Opinions and Beliefs

Gluten Free Bread Recipe

2011-11-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Its about time, I actually have this recipe out. Sorry to all my gluten intolerant friends and families that had to wait. I would like to mention that this article is a contribution of Alons Bakery in Dunwoody, Atlanta, GA. Mr. Balshan, owner of Alon’s Bakery was kind enough to let me test various recipes for developing a gluten free bread and muffin recipes. Initially I had lot of trouble getting it right. Firstly, gluten free bread is made from batter as opposed to dough. From my experience in baking (at least the chemistry and rheology part of it), I felt that most of the batters didn’t have the viscosity to survive the rigors of baking. Secondly, flavor was overpowered with notes from other flours, lets say it is different from wheat.

After trying out Redmill flours recipe for gluten free sandwich bread, I was surprised with the results. The bread had a collapsed top with a “guey” inside and I must say I would have to be desperately hungry and almost starving to death to eat any part of it. Needless to say, I started tailoring the recipe to suit my requirements.

Materials: I have divided it into groups of Wet ingredients, Dry ingredients and Utensils.

I. Dry Ingredients

Ingredient	Weight (gms)
Redmills gluten free flour	550
Potato Flour	10
Soy flour	9
Whole milk powder	55
Guar gum	6
Xanthan gum	10
Salt	20

II. Wet Ingredients

Ingredient	Weight (gms)
Oil	50
Eggs	125
Vinegar	5
Water	700
Yeast	2 tbsp
Agave Nectar	40

III. Utensils

a. Kitchen aid mixer (with paddle and wire whip)

b. Spatula

c. Kitchen bread pan (23 x 12 x 10) with sliding lid

d. Oven set at 360 F.

Method:

1. Add yeast in luke warm water (700 gms) and set it aside for 10-15 mins (about the time it takes to

2. Mix all the Dry ingredients (In kitchen aid mixer with paddle @ 2 speed setting for 5 min) and sieve it. It is important not to have any lumps. Keep it separately .

3. Mix all wet ingredients (without water) using wire whip (Speed setting 3-4 for 3 min.

4. Slowly add half of the water and continue mixing for 1 min

5. Replace the wire whip with paddle on Kitchen aid. Now add all the dry ingredients slowly into the bowl @ speed 2

6. Add rest of the water @ speed 2.

7. Mix at speed 3-4 for 5 min .

8. Transfer 700 gms of batter into closed kitchen bread pan. Usually about 1/3^rd volume of the total kitchen bread pan (the weight of batter will vary according to the pan used).

9. Bake at 360 F for 40 minutes

Note: The method gives two large loaves of bread. Typically one loaf is about one pound.

TEAM INDIA slow-‘cooked’ by You know who……….

2011-10-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

In the events after euphoric World cup win, Team India in a state of mental and physical fatigue are relinquishing their status as ‘Top Test Cricketing Nation’. Before we go on analyzing the rise, peaking and a minor dip in Team India’s progress, let me give e brief overview of point system. (For complete explanation of it please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_Test_Championship#Historical_rankings). I’m of belief that with good system in place for cricket, i.e. Ranji trophy, Tours of Team A to different countries, Emerging players tours, Team India will remain competitive in test cricket world for years to come. It just so happened that this team couldn’t survive the intense grueling of test cricket in England’s backyard.

Coming back to the point system for test cricket, it is relatively new and one that was held coveted by ‘The Great Australian Team’. However, after the ‘Mass Exodus’, an unlikely Team SA grabbed the top spot for a brief period of 4 months. The mantle was then passed onto Team India for the next two years. If you look at the history since then, since 2008 Team India has not lost a series either home or away and has played the likes of all the other top four teams (Australia, SA, Srilanka and England), which lead to Team India’s rise to the top. During the same period (except for England) the other teams have either lost their away series or only drawn on the home series. Since the point system clearly favors a team that is consistently in ‘NET POSITIVE’ side of the results, Team India benefitted from their schedule, more like stars aligning right. The one series that did matter was away series with Team SA which they have efficiently held to a draw. They were never facing a red-hot team (like current Team England) nor had a grueling season. Moreover, from the scheduling point of view, Test match was more like a make up for lost time between ODI’s and T20’s. Though the ‘pundits’ applaud test cricket as pinnacle form of cricket, Team India’s schedule says otherwise.

Since 2008, the accidental coincidence with boom of T20, Team India hardly has any warm up practice games for test matches. If you look at the warm up time, most of the franchise teams have about a week to ten days to acclimatize to the rigors of T20. On the other hand, Team India has only 5 days for bilateral series? In long run this has to change. It would be better for Team India (Paraphrasing Saurav’s famous words “Team India is a slow starter”), to have a tour match with at least one red-hot county team. The lack of practice is/was/will be a recipe for a major setback. The attitude of “slow starters” will always be tested when India met an in-form team.

Here is how Mr. Thorn (aka Flower) plotted the much taunted batting lineup. That Z. Khan pulled out the first day was a mere luck in his favor. If you look at last 10 series, the batsman that performed the most (highest run scorers in series) were Sachin, Gambhir, Sehwag (very recently Dravid). It was imperative for Team Pommies to figure out these stalwarts. Test 1, Gambhir in close in field, hit him out. Might cost a wicket in that process, but at least it will hamper him. Blow to Gambhir was inevitable, given the shots that KP and Prior intended on playing they were poised to induce maximum pain to the solid opener. If the gamble pays off, then bowlers get into rhythm early and make clear inroads into the fragile lower spine of Indian Batting. You may call it unlucky, but it was a clear plot which truly worked in England’s favor. Given that Sehwag was out for first two and didn’t have match practice for others, the sole effort was with short stuff in swinging conditions. Dravid though was the hard part, he was clearly not part of the plans, since they were going for win and Dravid’s mindset of playing for a draw was not in direct conflict of their plans.

In the bowling front, inexperienced line up with little match practice, no strong back ups and swinging conditions meant a long uphill battle. The nail in the coffin was Bhajji pulling out of the series which left a wide gap with experience. Although we did have Murali Karthik on the advisory team, it takes more than advice for a new bowler to perform. Though not remarkable, RP Singh was a remarkable addition to the team. It is hard for a bowler to run in as hard as Ishant Sharma and not be awarded. English Batsmen knew their conditions well and Mr. Thorn always has a grounds committee for every English venue.

Now to the credit of Team England, they did have some in-form bowlers. Chris Tremlett was relentless and Stuart Broad found immense help in Therapy (or rather sugar coated version of Motivational Coaching). They got wickets against the run of play and the bowlers made the batsman play…. Did I mention the word ‘play’? And when the judgment day arrived (for the white wash), the magician stepped up to rip apart the fragile Team India’s tail (which btw starts from No. 5). All in all, sometimes the best laid plans do not work, but for Team England it worked like a charm and also with the Mantle of “World No. 1 in test cricket”. Kudos to England team. But then again it is just a minor blip on Team India’s future.

I keep reminding myself that “long term” results are a consequence of an efficient system. Hope the selectors stay wise and take positives from such a dismal series.

H-1 B process for Hyderabad Center

2011-10-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

After my recent success with H1B, I just realized with enough preparation, the process could be very simple and stress-less. Here is a step wise approach that I followed for a successful experience

Appointment requirements (in the order of importance)

Photo fitting the requirements (would be best to check your picture on their website before starting the DS-160)
DS-160 (Takes about 20-30 minutes. Save the DS -160 process as you proceed. The program is notorious for “refreshing” and losing information. Save the completed form for future).
HDFC receipts (Check the VFS website for up to date exchange rates)
Plan on making your appointments at least 15-20 days prior to your interview date. Print three copies of the appointment letter. (In my case, Hyderabad availability was updated only three weeks in advance, but at VFS they mentioned that they allowed applicants could get an interview as late as 5-7 days in advance)

Application process

Submit the following in the VFS Hyderabad Center 3 days in advance (you can also authorize of your friends/relatives to do this for you – in which case add an additional authorization letter to the list).

