveling that, over time, can physically and mentally alter the traveler), went back to 1357 more than a year ago and never returned. Eventually Robert de Kere reveals his true identity as Deckard to the researchers and tells them that he has no intention of permitting their return to 1999.

Kate, Chris, and André are captured by Arnaut's men but are saved by Lady Claire and later escape. André enters La Roque as Johnston's assistant. As Arnaut prepares his siege, Oliver decides that Johnston is hiding information and takes him to a torture device to drown him. Meanwhile Chris and Kate find the secret passageway and enter La Roque. Kate kills Sir Guy and Arnaut's men begin to enter La Roque. Arnaut and André find Oliver about to drown Johnston, but save Johnston and leave Oliver to drown instead. De Kere goes after Chris to get the marker beacon that will allow the travelers to go home, but Chris manages to kill him.

ITC and Stern finally repair the landing area just in time for the travelers to return. André decides to remain in the past with Lady Claire. The group, including Kramer and Gordon, decide to send Doniger back into the past and leave him to die, as he was responsible for the mess. He presumably catches the Black Death. Back in the present, Chris and Kate are together and expecting a child. The researchers find André and Lady Claire's graves, and discover that André lived a good life after they left him behind.

[edit]"Multiverse" Theory

In Timeline, Crichton uses the plot device of the theory of many universes, or a "multiverse," to create the scientific basis by which time travel is possible. Crichton sets up the constraints of the multiverse theory in a very specific way that allows his characters to engage in time travel.

One of the main characteristics of Crichton's multiverse is that time moves at different speeds in the different universes of the multiverse. The implication of this is that while the year is 1999 in the main, "present" universe of the story, time has moved more quickly or more slowly in other universes, and the year may not be 1999 in those other universes. For example, in the universe that the main characters jump to in the novel, time has moved more slowly than the universe which they came from (where the year is 1999), so that the year in the jumped-to universe is only 1357.

Another of the main characteristics of Crichton's multiverse is that events in one universe have effects on the other universes, so that any given universe can never be isolated from the events of another universe. Thus, changes in the events in one universe will cause the other universes to experience the exact same changes - albeit, not at the "present" time in those other universes, but at the time of the original change in the originating universe. That is to say, if a change happens in the year 1357 in one universe, the corresponding change that happens in a universe that is presently at the year 1999 will also have occurred in the year 1357.

In essence, what all this means is that while characters do not technically engage in time travel in the traditional sense (e.g., they do not travel to another point in time within their same universe), in reality, if characters travel to a universe that exists in the past relative to their originating universe, any changes that they effect in that jumped-to universe will be reflected in their originating universe (as well as all other universes of the multiverse).

For example, when Professor Johnston traveled to the 1357 universe, he left a message along with his eye glasses in that universe, which were then discovered by his dig team. This occurred because the change he made in the 1357 universe became manifest in all the other universes of the multiverse.

Another theme of the novel is much the same as "Jurassic Park" as Doniger is attempting to sell trips to the past. However, Doniger is jarred when scans of the past show the truth of history: George Washington is seen at the Crossing of the Delaware to be huddled under a blanket, not standing firm. Also, watching the Gettysburg Address, Doniger is jarred that Abraham Lincoln's voice is a high pitched squeak. He demands they be changed for investors and when a technician protests that this is what happened, Doniger snaps that he's not selling the truth, he's "selling history."

[edit]Reception

Kirkus Reviews calls Crichton "blockbuster king", and Cahners Business Information says the book will "grab teen's attention from the very first page." ^[1] Entertainment Weekly callsTimeline "exhilarating entertainment." ^[2]

[edit]Film adaptation

The feature film adaptation was produced by Paramount Pictures, with a budget of $80 million, and was released on November 26, 2003. The adaptation was by Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi, and directed by Richard Donner. The movie stars Paul Walker as Chris Hughes, Gerard Butler as Marek, Billy Connolly as Professor Johnston and Frances O'Connor as Kate Erickson.

