Schrödinger's cat

I have recently come across this terminology in one of my favorite TV show, "The Big Bang Theory". As much as it sounds funny, it has an irony that no one can deny. To explain the term. Let me go back to intermediate science, where we learned about Schrödinger's wave equation and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, to sum it up this term mostly revolves around wave/matter duality. Enough of science stuff. I too didn't remember all these like you, just Googled it yesterday. (So don't hold it against me that I am a science nerd.) :)

In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger devised an experiment to explain the "Copenhagen Principles". He made a steel box and put his cat inside. He also put a vial of poison, that could break at a random time killing the cat. So Schrödinger explained that until the box is opened, the cat is both alive and dead and only when the box is opened, it can either be alive or dead.

Well Schrödinger was a head-case to even think of such a thing. I am, on the other hand is a bigger nut to even find a resemblance to our life story. :) Laugh at me for all you want, but nobody thinks about the bloody cat. Poor cat. Who becomes the part of the experiment and turns out to be in a precarious position, who has no say in it. He is in the situation just because one day he choose to go near the great scientist and purred.

But again who said life is fair anyway. :(

God rest his soul !!!

P.S: It won't hurt to seach for the actual experiment or the Copenhagen Principles and spend five minutes reading it. Little knowledge and curiosity is never a crime. :)

Life so far ....

I have tried to pick my pen and write something since 2008, however rigmaroles of life have successfully stopped me from doing so. Not that I am blaming my busy schedules or lack of interesting events in life, because there were times and events that could have been put into beautiful words. I was enjoying life and was so much a part of it that, taking few steps back and looking at it would have taken loads of energy. I was not prepared to sacrifice that.

So why today ? Last month I turned 27. And seeing that average lifespan of humans are 80, Realized I have already lived one third of it. Scary thought, even a tiniest gaze towards the end gives goosebumps. Well that inspired me to write something on the occasion and how life has been so far. Since last few days, it feels exactly like getting out of a car on a long drive on the midway to straighten legs.

In a typical journey, there are two motivations, the destination and the way. So what about life, the destination is death and definitely none of us wants to think about it or go there, so why we tend to worry about what happens next and forget that we are wasting away precious times. 27years might not sound short but I feel I have wasted at least 10yrs of it thinking what happens next in life ? Well, the journey is not half bad as it sounds, there were very memorable occasions like, when I heard about getting a job after a thorough job hunt, solving the most difficult problem in chemistry, standing in front of 221B Bakerstreet or seeing a tiny kunmama(my niece) for the first time. Still there were many times I was knocked down harder than ever(Lets not mention them). But finally it was most of the time an intense and nerve cracking wait for the next phase.Why was it like that ? It didn't take more than my brain to figure it out.

From childhood we got our self screwed up with fear. "What happens if I don't get a good job ?", "What happens if people find out I did something silly or even wrong ?", "What if she doesn't like me :-) ?"..etc. The fear for failure was the mightiest influence in my life. I was listening to Harvard commencement by JK Rowling, and as usual she told very eloquently, how failure had been a catalyst for imagination in her life. One who has never failed has lived his life so cautiously that he hasn't lived at all. Is that me ? One third of life gone and yet cautious and measuring steps. Sounds sad, but its not a complete disaster. At least in someway it gives me a confidence in life that I am somewhat secure from known disturbances. But am I ?? In the same speech she also said, "Life is complicated and beyond anyones control and understanding this can give us wisdom". So why worry about something which you can't control. Well, I know the theory, but I am still worried.

I can't blame life. It hasn't been a fairytale exactly, but it could have been worse. Life is forgiving, it has given me third and fourth chances sometimes and It will be a base treachery if I don't show my gratitude.

Whats next? I am now worried about the second phase of my life. Sad :-) Yesterday, one wise person (If he is reading he knows) told me "Shakti, don't think u still have a lot of time, start considering marriage seriously." He he....well I have been giving serious thoughts and some serious efforts also (Going to Bhubaneswar from Pune can be a big effort), but it gives me creep to think what if it doesn't work out ? I know life knocks us down and we choose to get up..blah blah blah...but there is no getting up if u get knocked down from your marriage. Or at least this is what we learnt from our parents !!!

I got a personality makeover when I joined engineering :p and a wisdom makeover when I read Harry Potter :D In last six years of financial independence I have achieved many dreams but yet the only failure in life still taunts me which is too personal to even mention. I believe in fate and it never once disappointed me when I have kept on fighting till I won, so why give up or bother now. I named this blog Life-is-a-fairytale, just because I believe it can be. Because once I stop believing then I will loose, and its over.

And we can't have that, can we ?

A Memorable quote from "Captain Corelli's Mandolin"

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Good and Evil

This topic is probably discussed and debated since the beginning of the time and though there is nothing left that is to be discussed, the debate has shown no sign to be ceased. So why to spend time on this one ?

Well yesterday(Its after 12 now, so technically it was yesterday) I went to watch the new "Batman" movie, "The dark Knight". It turned out to be amazing. I have seldom seen an action/Super-hero movie so intense and thoughtful. Obviously I went into a thinking overdrive after going home (It was difficult to think whle watching such a captivating movie).

The question that came to my mind was what makes a guy evil. Few examples ran through my mind.

- Someone like Hitler, who started with a determination to fight domination and ended up with greed and hate, so extreme that people considered him the evil of all time.

- Someone like Lord Voldemort, who loved power and inflicted so much pain in general masses, just because he was hated while growing up as an orphan.