Copy of VFS Interview letter
Copy of DS-160 confirmation
Copy of passport – Bio page and any pages with observations
Copy of I-797
Copy of the employers petition letter to USCIS
Original HDFC receipts – Both the receipts (green color) for fees paid.
One recent photograph (there is a photographer at the venue, charges you Rs. 100 for 4. Highly recommend it)

You get a white confirmation receipt from VFS. (you will need this to pick-up your VISA)

Note: (I had interview on Tuesday and they accepted my documents on Friday. I later learnt that there are lot of people who do not follow this protocol and end up standing in a long line at the consulate office on the day of interview, which seemed like an anxious and stressful process. Your interview could be delayed by 2-4 hours if you don’t submit the documents earlier. I would strongly recommend submitting the documents earlier.

Interview requirements

(This is an exhaustive list. I had an index paper listing all the documents. The VISA officer found it really easy to navigate through the documents using the index, as a consequence asked me very few questionsJ)

Immigration Documents

Copy of DS 160
Copy of passport – Bio page and any pages with observations
Original I-797 notice of approval,
Copy of complete I-129 petition submitted
Copy of Labor Condition Application
Copy of HDFC Bank fee receipt
Copy of SSN

Employment Documents

Offer Letter (received at the time of employment)
Current Employment Verification Letter
Letter from your Manager certifying the current list of projects you are working on
Copy of Latest Resume
Copy of Pay slips (at least for the past 6 months)
Names and current phone numbers of the personnel managers and current HR
Copy of ID card
Copy of W2's and 1040 (at least for the past 5 years if you are already living in US)

Miscellaneous Documents

Copy of Address Proof (lease and/or driver's license)
Photographs (3)
Copies of relevant diplomas (in my case Master’s and Doctoral)
Copy of air ticket (with your return ticket if you have it)
Copy of Bank Statements (6 months of one major bank)

The day of

Arrive 10-15 minutes earlier. Really only 15 minutes earlier. (This was different from my Chennai experience as a student, where I went almost 2 hours in advance and was standing in hot and humid conditions).
Just have your valid passport and appointment letter in your hand.
If you arrive only 10 minutes prior, just directly go to the Gate keeper. (No need to stand in line and hopelessly stand behind people who arrive 20-30 minutes before their scheduled time)
There is no shelter for waiting, so prepare yourself for rain and shine.
They do not allow any umbrellas or bags inside so have a water proof document organizer. They were very particular about cosmetics and had witnessed two female applicants sent back for having some in their hand bags.

Interview process

If you have submitted your documents earlier, you are directed to one of the three windows inside. (you will really enjoy the benefit of submitting stuff earlier).

You show your passport and appointment letter. The documents you submitted earlier are returned to you. (Make sure you save the green HDFC receipt, you need this along with the white receipt (item II-2 listed above).
You are directed to finger printing window. (longest wait time, there is water at the back wall)
You are directed to interview window (I had four people in front of me).
Don’t hesitate to ask the interviewer to repeat if you have not understood the question (you say Pardon me, excuse me, or could you please repeat the question). It would greatly help for you to answer the question exactly with few words other than saying YES or NO.

Follow Up

If approved you will get an email in 3-5 business days to pick up your passport.

You can either pick it up from VFS office on specific date and time period (very easy for Hyderabad residents), or you have to wait 2 more days for the courier service to deliver it to you.

If picking up from VFS office –

Usually between 3 and 5 pm. I would recommend going at 3 pm.

Take only the following documents

Copy and original of HDFC green receipt
White confirmation receipt (Item II-2, listed above)
Copy of passport – Bio page and any pages with observations
Any form of ID

Rejected cases:

Three of the four people ahead of me were rejected of H1B visa. One common trait among them was mess nature of arranging documents. Situation 1: The officer asked for LCA (Labor certification application and relevant diplomas, the applicant took long time to sort through and was completely lost in the messy document pile). Situation 2: The officer asked the applicant why was a primary company not sponsoring his H1B, the applicant showed a number of documents to support his importance for his consultancy rather than answering more specifically. Situation 3: The parents didn’t have the Payslip copies of their child, didn’t exactly know the company name their Son was working for, No W-2 or 1040’s of their son. I felt sorry for the old couple.

Useful links:

Genral information regarding Hyderebad – US: http://hyderabad.usconsulate.gov/

VFS website: https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/Index.html

Jetta Baby……….. YES it is here.

2011-05-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just a jog of Robert Frost’s old timer “Road not taken………and that made all the difference”. This was sort of running in my head when I had to choose between a brand new fully loaded VW Jetta ($19K) and a used car, Toyota Prius ($9K). Well there were couple of other cars in the mix too namely Hyundai Accent, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, i.e. basically most makers for mid size sedan. Before I go into the depth of comparing all these models, I would like to share my thought process between Prius and Jetta.

Since most of my audience are from USA, I do have to state that the choice of my cars was basically based on their resale values. Given that at some point I would like to get another car, I also would appreciate every little dollar that an old car (at that point of time) could contribute. KBB (Kelly Blue Book) suggests that German and Japanese car makers enjoy more perks in the resale value compared to the big brand domestic names, mainly for the mid-size car that I was interested in.

Firstly, the pro’s (highly personal perspective) of brand new car – we have a choice of make, color (both interior and exterior), amenities, worry free driving for almost 40K miles (on most models and makers). Con’s – all the pro’s come with a ‘sticker’ price. The more ‘loaded’ you want the new car, the higher is its initial cost. The rate of depreciation is intimidating at first , but it is being easily forgotten by the 'awe' experience/satisfaction of driving a NEW car.

Now coming to the old car, Pro’s – time tested, low price, which means low monthly payments and satisfaction of owning a vehicle very soon. Con’s – redone interiors, need additional inspections (if buying from an individual), not up to date on technology, maintenance issues in near future and very low warrantee. Given that online shopping gives us flexibility to choose a used car to our likening, including the interiors and color, it still doesn’t guarantee the performance. In my case the old car (Prius) had about 100K miles on it in 4 years (which according the dealer are mostly highway miles, makes sense too ;)). Though online shopping makes it easier to look for an used car, it does require lot of looking around and sometimes a far away trip to get it back to your local area.

Apart from the obvious differences, one thing which always will catch my attention would be the price difference between the two cars in future/end of the service time. Consider buying a brand new car we spend about $20K on road. The car does come with a 36K bumper to bumper maintenance, free service and oil change. If driving about 15K -20K miles per year that’s about 1.5-2 years of free maintenance. For a 60 months with good credit its about $345 per month. Given the resale value could be anywhere from 5K to 7K that’s an effective price of $13-15K for new car with peace of mind.

Now the used car is about 9K to begin with and your effective trade in value after 5 years (paying about $180 per month, extra taxes and inspections for used cars in PA) is next to zero. You will add about 75-100K miles making the car pretty much an antique in terms of mileage. Given that there are added woes of maintenance and repairs after 150K miles, your effective spending for the car is about $10K. Now if we do that math, that’s pretty much a difference of $3-5K over 60 months. That’s only a difference of $50-80 per month. Now I thought my choice was very clear given that I was buying a mid-size or may be a compact sedan. Given that the future of cars, according to me, is moving towards gas free conditions, I would assume that in next five years we could potentially be driving electric cars or nuclear cell powered motors. But in any case I see this as a final transition away from gasoline (yay!!!!).