[edit]References

1. ^ "Reviews of Timeline on Google Books". Retrieved 2009-6-29.
2. ^ "Book Review of Timeline : Entertainment Weekly". Retrieved 2009-6-29.

[edit]External links

• Official Site

Views of the bandra worli sea link

Was driving by and usual this spectacle always awes me. Looks great.

Sent from my Nokia phone

My first time looking at a tiger

My first time look ing at a tiger was in the Hyder abad Zoo. I was there when i was in the 6th stan dard. I was strolling along the cage and was look ing for him. And then there he strolls him. He was imper vi ous to all the awe stares and the gasps of won der struck spec ta tors. Since then I have been faci nated by tigers

But the pro cras ti na tor has been at work and has not gone to ban dar garh or such a sanc tu ary where where i can see this mag ni fi cient beast in all his glory.

I take vic arous plea sure in the gal lary of meethil (http://www.junglebook.in ) where he has shot a lot of tigers (with a cam era thank god) and i have them on my desktop!

Sunset

Sunset view
Sent from my Nokia phone

Incest of the country

" The success of love is in the loving- it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done". Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa) was the most compassionate woman who walked the face of this earth. The so called “saint of the gutters” truly evoked true love when you saw her countenance.

How true is her word which is also very similar to the concept of Karma in Hindu mythology. The deed and action is your effort – the result may not necessarily be!

Heres wishing a Happy Navarathri and here’s a cheers to the victory of Good over Evil.

I was having a discussion the other day on the politics of today. I was just wondering that a century ago we were ruled by the British. They taught us many things – uilding, engineering, manners, and the most imdeepportant of them all – the unification of India. In return they plundered and ravaged our country for close to three centuries and took all she had to offer. They committed a sin as per the ten commandments – “Thou shall not commit adultery”. They came and coveted a lady who was NOT theirs. She was “Mother India” or “Bharat Maata”as we say so proudly. The lady cried. Her children cried and it was all in vain. The British took their agenda to the completion and if it was not for the world war, the Quit india movement, Gandhigiri (though it was not called that then J)

The moot factor being that the Bristish came and plundered anothers possession and then gave some tidbits as compensation and then ran away leaving the country in the mess of partition. Divide and rule or get a vicarious pleasure in knowing that if u cant enjoy it try to see that others don’t either. They also left us the great legacy of the RAJ and the babudom.

The scene shifts to today. The politicians have screwed us. They have plundered us. They have masaccared us. They have corrupted us. They have raped us and ravaged us. We are known to believe “All Indians are my brothers and sisters (of course its unsaid that the wives, girlfriends, lovers, mistresses, “lovers for pay” are exempted J) If this is true then the politicians have committed the sin of INCEST.

Who is the larger criminal? The British who “only” committed adulty or the politician who has committed INCEST?

The floor is open to discussions.

Ek Ghar Banoonga

Lyrics of Ek Ghar Banaunga

ek ghar banaaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamane duniyaa basaaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamane   ghar kaa banaanaa, koee aasaan kaam naheen duniyaa basaanaa, koee aasaan kaam naheen dil mein wafaayen ho to, toofaa kinaaraa hain bijalee humaare liye, pyaar kaa ishaaraa hain tan man lootaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamane   kahate hain pyaar jise, dayraa hain aag kaa yaa fir nashaa hain koee, jeewan ke raag kaa dil mein jo pyaar ho to, aag bhee fool hain sachchee lagan jo ho to, parabat bhee dhool hain taare sajaaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamane   kaaton bhare hain lekin  chaahat ke raasate tum kyaa karoge dekhe, ulafat ke waasate ulafat mein taaj chhoote, ye bhee tumhe yaad hogaa ulafat mein taaj bane, ye bhee tumhe yaad hogaa mai bhee kuchh banaaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamane

Beautiful words

I grew up in a world where
music played when birds were
in the mood to chirp.
Where fashion statements
wernt mass manufactured.
When greys and laugh lines
were celebrated and not
mourned. Where water was
filled with natural minerals
served warm or chilled,
depending on the time of day.
In keeping with the times,
we've put a label on it

live natural.
Sent from my Nokia phone

Living in 2009....Ridiculously True

Living in 2009

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2 You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list

AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, forward this to your friends. You know you want to. ha ha ha ha.