If you consider the common factor, all of them were lunatics and beyond reason and remorse. But more than that there was a selfish motive behind it. For power, domination and hate. But is that all....So does the selfishness and selflessness are what makes a person closer to good or evil. Then how do you describe a person like Joker from the movie itself, who just wanted to spread chaos for fun shake. I can probably go on.....but I still can't pinpoint what makes a guy evil may be I can use your help in the comment section. :-)

Again all those Heroes had personal revenge and motive (an act of selfishness) against evil. So are they heroes just because their work favoured a wider mass of people or they had real good intentions. Its hard to tell only they can tell...Sometimes I regret studying science rather than psychology, which could have been more interesting after all. :-)

But one thing for sure, Devil himself is childless. Or anyone would be born evil. Its the opposition, one faces from the surrounding that can either build up his character or destroy it. Devil himself always lays two paths in front of us. Its up to us to choose between what is right and what is easy.

I thought again where that lands me up. I am definitely not a complete selfless guy. I have done pretty selfish acts few times, which I am ashamed of and don't want to mention......but does that make me evil ? (I hope not....I m such a harmless one ;-) )

Then it hit me hard....An evil cannot love but himself. Any person who loves anything, be it a human, a pet, knowledge or art would never give in to such atrocities that an evil is capable of. Only love brings remorse and redemption.

So my conclusion will be this........Don't know about yours though. :-)

Evil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evil is a broad term used to indicate a negative moral or ethical judgment, often used to describe intentional acts that are cruel, unjust, or selfish. ...

The Mirror Of Erised

I have wanted to write about this magical artifact for a very long time. Though there is not much to write about it, I would still want a little place dedicated for this amazing and magical object. Many of you who don't know the background would wonder what it is, So just a bit of information for greedy minds. :-)

A few lines from the book "Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone"

Dumbledore: 'Now can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all ?'

Harry shook his head.

'Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use it like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?'

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, 'It shows us what we want.....whatever we want....'

'Yes and no,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.

The below line was inscribed on the mirror:

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

when read in reverse with proper spacing....

I show not your face but your hearts desire

(As you can see for little Harry, his deepest desire is to have a family which he had been cruely deprived of. So he sees his parents, where as Dumbledore sees himself with a pair of socks...which is another story for another time)

I was really impressed at the thought of having something which shows us our deepest and desperate desires. It was enough to catch my attention. It made me wonder for a long time what I would see. Since I am unable to write about it and its really really personal, I would ask you to think what you would see ?

Have a nice thought !!!!

Sifar - Every end is a new beginning.

When I left Motorola I felt bad for a lot of reason....friends, comfort zone, influence and mostly my skeptisism about change. Change which not only affected my comfort zone, but also my future...so it was natural to be skeptical. However I decided if I ever want to be someone more than what I was, I must accept change. So I setforth on my journey to a new city with number of friends I can count in one hand with holding a pen in it :-)

Seven month down the line...I am here, rocking and rolling.

Today suddenly I came across the mail I sent on the last day of my Mot stay. Just thought to post it before completely losing it. probably only letter I put a lot of thought into...:-)

*************************************************************************************
Hi Friends,

Its a goodbye !!!

I am leaving Motorola and today is my last working day. It has been three wonderful years here, yet it feel like yesterday when we moved from college to this place with lots of apprehension. Fortunately things turned out to be great. The knowledge and skills that we acquired still doesn't feel enough though they were too many.

I made plenty of friends and acquaintance, but I am sad for some friendships that I couldn't make in short time. I really hope it doesn't end here and in some cases I am pretty sure it will never end. :-)

Well coming to thanking people :-)) My thanks to all the people here who know me and made me part of their lives. A large part goes to two people with whom I worked, Partha and Ramki. Well it was really great working with you two. Again let me not forget Manish, Ankush, Rahaman and Prabhu who shaped and influenced my career a great deal and to all my team members to be patient with me.

Lets be in touch !!! :-)

Thanks,
Shakti
(The piiiingpoooong guy)

P.S: This is one of the best poem I've ever read which perfectly describes me at this time :-)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
-----

- Robert Frost ( The Road Not Taken )
*****************END OF MAIL*********************

Well definitely this blog lacks originality...but who cares. :-) This is my blog space and I can write whatever I want and whenever I want...But please keep reading. And in case this is the first one you are reading....one suggestion...blogs are always read bottoms->up. To see how the writing has improved or gone down.:-) :-)

Happy Day - For all of us.

Another year has passed by and from the face value I don't think the wishes from my last year have materialized, however it could have been worse. So I am just ever thankful as always.(with just a little bit of complain with the farthest corner of my heart). I have always wondered what makes a new year happy. Probably it is the only time in year when the whole world celebrates along with us or may be its due to the fact that it gives us a second chance to live our life, I am really not sure. Who cares anyway.
:-)

surely it brings us hope that things will just be fine and at time like this we forget all the anguish, pain, grumpiness and pessimism and try to start a life like we have always wanted.(it doesn't materializes most of the time though :-( ) The biggest perk of this is that we get a chance to talk to everyone special to us.( This usually gets dampened by the weak Airtel network and unavailability of certain numbers. :-) ) All of the best-wishes, SMS, Mails and cards we get, makes us feel that its really going to be different this time.

Personally my new year celebrations were never thrilling, they were rather composed. From my childhood I switch off TV before midnight forcibly by my parents because I join my whole family for a 15mins prayer and meditation. Though that 15mins has reduced to less than 5mins in recent times judging that I don't stay with my parents anymore, my conviction has not been completely eradicated about not to party and rather stay calm in the new year.

To end this no where going blog, I wish all my friends and myself gud luck and I promise, I will write more, laugh more and do all the things that I have always believed this new year. Same applies to you also. :-)