Now to the interesting part of the story i.e. the selection of THE JETTA BABY. I was very much inclined to buy a deep blue car, however as soon as I saw this black car with beige interiors I couldn’t resist. Immediately, proudly and lovingly welcomed a CERNA into the family J. Add to it the leather heated seats and stain free material, the choice was very clear in my mind. The fun deal was the ‘sports gear’ which can accelerate the Jetta Baby to 120mph in 30 secs… howazzat……grrrrnnnnn.

Now every time I drive my BLACK JETTA SE and see another potential choice (of past) passing by I rerun the theme of Robert Frost………in this case this is the road I have taken.. and that made all the difference for me.

Emotional Bypass and Alba Emoting

2010-12-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

Recently, on our drive back from a road trip we came across an interesting talk show on NPR. It was called Radiolab, and they were talking about cities. Curious enough I went to their website and explored more topics by these refreshing scientific minds. A topic that was quite enticing was that of ‘emotional bypass’. Think of it this way. Before you feel pain or pleasure, the particular signals from one of your sensory perceptives (skin, nose, ears , eyes or mouth) are sent to brain, subsequently the signals are processed by brain and then brain reacts in the way it was trained to. In case of getting hurt, your skin bears the burnt or injury the brain receives the signals and sends the pain signals to skin. Have you ever wondered what if you trained you mind to ignore the injury, or further more give a heads up saying that I will be injured in next few moments. Apparently, this age old technique has a scientific name i.e. emotional bypass. It’s like we are diving forward for a catch, we take the catch and momentarily ignore the pain. This is because you already were prepared for such a pain. One more interesting example I learned was the effect of bullet to a civilian versus army soldiers. Apparently civilians express more panic symptoms and desire that they receive maximum dosage of pain killers, when civilians are involved in gun fire accidents. On the other hand, soldiers do not require that extra doses of morphine to recover. One possible reason was the preparedness of soldiers for a bullet wound that civilian.

In the same chain of thought, my friend Pilar has introduced me to the concept of ‘alba emoting’. It is relatively new field developed and pioneered by Dr. Bloch. In this technique an artist performs a certain breathing technique to bring out a certain emotion. Typically, actors have to go through a range of emotions within a very short time, which is many folds faster than a typical life speed. Alba emoting is a technique educated artists to combine breathing techniques and various emotions. From my own experience of running, I can realize when I can step up or need to slow down. Typically, when you have long steady breathe you are in cruise mode and I can notch it a little. On the contrary, when I have short and shallow breath it’s my signal to slow down. If you stop and think about it, we use variations of ‘alba emoting’ all the time. Think of a crucial match or point where you have to express emotional and intellectual stability. Emotionally, short breathes are a sign of anxiety and long breathes are sign of assuredness. So we take deeper breathes to calm us down.

In either cases, be it emotional bypass or alba emoting, you are empowered with ability to control your physical and emotional behavior. Coming from Hindu culture, I have always been informed that mind is an amazing thing. Though I believed it, I never understood the true nature of that information. However, with a little more reasoning and logic it does seem possible that we can do it. I remember my yoga teacher telling me to try to see deep within yourself, so deep that you can follow the blood through your arteries and veins; so deep that you can slowly unwind and rewind every muscle of your body. I truly didn’t understand it then, but now I know that there is a possibility that it actually CAN be done. Assuming that we are byproduct of our thought process and that we can control our thoughts, feels like science has come full circle - from exploring and mastering our surrounding back to understanding ourselves (at least in my case).

In summary, I see a chance to actually combine these two techniques. In life we are unhappy coz of some unforeseen calamities and mostly lethargic behavior (Well in biblical terms there are seven sins that make us fall in that path of unhappiness). So we can use emotional bypass technique by forewarning ourselves about few of the troubles that we can anticipate in near future. If and when these troubles occur, we can encounter them with minimal emotional damage. However, it is not possible to know all the calamities that can befall on us. When the unforeseen trouble strikes us, we can observe it through our breathing pattern. But since we know our feelings better, we can actually control the way we react to the unknown troubles, just the way we do to the known ones. It is easier said done, but once we know there is a route, as HUMANS we can EXPLORE IT.

And round of applause……… for MONSTERS

2010-12-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

Post graduate transition always seems to be that odd bag of candies with some sour and some sweet. The sour/hard part is parting with community of friends and well wishers that have been integral part of your graduate life. The refreshing part is the sea of change and opportunities that are on the horizon. This has been the summary so far of my recent transition from Manhattan to Atlanta.

It is sad to ‘part’ with small town community of Manhattan, KS. I was part of some close knit groups with activities ranging from TV shows to Festivals. Many of whom, helped me shape my personality, which was otherwise cluttered with academic and research work. The culmination of the beautiful phase was a PhD degree from the only school in US that awards a doctoral degree in grain science. Yay!!!

The other side of the transition was an exciting new beginning with Lenka in Atlanta. However, being unemployed and a recent graduate in a new place is an adventure by itself. Thanks to Lenka, that financial stresses have not bore a burnt on me. However, financial restrictions, limited my activities to ones that I enjoy the most with least financial commitment. At this juncture , RP (Ratna Prasad) introduced me to a local tennis cricket league (Atlanta Cricket League) and in particular to TEAM MONSTERS. I was playing for their overflow team of Challengers. However, the rapport between the main team (Kings) and the Challengers was very good.

RP introduced me as a batsman who could bowl and with reasonable out fielding. I was given an opportunity to prove. My role was simple, during batting –open batting, farm the strike during initial phase and hit out at later phase; during fielding – do my best in the outfield. Given the plethora of play makers in the team, my role was that of a “team player”. The nice thing about the team was their attitude to the sport. They played it as a unit, shared a laugh in victories and sarcastically wrote off losses (happened only once in regular season). Sanjay underplayed his role as a captain, but diligently did necessary ground work to keep the team winning.

The team had lot of social gatherings away from cricket, that I believe to be the foundation for a successful fraternity of Monsters. There were at least a dozen emails each day, which surely made me feel part of the active community. Mostly the emails would start with Vikas sending some serious/informative article, Sanjay commenting on it within few minutes, Naushad picking subtle clues, Bali giving his two cents, then rest of the dedicated onliners would duly pick on one of team members. The rest of the email (which would give way to another topic within an hour or so) would largely be PUN intended opinions. Along the way , the original message is dramatically diluted. But it does serve the outmost service of keeping the community active.

My transition would have been a little different and perhaps a little more retrospective if not for MONSTERS. The sense of belonging and the freedom to play cricket with care free attitude has certainly instilled more confidence in me. For some time I wished that we ended the season on a winning note. But after thoughtful pondering, I realized that my association with the team was more important to me individually and socially than worrying about losing in the second round.

Kudos to all the team members of Monsters and all the memorable moments, whether it be sharing a light moment with Krishna, watching Pankaj Muscle outside off stump ball into the leg side stands, Naushad pulling age and gravity defying catches behind the wickets, Vikas safely pouching the skiers at long on, Sameer and Rajesh falling short of expectations, Suresh trying various lengths trying to outfox the batsman (and in certain cases the captain), Moorthy bowling in Aktheresque fashion or be it Sanjay trying to put up that cool captain face in face of miserable second round exit. Thank you everyone for adding thier personal color and dimension to OUR team.

That being said, I'm very looking forward to off-season socials as I evolve as MONSTER.

World Cup 2011 – Journal Quarterly report “Team India – ODI” (June – September, 2010)

2010-10-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

With world cup less than 150 days away it is about time we discuss the composure and preparation of Team India. The last two world cup have been little challenging partly coz failure of planning for such events. And I haven’t had a chance to keep track of the changes in three main aspects Team India’s preparation. Hence forth, I will rank each department on a scale of 10 (with 10 being best), the positives and negatives of each department.