__._,_.__

Now, send attachments up to 25MB with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn how.
_________________________________________________________________
More than messages–check out the rest of the Windows Live™.
http://www.microsoft.com/india/windows/windowslive/

Twitter

I am new to this thing called twitter. I can understanding blogging which is basically publishing on the net. But in twitter i see posts like "trying a new toilet paper brand " or " havinf sex with my neighbours wife" and the type. And its supposed to be open to all to and ppl follow twitters. I guess that also explains the tremendous myth shattering success of reality shows. I can definitely try twitter but NOT reality show. Heres my twitter for now:

typing on my phone this post letter by letter and with earphones plugged into my ears sitting in the car headed to a meeting

whew.....that was tiring.....

tomorrows dussera pooja in my factory hence looking forward to it.

Sent from my Nokia phone

BRIC or CRIB?

This was a funny tagline in the newspapers today! They say the Brazil Russia India China group never agrees to anything to the G 8 hence they should be renamed as CRIB!

Its pretty funny that for years the established world powers have harnessed the blood of many nations and that today when they ask genuine concerns they are ridiculed.

What they dont realise that today if the BRIC does not consume they will cease to survive. The BRIC countries also know how to tighten the belts while the west does not!

we shall overcome and march on till the time we become superpowers ourselves!

Something

And so it came to be this isolation that I am I can only look into me to find the way it all began - this confusion, constant hunger for something more than this I strive to find this being that I envision, yet seem to miss. Could it be that I am empty- or maybe a little lost? Could it be that I am lonely, or seek happiness at any cost? This never-ending Something that I am living deep inside, depicts the illusion of myself and all I have to hide.

This poem signifies the unknown strife inside me sometimes and i struggle to come into grips with it but then never do.

Happiness

What is the meaning of happiness and how is it influemced by rest of the universe. Is it an insulated feeling? Or is it a sum net of the influences from around us?

these are questions dogging me with me.

Sent from my Nokia phone

For all the Ferrari fans!

 

FW: Invitation for Abhiyantriki '09

 

It gives great pleasure to read this… We remember the beginning of Abhiyantriki in 1999 with the students council of Bala, Vinil and Co. From there on we did the second years Abhiyantriki i.e. the Millennium walla! The I rember the next years had a battle tank et al. And going on from strength to strength.,   All the best to the present years team!     Dear Alumni,     As every year this year ABHIYANTRIKI 09 the intercollegiate technical festival of our college is scheduled on 25th September 2009.I cordially invite you to encourage us and participate in the events if you are interested in any. The link to our website for Abhiyantriki 09 is as follows:   http://www.somaiya.edu/kjsce/abhiyantriki/abhiyantriki09.html        The academic year 2009-10 was the Silver Jubilee year of our college. As you know 12th September '08 was celebrated as the opening ceremony we are celebrating 26th September'09 as the closing ceremony to mark the completion of 25 years of K.J.Somaiya College of Engineering. I am glad to tell you that this day would be honored by the presence of Dr.A.P. J.  Kalam the ex-president and an icon of our country. For any further details you can always contact me.   Regards, Anisha Mukhija Secretary for Alumni Affairs. Students Council 09-10.

 

Book Review: Vikas Swarup - 6 suspects

Vikas Swarup’s new novel begins with an account of the misdemeanors committed by a rich, unscrupulous young man named Vicky Rai, who knows he can rely on his dad’s contacts to shield him from the law. Vicky’s career in crime comes to a head when he whips out a gun and shoots a bargirl who refuses him a drink. Though there are witnesses to the murder, the trial turns into a farce and -to widespread outrage - he is soon released. Then, at a farmhouse party held to celebrate his acquittal, Vicky is himself shot dead by an unknown assassin.