For this quarterly report, we will look at the period of June – September, 2010. Team India had three tours Zimbabwe triangular, Asia Cup and Sri Lanka Triangular cup. For a complete list of ODI’s played by Team India please visit the following link http://stats.cricinfo.com/india/engine/records/team/series_results.html?class=2;id=6;type=team. Of the 13 matches the team won only 6 and lost 7 losses. On a positive side, Team India was finalist on all three occasions, while they emerged champions in only one of them. We have tried various batting and bowling units and have had mixed results. As of now, Team India doesn’t look a settled unit.

Batting (7): The batting line-up is the most thorough aspect of Team India. The opening slots are filled with the comforting presence of Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir providing the back-up option. We have good finishers in Dhoni and Raina. Although 5 of the 7 batsman are in good form it is the form of the others that is more alarming.

Gambhir was most prolific run scorer, however, if Gambhir’s persists with his fitness issues then we have 3 positions that would require attention. Kohli, Yuvi, Rohit and Jadeja have been filling in at 3, 4, 6 and 7 positions respectively. Of the four only Kohli have had some decent run with the bat. Rohit had two tons in the Zimbabwe tri- series but failed to make an impact on the later matches. His fitness and attitude will have to change for him to have a chance to play any role in the team in its preparation to WC’11.

Yuvi in past have been a match winning player, but his authority to seal the game is wading with time. Hope the recent mandatory break might make him more hungry for runs. Jadeja is in the team for reasons only known to Dhoni. There is a general lack of a player like Dravid who can adapt to various conditions. Given the probability of Sachin and Sehwag both failing in the same match is very low, we need atleast two of the four listed above to evolve as a key player in the next couple of series.

During this quarter, Team India batting antics ranged from 88 to 285 with an average score of 210. In the matches won Team India scored 224 with an average loss of 6 wickets, while in the matches lost Team India scored at an average of 196 for 9 wickets. When the first three wickets fell cheaply Team India collapsed like a pack of cards. This is still a cause of worry and will be monitoring this over the next few quarters.

Bowling (6).Team India relies heavily on their batting to make an impact on the game. In all the matches won, we were able to successfully dismantle all the opponents, while in the matches lost we were able to take only 5 wickets with at least one of the openers taking control of the game. Perhaps Zaheer is the only bowler who constantly tries to outsmart the batsman. Harbhjan, Ojha, Sehwag and Jadeja can all contributed but the pieces have not fell together. We certainly lack bowlers who can control from one end. When bowling first, we tend to fall flat if one of the openers gets going.

Jadeja’s slot as an allrounder at No. 7 is very vital for the performance of the team. He has the ability to choke the runs. Since Dhoni is persisting with the selection of Jadeja in the grand scheme of things may be they have a role tailored for Jadeja to perform. The upcoming series against Australia will be crucial to deploy the bench instead of Zaheer and Harbhajan. Although this was tested against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in previous tours it may not be a bad idea to stick with.

Fielding (6).This is one area we can constantly improve on. There have been several missed opportunites in the previous three series that has cost us the games. We have seen the likes of Zaheer give a go at pick-up and throw but it is no-where near what can be claimed as best. The boundary line fielding efforts improved significantly, but the in circle fielding and the ability to attack the ball are areas of concern.

The upcoming series of Australia and New Zealand (both home series) could provide little insights into our bench strength.

2010-07-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

My take on the movie “Nothing but truth” – (Lots of Spoilers)

In a bizarre setting, I had to view this movie twice in two days and needless to say that it did provoke my thought process a little bit. In a nutshell the movie is about politics versus journalism. The director has very delicately interwoven the complexities of the issue in a well narrated and directed story. The question that movie posed to me were - How can journalism prevail, if it were to report findings of significance against the government? How can the government deal with journalists that potentially compromise national security? As the movie is “inspired” by facts and not based on facts there are many points in the movie that leave you to ponder ‘what would have really happened?’. I would highly encourage you all to watch the movie since it is not possible to reveal the entire story here.

The interesting part, that actually provoked my thought process, was our discussion (house/family) discussion after the movie. We had a two school of thought based on my questions posed above. Each one of them had their own strong sense of feelings for their thought, in way the thoughts became “owned’ and were justified and defended with great prudence (I guess you can also think of this as egotistical discussion session).

My point of view was there should be some balance between empowering either the politics and journalism. I believe that newspapers should have the right to question the political agenda of ruling party and present evidence when things go otherwise. However, when reporting news about national security reporters should exhibit more caution. Government have the responsibility to protecting the identity of the men and women who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country, just as the journalists are responsible for protecting their sources of information. However, the leaders are not immune to public statements when the nation goes to war.

Primarily, reporters have to respect the stance of their OWN government in the regard pertaining to national security. A newspaper is entirely different from tabloid. When I read about the same piece of information from three different and reputed newspapers, I register it as truth. Therefore the onus is on the reporters to present people with truth and not some kind of hoax. In this movie the reporter had done a tremendous job in putting the story (i.e. possibility that The President could have acted on his personal agenda in attacking a country, while ignoring reports from his own intelligence agency). However, I think that just as she protected her source, the reporter should have also protected the identity of CIA agent. The headlines should have been questioning the motives of The President not taking pride in blowing cover of the CIA agent. (If you can recollect, the front page of the Sun Times has half page picture of CIA agent Erica, which is a deliberate attempt for a newspaper to compete with tabloids). However, the reporter went for the tabloid piece (in this case a chance to get Pulitzer price for journalism) where she thought it was imperative to reveal the CIA agent. If the reporter felt that her source was so important, then the CIA agents (who are sources of information for government) are also that important to the government. There is reason why these people (i.e. CIA agents) are listed as classified. Compromising the names of CIA agents is in a way betraying your own country.

In the part of the movie where the Editor meets the reporter in the Jail, she mentions about interviewing with some reality show host citing that the story was “losing traction”. While Sun Times did not write any article after few weeks that would raise public interest in this matter. It is really disappointing that even the reality show was shown on Jerry Springer channel , which ells us about the nature and composition of the audience that it was targeted to (more evidence of newspaper trying to be tabloid).

In the end, it was partly the failure on the Rachel’s part to see the ‘big picture’ that caused lot of collateral damage. Had the reporter emphasized more on the story (questioning the motives of The president) rather than CIA agent there could have been public outcry (both domestic and international) and the government would have made been ousted in due course, to give way to a better one. As much as commend the reporter for her sincerity (particularly the scene where she asks her husband about The President and not whats on the news about her) and diligence (in securing proper documents from collaborative sources), it is appalling to see that she couldn’t understand the similarity between her source and CIA agent.

Overall, it is movie worth the weekday evening session. Where you have limited time to think and less energy to get into egotistical discussions.

2009-05-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Poker and Personality – Revelations

To hone poker skills, I have recently started reading books about the logic and history of poker and getting involved with ‘free bar poker’. There is a striking similarity among most of the poker literature, i.e. there is no easy way to win money, even if there is one….poker is definitely not it. On the contrary, if you are too casual about poker you can definitely help yourself to bankruptcy. Similar to any other game, poker deals with skills, especially with skills of knowing your cards, knowing your position and reading your opponent. The good news is that these skills can be learned and mastered with a certain effort. I don’t think knowing math, game theory or advanced statistics would really help coz at the end theories always revolve around the winners, who happen just to know how to do it. It is purely for academic purposes that we tend analyze and over analyze playing ability of a ‘pro’.

Gist of my observations and literature review, a tournament can be divided into three stages (about 40-50 people/5-6 tables) i.e. early stages, middle stages and final table. Each stage is distinctly different from others and needs a different mindset. There is tons of available literature on how to play during these stages and I would recommend reading Harrington’s or Brunson’s book for learning more about it. What is missing is these books are your mindset during those phases. This blog is to help beginner to intermediate poker players to understand the basic mindsets.