The first half of this story is, of course, a barely disguised version of the Jessica Lall-Manu Sharma case. Since Vicky is the most visible face of the darker side of a society where the rich and powerful know they can get away with anything, his own murder seems like an almost symbolic act: an incensed middle class striking out against its tormenters; the shot that launches the revolution. But it’s also a real killing, carried out with a real gun, and there are six unlikely suspects: a native from an island in the Andaman, searching for a sacred stone that was stolen from his tribe; a popular young actress who pretends to be a bimbo but quotes Nietzsche; Vicky’s father Jagannath Rai, a slimy politician; an enterprising mobile-phone thief; a retired bureaucrat with a split-personality problem; and an idiot American who was conned into coming to India to get married. Which of them is the killer, what is the motive and how did most of them come to be at this party in the first place?

The thing to admire about Six Suspectsis the breadth of Swarup’s storytelling. This book is really a collection of six separate stories – all of which are reasonably well-plotted – that eventually converge into a large narrative. Many other authors would have been temped to milk this material for all it was worth, to perhaps spread it over two or three books, but Swarup packs it all into one dense novel. Its a book that one can begin in the morning and by late noon would have completed it. Conversations that could easily have been finished in three or four sentences meander on, there is too much exposition, and some of the sub-plots in the personal stories of the six suspects seem to have been included only so that each person could be given a novella-length background. It takes a lot of patience to get through the section about the tribal criss-crossing India – from Calcutta to Chennai to Banaras to Allahabad – in search of his talisman, or the one where the American, Larry Page, finds himself kidnapped by a terrorist group after being mistaken for the Google founder of the same name, or – worst of all – the bizarrely convoluted story about the bureaucrat possessed by the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi.

Even given this long-windedness, Six Suspects would have been a more convincing read if Swarup had stuck with the omniscient-narrator format. Instead, he has three of the suspects – the actress, the American and the thief – tell their own stories, and authenticity becomes a problem in these first-person passages. The actress says “so there I was, immersed in my private digital ecosystem” to describe her communing with an iPod. There’s no end to the puerile similes used by the lovelorn American (“I was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking-chairs”; “I reckon a love like ours is scarce as hen’s teeth”), though they are amusing in small doses. And when “Munna Mobile”, the thief, goes to a Chinese restaurant in a five-star hotel for the first time, we get – purportedly in his own voice – this dubious wealth of description:

Brass lanterns hang from the ceiling, flame-spewing golden dragons adorn the walls. The furniture is elegant, rectangular mica-topped tables complemented by black, high-backed chairs. The waitress, a chinky-eyed girl clad in a long, slinky blue dress with dragon motifs and slits, welcomes me with the effusiveness normally reserved for heavy tippers.

Six Suspects is ridden with caricatures – from corrupt Indian politician, perpetually manipulating strings, to dumb, insular American who comes to love a third-world country (“where cows are worshipped like Goddesses rather than turned into steak”). It would be a mistake to over-stress this aspect of the novel – and to forget that people like Jagannath Rai and Larry Page really do exist – but the book’s use of these character types precludes any lasting insights into the workings of a very complex society struggling with injustice and disparity. Every nexus, every command issued by an oily politician is dealt with in straightforward cause-and-effect terms. The investigative journalist and the TV reporter (a Barkha Dutt stand-in, named – if you must know – Barkha Das) are sanctimonious. People speak in platitudes and articulate their flaws and motivations as if they were pinning easy-to-read labels on themselves for the edification of the reader. (“We hit people not to show our strength but to mask our weakness,” philosophizes a police inspector after an interrogation, “we pick only on the poor and the powerless, because they cannot hit back.”) Rarely do the bad guys bother to delude themselves that they are in some nebulous way working not for self-interest but for the greater good (which is something that happens all the time in the real world).