During early phase, be relaxed and have an open mind about people. Early stages are the first four blind raises. During early stage, the blinds are small; more people want to see the flop, some aggressive players and ‘suck outs’ take good hands. Follow the order cards……position….opponent. Poker is the last place where you want preconceived notions about a player on that particular day. BE PATIENT and seldom bluff. This is time where you can really establish your table image. This is the stage where you can gauge your table and opponents for a very cheap price. Firstly, play premium hands, secondly play by position. If you are only 2-3 positions away from big blind (in a 9 player table) you raise with a strong hand any hand not worthy of a raise should be strongly considered for a fold. There is no limping at these positions if you don’t have the right cards you ‘fold’. If you are under the gun or small blind you can limp in with a ‘call’. If you are big blind with marginal hand you ‘check’. if there is no raise during the round and only three people are involved in the game, you raise with a good hand (suited connectors or small pair). Well, these are only recommendations, as you keep playing you are bound to get more creative, both your play style and your mindset. Mantra: “A tight player with loose tongue is much better than loose player with a tight tongue”

During middle stages try to steal a few pots with your earlier image. Follow the order cards…opponent…..position. Notice that the difference between the early stage and middle stage is the shift in ranking between opponent and position. Since you have already established a table image and have taken mental notes on players, now you can play the player with your hand rather than the flop. During early stages, you have identified players and their playing pattern. Try to build momentum during middle phase, which doesn’t mean winning lot of pots, but winning few good pots. Try not to get involved in hands that don’t give you pot odds. This phase requires lot more attention to betting patterns and hands being dealt on the board. If possible get an energy drink and stay focused. As soon as it is down to 12 or so players you need to push the ‘gas pedal’ hard and get into the top 5-6 position. If you are already in number one position, take time to read other peoples game. It costs about 1.5 times big blind for every 9 hands/ (roughly about 30 minutes of game time).Time is worth more to you at this stage and that 30 minutes could well push you into MONEY. Mantra: “Chip and a Chair”- don’t bet all your chips with second best hand.

Once you reached the final stages and have avoided the suck-outs, you are in for good game. The final stages begin when the field is reduced to 2 (from initial 5-6 tables) tables. Take a small break and have some light conversation other than poker with other players. Look around, these are the players you will be playing in long run. In final stages you will see/encounter more bluffs, weak calls and bad beats. At this stage follow the order position, opponent and cards. All your hard work in the earlier stages to build your image will pay you off, this is definitely time to change a gear or two and induce “semi-bluffs” as you game strategy. You will seldom see more than 3 players getting involved in a hand. Some players just steal blinds while others are very patient. Get your full focus on the game. If you snooze even for one minute, the chances are that you will lose a big stack of chips. Right about where the money starts to come, people play really tight, your mindset should be to be “Very tight and aggressive” with big stack guys and “tight and aggressive” with low stack guys. If two big stack guys are playing this is the best part to learn about their cards and reactions that too with no cost for you. When you are not in hand, try to put your best guess on the opponents hand and simulate the hand play in your mind. The best way to approach a tournament is to build your attention span during the entirety of the tournament. With sporadic and distracted attention during the early stages to very vigilant on final table. If breathing techniques help you I highly recommend that you put them to use when you are not in a hand. Finally, I want to repeat myself “there is no easy way to win money, even if there is one poker is definitely not it”. It is a game and you MUST treat your play time with respect.

2008-09-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Three things that you would give up for Grad School

In order to orient new graduate students, the Graduate School arranges a panel of speakers from experienced students to share their opinions about graduate school life. The panel includes students pursuing degrees in diverse disciplines and at different phases of their degrees, as in near completion or initial stages. It was a real pleasure and privilege to be part of such an elite panel. Of the twelve questions, the one that set my thought process racing was “What are the three things that you would give up for Grad School?”

Serving on the panel for the first time, my answer to that question was very vague and was not even worth remembering the answers. However, the second time around, the question seemed like the one that I need to address myself. So I set about keeping a rough tab of how I spend my day and what would it be other than research that takes the most of the time. To my complete disbelief the first item on the list was “internet browsing” followed by "sleep time". These were the tangibles, the one that was intangible was my own “Ego”. It was my own unwillingness to accept new ideas and lack of vision to see equality in fellow researchers.

First things first, my thoughts about the biggest distraction of all is “internet browsing”. This addiction started as a pastime with viewing few sites of interest like BBC, blogging, mail check and social networking sites. For the news feed sites, an inquisitive mind and the unstable thought imposed an imaginary ‘responsibility’ of reading an entire site followed by comments. Considering that average reading speed is about 250 wpm, it would take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to read an entire article on web. However, this one article could be biased, so to find the truth I went about reading 2-3 articles from other authors about the same story. Effectively (may be not) utilizing 30 minutes of research time (without counting the loading speed and other distractions). Well this is only one topic. As the time progressed my curiosity increased and sometimes ended up reading about 20 other important happenings around the world. To be brutally honest, after updating my universal knowledge I went about refreshing short term memories by visiting social networking sites. Thanks to the wonderful web developers, we get to know about all the action in our friends lives in a live feed. As per my observations, a student with 150 or more friends in his network and with 5 of them online spends at least about an hour on networking site. Not but not the least the minor ingredients of browsing include blogging, mail checking and picture uploading. All together we are looking at sometime between 3-4 hours, just to satisfy our social urges. Assuming that a grad student starts his lab hours at 8am, browsing alone will bring the time closer to lunch. Like any other addiction it takes meticulous and conscious effort to carry out the action. And this would be my number one and relatively easier one to give up.

The second biggest factor that I would give up is “sleep time”. The term sleep doesn’t pertain to necessary sleep time, but is loosely used for all the times that you are thinking that you should be more productive, that you are lazy, when you are thinking about how to postpone the experiment for another day, about the time when you start thinking about lunch and other social events, hours prior to the actual events. This sleep time accounts for about 1-2 hours of your research time. Personally tried and tested approach to this problem is rather eloborate, however for simplicity it can be considered as a three teir approach. First, think about the experiments in hand atleast 6-8 hours prior to the experiment. May seem odd at first but works like a charm later on. Second, try to collaborate with fellow researchers to work on experiments. Thirdly, write a check list and meticulously keep track of progress. I guess prioritizing will greatly help, but the whole topic about priorities is not clearly understood by me (yet) and for simplicity and integrity of blog will leave it out of discussion. However, once you start following the three tier process the results will speak for themselves. Note: I strongly recommend at least 6 hours of sleep on a regular schedule. If you can’t do this on a 5 day work schedule, you better get some help from experts.

Thirdly and the most important of all it’s the EGO. This is not as tangible as others, is not easily understood by lesser mortals and worse yet not realized by majority of the students. But yet it is the single most important factor that puts us behind the curtain and isolates us from world around us. It is the ‘one thing’ that makes you deaf to others suggestions, blind to others work, mute to offer constructive criticism and disabled to employ help. Put together you get the picture……..you have arrested development. I’m not an expert to advice on how to deal with problems related to EGO, but being on the same boat can definitely see its intricate and subtle nature. It is winded into each and every action of mine, into every word I speak. There is no remedy since its part of me, and in broader sense it ME. The very thought of eliminating it leaves ME with no identity. The solution then, as it appears to me, is through proper education. It’s only through education that you can train your mind to hear and anticipate greater good. The thought that we are not alone in this world and only when all these souls work together can greater good be achieved. It’s through education that we learn it’s not through mere submission to others ideas but inquisitiveness to hear the idea.

If the question was what are the three things that you would give up……..then the answers are above. But the question is much deeper than that…..it is how open you are to learning and exploring yourself, it’s about how you can educate yourself to solve a puzzle larger than life. Then graduate school is just a phase of life, where we can invest quality time in ourselves. Welcome to Graduate School!!!

2008-07-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

Raja’s brialliance tamed the RedBulls

In the clash of the titans - positive attitude, hunger combined with brilliance of Raja gave Assassins their claim to ISA CUP ’08.While dropped catches and miscalculations costed RedBulls the cup. It is very rare to see one player to have such a dominating effect on the match and the much deserved kudos go to Raja. He put brakes on RedBulls scoring with wonderful bowling and lifted Assassins to victory with calculated batting filled with strokes of luck.

RedBulls innings never got the momentum going, and in the end was short by atleast 5 to 10 runs. Praveen and Shakti started the innings with wonderful excellent running between the wickets. However, shakti’s stay at crease was cut short by good catch at covers. Praveen scored two consecutive boundaries but was run out in the same over. With Shiva, Sushanth and Piyush scoring no runs it put further dent in the RedBulls scoring rate. The icing on the cake was Vinay’s continued dominance with bat. He dismissed bowlers with ease and scored boundaries all around the wicket. Rana played perfect foil to Vinay and the duo propelled Redbulls to competitive score. However, intelligent bowling and athletic fielding from Assassins kept the RedBulls under control. A late onslaught from Vivek gave further twist to the already gripping match. At the end of first innings RedBulls were in driver’s seat with a formidable total of 74 from 10 runs.

Nayan started the innings with a boundary, but was fell to precision and control of Rana. Raja was welcomed to the crease with a dropped catch of the very first ball, which in the end proved to be the deciding point of the game. Assassins, particularly Vinayak, showed positive chasing approach and belted Sushanth and Vinay for 26 runs in 2 overs. Vivek and Piyush did well to control the scoring rate. Vivek was particularly impressive with his miserly spell. Vinayak chose his shots well, but fell to good bowling from Piyush. Benny and Raja continued taking singles and pushing the score board. Assassins were in Cruise mode through midway of their innings, scoring boundaries and singles with ease. At the critical phase of the game the equation was 20 required of 18 balls. Vivek bowled a maiden 8th over and gave RedBulls the slight advantage. Rana’s bowling was turning point of the game, during which Redbulls failed to latch onto catches from Phani and Raja. He induced four catches from the first four balls in the penultimate over, but missed chances meant runs instead of dot balls and wickets. With 9 required from 6 balls, RedBulls again missed an opportunity of a runout in the very first ball of Vinay’s over. Raja outplayed Vinay with clean hitting and scoring boundaries of successive balls. The final score card read “Assassins won with 7 wickets in hand with two balls to spare”.

In the battle of nerves, RedBulls once again failed to latch onto chances, while Assassins showed lot of character in overcoming a formidable total. In the end it was Raja, riding his luck for first few moments of his stay once, who guided Assassins to the trophy.

Congratulations Assassins……..winners of ISA CUP ‘08

2008-07-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Red Bulls outsmarted by Assassins………ISA Cup ‘08 unveils itself

The ISA CUP is one of the prestigious accolade one can expect to receive for cricket from K-State. This year there are four teams, each team unique in its approach and perspective. One of the teams had passion and competetiveness, while the other had talent and raw power. Of the two underdogs one team has a distinct international flavor, while the fourth team has courage and spirit to upset the big guns. Of the league games our game (Team Red Bulls) Vs. Assassins was billed as crowd pulling/entertaining game. And this certainly lived upto the expectations…….as the final scorecard read “Assassins won by two runs”. It was neither a high scoring drama nor bowlers death trap, but a delicate balance of both.

Assassins won the toss and elected to bat. Their objective was to set a decent target and depend on their quality bowling attack to win the game. Nayan (opener) started the game with a superb cut for four and set scorecard in motion. However Rana’s accurate bowling and Praveen’s athletic fielding fetched two successive wickets and scoring almost came to a halt. In midst of all the calm overs, the two quick wickets and being caught in the excitement, RedBulls conceded an extra over of powerplay allowing Raja to score 12 runs in the final over of field restrictions. At the half time (9 overs) the game was evenly poised with scorecard reading 52-2. Raja fell to a reverse sweep, courtesy of a well choreographed and athletic catch from Sushanth. Vinayak followed the suit with a caught behind. This brought Samuel and Pritish to the crease. Sushanth and KLN continued their good form with the ball and kept batsman at bay. After14th over that the batsman started freeing their arms, and in the process scored about 30-35 runs the next three overs. RedBulls did well to restrict Assassins to final score of 122-5. Although the fielding of RedBulls was a lot better than their previous outing, the Assassins found a way to make runs.

Redbulls fresh from their belting the minnows for 203 runs started the run chase in a calculated fashion. Praveen on top of his game and Vivek promoted to opening slot, made runs with ease. Vivek fell to a simple catch at point and prompted Vinay to the crease. Vinay with his clean hitting and excellent running between executed a prefect run chase. Praveen fell to an excellent catch at point by Sandeep. Shiva took time to settle down before taking cheeky singles. Vinay was still in ‘cruise’ mode scoring boundaries with ease. Shiva joined the run fest scoring 12 off Phani’s gently pace. The score at the half time was 72-2. With plenty of batting to come and Vinay well set, RedBulls were well on their way to win the game. However, Pritish returning from leg injury and Raja with his precise bowling had other plans. The duo gave only 12 runs in the next four overs and got four wickets, including the price scalp of hard hitting Vinay and Rana. On the other end, Shiva upped the tempo and started scoring freely with drives and reverse sweeps, bringing RedBulls ever so close to victory. Raja outsmarted Shiva and bowled him. Assassins were in with a ‘chance’. Sushanth, known for his ability to finish the game, fell for a mistimed shot and left the game wide open. JD responded well in the pressure situation scoring run a ball. With 8 needed from 6 balls, it was as gripping as it could get. Three runs were scored off five deliveries, needing a boundary off the last ball for a possible draw. Shakti gave his best to score boundary of the full toss ball, but brilliant fielding effort stopped his attempt.

In the end, to like of cricket aficionados and much to Redbulls dismay, the match lived up to the expectations. With three matches to go in the league stage, the finals are still an open spot. If Redbulls can buckle down and get back to business they can look forward for a sweet revenge. While Assassins need to comeup with few more tricks to claim the ISA CUP ’08.

2008-07-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

U food science bowl team buzzes way into nat'l contest

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/04/07/64042

2008-07-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

Cultures united by passion for cricket

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/05/06/9620

2008-05-22T22:04:00.001-07:00

Step-wise guide to assemble an I-Scooter

1. The unit comes in a re-inforced steel cage
2. Carefully remove the top frame and the side bars of the cage (There should be about 8-10 screws holding the unit together.
3. Insert the key and rotate clock wise to open the trunk space (located under the seat)
4. You should find instructions, manual, nuts, bolts, screw driver, spanners and other tools in the trunk
5. The step-wise instruction is, the following sequence is preferred
a. Install front wheel
b. Install the handle
c. Install the front body work
d. Install the side body work
e. Install the seat supporter
f. Install the battery
6. Front wheel Installation. Caution: Do not remove the black plastic cap/holder between the disc plates.
a. The wheel should be on the foot rest
b. Unmount the moped from the cage by simply taking the long screw and two bolts out
c. While one person is holding the moped, carefully place the disc of the wheel into the brake dics (note: the black plastic holder should be taken out right before you place the wheel inbetween the brake disc).
d. Fit the wheel in place by using long screw and bolts that come along with it
7. Handle installation
a. Find the long screw along with two bolts.
b. First bolt should hold the handle in place while the other bolt goes in the back to hold the screw in place. (Caution: This could be very tricky if you are using the tools that come with the bike. I would suggest using a ricochet tool if you have one)
c. Make sure that handle is not wobbly, if it is then try to find a bolt that fits in the handle bar socket (there should be two of them in the kit)
8. Front body work
a. It comes in pieces, one that goes above the wheel (like a mud guard) and one that main frame
b. For the one that goes over the wheel
i. there should be a steel frame to hold it in place. The steel frame goes underneath the cover
ii. There should be three screws that hold it in place.
iii. Attach the cover to the main handle bar
c. Installing main frame involves three bolts on either side and one bolt in the front.