“Even murder can become addictive” is the final, anarchist sentence of Six Suspects. Swarup’s book is similar in some ways to another recently published novel, Aravind Adiga’sThe White Tiger, which was about a lower-class man simultaneously resentful of and aspiring towards the lives of the privileged. When Swarup has someone point out that “there are occasions when murder is not only justified, it is necessary...as a ritual of righteousness”, it vaguely echoes something said by Adiga’s protagonist, Balram Halvai: “Kill enough people and they will put up bronze statues to you near Parliament House in Delhi. But all I wanted was the chance to be a man – and for that, one murder was enough.” The difference is that the murder in The White Tiger is committed by someone who wants to step into his victim’s shoes, while the killing of Vicky in Six Suspects is to be seen as a wake-up call for a corrupt society. Adiga’s novel was more ironical, more attuned to how easily the leaders of a revolution can become the very thing they set out to destroy, but Six Suspects is powered by idealism. On more than one occasion, its generalisation of people and situations reminded me of Madhur Bhandarkar’s films, which try to expose the dark underbelly of a social stratum by doling out clichés about it.

Except that while Bhandarkar at least deals with one issue at a time (the high-society-media nexus in Page 3, big-business corruption in Corporate, the politics of beggars’ cliques in Traffic Signal), Six Suspects tries to be a ready reckoner to all the contradictions and injustices in Indian society. Vicky Rai himself is a convenient amalgamation of many high-profile real-world offenders whose misdeeds – along with the justice system’s inability to prosecute them – have shocked middle-class India in recent years. (In the book’s first chapter – an improbably long and self-indulgent column written by an investigative journalist – we learn that apart from shooting the bargirl, Vicky has run over sleeping pavement dwellers in his BMW and killed endangered black bucks. Sounds familiar?) But there are numerous other allusions to burning topics of our time, so that you get the impression the author has a list of “points to be included” and is ticking them off one by one.

Call-centres make an appearance (Larry finds himself working in one and is confronted by an irate American customer who refuses to believe he is speaking to a real American), there are references to reverse-colonialism (“it has become almost de rigueur in Bollywood to have at least one song with some firang white dancers doing jhatka-matka at the bidding of our own desi brown-skinned actors”), the Bhopal gas tragedy, globe-trotting charlatans posing as holy men, the contrast between the glitzy mall culture and the lives of lower-class Indians, and the corruption that exists in every conceivable walk of life. There’s so much going on here that the book could almost have been sub-titled “An Encyclopaedia of the Social Issues Facing Modern India”, but somewhere amidst all this the novel that presumably set out to tell a coherent story is lost.

 

This is reviewed from: http://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/ Ill write my own when I finish the book tomorrow :-)

 

garib Rath

Yesterday I travelled on the Garib Rath for the first time. I was amazed that at a cost of Rs 300 I was getting to sit in a comfortable and spacious seat with air conditioning, clean interiors, sliding doors, clean loos and in fact very very comfortable environs.
I was thoroughly impressed and do wish that the railways rationalises the cost and if required bump it by about 50-100 and increase such trains. It should not be done at a loss but for short 6-7 hour jouirneys this is the best way to go... even compared to a flight

All the best Indian Railways. You are the best! Crabtree switches, SS work, clean and comfort seating, non skid fllooring in linilium. I am sure that given the proper push these guys will give the airlines a run for their money. And the surprising thing is there are no pilots who will go on strike and hold passengers to ransom1

Quote of the Day

This Saturday is the beginning of Navaratri, i.e. the time of fun and frolic and is infact a celebration of good over evil. Lets join together to request for a small prayer for the good to emenate in the world to overshadow the bad. It is only after we emerge from pitch darkness that we appreciate the light.