9. Side body work
a. There should be two of them for either sides of I-Scooter
b. Each of them is to be fixed using two sets of nuts and bolts
10. Battery installation involves filling it with fluid and placing it in the groove (in the foot rest). Attach three of the wires (as indicated in manual). The manual instructions are very clear on battery installation.
11. Seat supporter has four bolts holding it in place
12. Fill gas, use electronic remote to start the bike (Caution: do not use kick start or automatic start on the handle, they will not work)

Enjoy your first tank for about 130 miles.……….

2008-05-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

I-Scooter: Going 100 miles and beyond on a gallon of gas

With gas prices soaring to over $3.50 one can only wonder how long before we all start using other alternatives. It was my turn to search for other economic alternatives and honestly there were only two other options a road bike or a moped, as it turns out I opted for the latter option of “MOPED”.

After searching for lot of models I decided to go with RoadRunner I-Scooter 50cc moped with a retro look. Can’t get any nerdy I guess!!!!. Of all the websites out there the one with a relatively lower price was http://www.ritz-e-rides.com/. It offers the moped I was interested in for around $800 including shipping and a nominal charge for a helmet. Provided the unit comes partly assembled and is delivered by mail, I wouldnt recommend it for people who just want to kick start and drive right away. Being a novice in motor mechanics I was very reluctant to take any chances. On the other hand, buying the same scooter from near-by showroom would have cost about $1050.

I called Jeff Ritz, owner of the site http://www.ritz-e-rides.com/. Jeff was really helpful in offering his thoughts about owning a moped. He also helped me (over the phone) with a stepwise detail of how to assemble the moped. The bike installation is about 1-3 hours process with 2 people working on it. Belive me, it takes about 5 hours for one person and at the end you are in for a sore back and frustration. It is much easier and fun with two people. All the necessary tools to assemble the moped come with it [Note: Read my next blog “Step-wise guide to assemble an I-Scooter”].

In certain states of the US, mopeds do not require extra insurance, parking permit or additional driving license. All you got to do is get the moped registered and enjoy the ride.

The best part of owning a moped is about finding a parking spot during busy class hours. Previously, I used to wait to find parking spot and spend about 20 minutes or so in the search process. This was very frustrating especially if you had to rush to a class or a meeting. But with I-Scooter I can park it in regular bike rack. This saves me ton of time. Moreover, the bike racks are very conviniently located right next to most of the buildings, so it’s a win win situation.

The real deal of I-Scooter is its mileage. Once you fill the tank about 1.1 gallons, you can rest assured for next 130 miles. With a maximum speed of about 40mph, street riding has never been so much fun. Word of caution though, do not attempt to go over 30mph for first 100 miles or so. It will result in unpleasant engine sounds and could ruin the transmission. For the first 200 miles you might feel the ride on I-Scooter to be still new, but believe me after that it gets better.

I-Scooter comes with storage trunk and automatic lock, emergency alarm and remote start. Which are very cool for a moped huh!!!!! However, word of caution again, do not leave your keys in rain or moist places. Like any other electronic device the remote can malfunction due to water.

I live in a small college town about 4 miles of diameter, so it takes me about 10 minutes to go to the farthest place, at about 1/5th of fuel as compared to fuel efficient car. I-Scooter may not be one for you if you want to muscle your way on a street but it is a wise and economic choice given the soaring gas prices. On a personal note, I would like to acknowledge efforts of Jeff, owner of http://www.ritz-e-rides.com/ for his advice and customer service.

Now you know how to get 100 miles and beyond for a gallon of gas………. Go ride on.

2008-03-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

Attention Deficiency What???
Recent experiences with people who are at a higher intellect to compete at the same level as other mortals and their will power to succeed have reinforced in me the concept of faith in human sprit. One such recent exposure of mine was to friend of mine coping with ADD. Yes Attention Deficiency Disorder.
Having ADD doesn’t make a person any different. It is important that when going through ADD we need to be aware of certain special requirements when it comes to having a focused mind. Our medical science people did discover some drugs to benefit recovery from such phases, however the side-effects of these drugs are much complex. A simple Google search can result in about many pages that explain this phenomenon. It is important that we understand this and embrace our friends with ADD rather than ignore or much worse don’t let them IN.
This is my take on the ADD. Assume that you are viewing a web page and continuous pop-ups are disturbing you. It is hard to concentrate on the work at hand. And worse, assume that these pop-ups are related to your weaknesses or strengths. Then it is very likely for these pop-ups to catch our attention. In other words, they take your attention away from article you are reading or the original work that you are supposed to do. For most part we are equipped with Spam ware and a Pop-up blocker mechanism in our minds that prevents us from other distractions when focusing on certain work. However having ADD compromises our system and the pop-ups keep grabbing attention too frequently. Its more like opening a commercial site offering ridiculously popular items for FREE, which then takes you to pop-up land. On a normal functioning day we abandon those sites and try stay focused on our intended purposes. As mentioned earlier, having ADD makes us more vulnerable to these Pop-Ups. In combination to our pervious experiences that these pop-ups are not good we tend to develop a sense of insecurity in our thought process. Consequently, we are confused, and due to the overload on the brain start feeling dizzy. The worst of the feeling is not having the ability to control these pop-ups.
Now the important question is how to deal with ADD. One way is to have good friends/company when going thru these periods. It is more likely not to get distracted in a good company. It is essential for the friends not to force you to focus rather try to instill confidence in us with assuring words. Is it the real cure, may be not but at least gives them the comfort/pleasure of a worthy companionship.
There could be days when ADD tends to “zone us OUT”, i.e. sense of insecurity creeps in and makes us feel not so social. During periods like these we want to spend time in our own empty space. This is open for discussion. Please feel free to post your suggestions.
If it were to be me to deal with my friend with ADD, I would encourage them to work on things that they tend to like or have liked in the past. Be patient to recognize the behavior patterns and gently suggest them my observations. The important thing is not to create an unsafe learning experience, and understand that they have been hurt/scarred with those pop-ups before and largely believe that they will come back. I hope not to force them to face themselves too often, for they might tend to repel our presence. “One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world.” – Ann Radcliffe

K-State undergraduates included in 13th-annual Research Forum display - Campus News

2008-03-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

K-State undergraduates included in 13th-annual Research Forum display - Campus News

2008-01-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

Dealing with "Having a purpose"

For many people the "all-in" moment comes only when they are exhausted of resources. My recent enlightenment from the works of "Alba Emoting" and "Guy Kawasaki" suggest that such bitter "all-in" experiences are a consequence of improper handling of resources and not understanding thyself. The worst of all not giving time to understand thyself. One way or the other we all have our "all-in" moments, the best way to deal with it is to exit in grace by knowing when. And it is as simple and as rhetoric as "Having a purpose".

Taking a leaf from Robert Kowasaki's book "Rich Dad and Poor Dad", it all starts with writing what we want, why we want and how we want it. I would have cared less about this a couple of months ago and would have even jeered at someone who talked in this fashion. However, looking back at epic heros of Indian mythology and recent idols from various sports, I realize that they indeed have a check list of how to act and when to act.