 

As you teach, you learn.
- Jewish Proverb

A mother understands what a child does not say.
- Jewish Proverb

Don't look for more honor than your life merits.
- Jewish Proverb

Worries go down better with soup than without.
- Jewish Proverb

Don't live in a town where there are no doctors.
- Jewish Proverb

Do not be wise in words - be wise in deeds.
- Jewish Proverb

God couldn't be everywhere, so he created mothers.
- Jewish Proverb

Pride is the mask of one's own faults.
- Jewish Proverb

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
- Hal Borland

Truth is the safest lie.
- Jewish Proverb

Never trust the man who tells you all his troubles but keeps from you all his joys.
- Jewish Proverb

Don't open a shop unless you know how to smile.
- Jewish Proverb

What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth.
- Jewish Proverb

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.
- Anonymous

 

Photo Gallary

Nows a good time as any to make a photo gallary and here it is..... I have uploaded as many of snaps as possible... have fun viewing them and leave your comments behind

Funny videos

A collection of some funny videos... worth a few laughs.

Woh Lamhe - KJSCE Anthem

This song is by a buch of dudes from my alma mater who had rendered this a long time ago. This is a song "somaiya ke lamhe" performed by a band called BEAT 41, formed by a bunch of students of KJ Somaiya Engg College. It is taken from the original song woh lamhe by atif aslam.


Nostalgia reeks from this song as even today goose bumps form on me when i heard this song and relate to every aspect..... externals, practicals, kts, grace marks and the whole gamut of emotions that today we remember back so fondly on but at that time it seemed like a big burden on life!

Gunwale dulhania Le Jayenge

Conspiracy Theory

below mail was written to me by Suraj Rao, a friend and we were discussing on the capitalistic vices. I think it was dated to 2000 or 2001

Conspiracy Theory.

By Suraj Rao

Hope that you will find my observations interesting. These are the result of an inital thought and some discussions that I have had with my friends and colleagues.
.......

Currently the world is experiencing a string of isolated skrimishes in various pockets of the globe. On viewing it from a diffrent perspective all these segregated minute wars reveal a distict pattern - the proxy wars waged by US.

Today we observe the Kosovo conflict, the Kargil firings and the open aggression in the Yellow Sea between the Koreas. All these tussles include at least one factor that have USA's direct interest involved. In Kosovo we have NATO as the American   representative, Pakistan is is just another American lackey and a democratic S. Korea will be defended by U.S. We already have reports of U.S. sending their armed submarines into Yellow Sea waters to negotiate / maintain peace in the region. The two subs despatched will be joined by vessels with nuclear capability. The reason for this presence is definitely suspect

The progress of these three conflicts has been from the West to the East all in chronological order. There is a definite attempt by the US to increase it's presence (read as interference) in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Their intentions or malintentions could be one a many :

One of the most obvious reason is the end of the cold war which brought the arms race to a standstill. This would mean the closure of many manufacturers...hence they need to wage pocket wars for their daily bread

The other reason is the  "capitalism of war".Who do you think would reap the benefits of subsequent peace in these regions ???
Who would get the business contracts to rejuvenate these regions ??

The Gulf war is testimony to the money that U.S. made for the construction projects.

But what could be the tacit motive for these distubances. ....The answer is China. The Chinese with their totalitarian regime and agressive human rights stance have put the US in a Catch 22 situation

China is a huge consumer market for American products but concomittanly the US is obliged to take a moral and strategic stand against the chinks. They do this by accidentally bombing the Chinese embassy !!, with US sixth generation satellite systems the inadvertent bombing the the embassy reeks of some surreptitious manoeveur
The Indo-Pak conflict gives the US a reason to deploy troops in this part to maintain scrutiny over China. The stand in Koreas does not merit any further  comment. The fall out will be that India if she plays her card properly will find an ally in China against the capitalist U.S.

The way I see it, it is a choice between the devil and the deep sea.

....................

Invite your comments and suggestions

Regards

Suraj (Mintoo)
trader_suraj99@hotmail.com