In a more recent past, like last week, during my PhD committee meetings one of the advisor asked me - " What is the final objective of your PhD thesis". I stated it in the most diplomatic way possible and to please atleast 3 of the 5 of the committee members. However, listening to those recordings of the meetings, I wondered if that question had any deeper meaning. I truly believe it does. I took one whole week to read literature and come up with more explanations of why I was doing that research. In the process I understood that its ME who has to understand what I want and its me who has to DO work to satisfy myself. Once the question was clear in my head, the experimental design was as simple as getting it done. I cannot stress less on how humbling the experience was.

In principle 'having a purpose' is very simple "Know what you want and get it". Once this is established then comes the blank book of life, on Either enjoy the fruits or enjoy the journey, either ways start the journey rather than sit back and complain. Going by Stephen Covey's principles, we can categorize mortals into four kinds based on their view of the above statement viz. doomed mortals, ordinary mortals, striving mortals and blessed mortals. Doomed mortals have an easy way of criticizing others, belittling others and faking authority of subject. But in the time of "all-in" moment all they have is a little hope and lot of pressure. Ordinary mortals (including myself) this would bring up questions of ethics, history and other non-relevant questions that could cut me slack and give me time to relax and rewind. For part of the striving mortals (future me!!) it would be coming with a list of what you want and playing the never satisfying game of balancing our needs, wants and list goes on........ For the blessed mortals, I dont know..... wish someone could fill into this.

2007-10-29T21:36:00.001-07:00

Thermodynamics…. A new solution to the age old problem of chaos?

In my recent interactions with biochemical terms, I came across a very fundamental thermodynamic law, that the total entropy of the world is always increasing. So the adventure began to understand this word entropy, what is this concept and how it came into existence. In short, entropy is ‘chaos’, this concept indicates that reaction is favored if it increases the chaos or disorder in the world. Interestingly can this be applied to any human action rather than limiting this wonderful concept to some body reactions?

Lets take a look at few examples, say digital organizer. First take, great invention helps us organize ourselves better well if we are getting more organized then there is an apparent decrease in entropy of our lives. Well here is the catch, the law states that the chaos of world has to increase. So on the flip side of the digital organizer, even though we (as a system) are getting organized, by being more organized are doing lot more activities, like instead of missing a meeting we prepare ourselves, or spend time doing something else like reading a paper. Now lets say everybody has an organizer we need stuff to read and get prepared, so we infact do more work inorder to me more productive in the less time we have. We do more work and inorder have more things to think about. Well point proven digital organizer is adding to the chaos of the world – hence a very wanted device.

Lets take a look at transportation system. Well first take again, great way to restore orderliness by reducing the time to go between places, makes us more organized by being on schedule. Well thermodynamic answer, it takes us to more places, makes more people interact, more thoughts fly, more time to do activities, more planning required on how to spend the saved time. Thus the entropy increases, hence transportation system is favored thermodyanamically.

Lets take a look at iPod, amazing makes us relax, listen to our favorite music on the go. Thermodynamic explanation? Well the more you listen to music, the more the backend support you need to make it meet your demands, increase the storage capacity, improve the ear phones, make it look more sleek (well almost invisible in some cases), come up with video option…..etc. Moral of the story the few thousand customers, a few thousand others think and work at greater length. For the few that own, spend more hours on researching about the viable options that would make their iPod an all in one device (thank god there is iPhone now).

In grander scheme of things, philanthropic works are also thermodynamically favored since they get lot of people, efforts and thoughts together. On the other hand, angry protests and blasts that tremendously reduce population or inhabitant population are not thermodynamically favored since it reduces the number of people that can contribute to the chaos. Now in a metaphysical concept, if everything is to be favored by thermodyamics, then what about death or people going to a vegetative state? Those are very hard to comprehend, or may be the summation of the chaos contributed by the people that would be attending to those dead or vegetative is greater than the persons contribution in life time? So if you are very active and constantly contributing to the chaos then shouldn’t we be living forever? May be every system has its limit on to how much chaos that can be contributed before the system is out of energy? Oh well, this is out of my thought process, so suggestions and discussions are open…..

Take home message - may be for all the items common in each household, it is so because of the thermodyanamic law. (Note: Well this is assuming that the internal energy of the system and the external temperature are constant, this is a whole topic in itself and its open to discussion for the few blessed souls that read my blog!!!!). So the next time you come with a great idea may be its worth while to think how this idea causes initial rest in the customer, but causes and utter chaos around the individual. I guess "peace" has its own special place in thermodynamics,........ may be it never occurs...... interestingly may be its the missing dollar!!!!

2007-10-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

What about the missing dollar?

Have ever wondered about the story about the missing dollar? Well in a shorter version of the story, three friends go to a restaurant and order food worth $30. They pay the waiter $30 each contributing $10. The waiter takes the money to the cashier, the cashier decides to give $5 discount. The waiter keeps $2 and gives $3 back to the three friends. The three friends split it i.e. $1 each. Now looking back at the problem, each friend paid only $9 i.e. $27 total and the waiter kept $2 for himself so that total is $29 as opposed to $30. So where is the missing dollar?

The answer is very simple but requires us to look at each aspect carefully. I guess this is probably the math that we employ in our lives too. Though there is nothing missing, we always look into it and wish for that one thing that would make it perfect. Now under this premise we look forward for lot of things in life hoping that one day that missing dollar will magically appear. Some go a bit farther and anticipate the occurrence of finding missing dollar. This can be seen in two different aspects i.e. hope and desperation. Hope is the most wonderful and powerful aspect of human thinking, while desperation and defeat is a complete opposite.

In a grander scheme of things, hope creates illusions as well as opportunities to explore something really new. It also makes some people adamant so foolish in their beliefs that life itself is based on the hope. Yet it is this hope that keeps most of us alive. Hope does have magical power of curing the most dreadful ailments. On the other hand, there is defeated attitude, a feeling that the missing dollar would never appear. Of course it wouldn’t, coz there is none missing. This attitude is the biggest hurdle to the human civilization, perhaps not as deadly as having foolish hope.

In either case we lose rationality and act in a very contrary way. As easy as it seems we are in most cases in one of these either states. The time that we are not in these states are when we actually look at the “missing dollar” problem and see that there is no missing dollar. If actual payments and receipts are added everything is normal. For this clarity to occur you either need to have prior information to act upon it, or an aptitude to look beyond the problem. This is well depicted in the movie “Patch adams” in the part “How many fingers here”.

Well, again in theory that does a little bit optimistic huh!!!

2007-08-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Chicago Diary: Poker and Personality – II

After long deliberation in the previous blog about how poker relates to our decision making, its time to take a deeper look into how to PLAY it right. The most important lessons from recent loss in a tournament were playing too many hands, losing advantage of having bigger stack and giving into the math. These lessons came as a revelation after in the light of early exits from three consecutive tournaments. Coming to the first reason of playing too many hands, it is very difficult for someone not to play when you believe that you have good cards. Two underlying mindsets that make one plays lot of hands, are one, underestimating the people at the table and two resigning to the fact your fate is going to change with the next hand. It is one of the toughest periods to overcome these mental blocks. Underestimating people at the table potentially results in loosing many small pots to different people. The best way to deal with it, treat them like individuals just like you in a better position, since they are seated across you from you. Treat them like mirror images of your actions. Take time to read them, coz this gives you an advantage when you play against them, gives you an opportunity to understand the table dynamics and also that advantage of information before you jump in. The other worst enemy of a rookie poker player is the state of being resigned that not your day. We are there to play and win, no other motive, absolutely nothing. If you think its not your day, DON’T PLAY. State of self disbelief has its root cause in you not understanding the table dynamics. So take time out, fold couple of hands you think are good, don’t over analyze your situation, but relax and watch people and their emotions.

Coming to the second part of losing advantage of having bigger stack, that’s a real knack and that separates the top men to the others. A good player holds to his advantage by either eliminating the weaker ones, or letting the other eliminate each other in the process of gaining advantage. One way is to play a waiting game to see how the others are actually eliminating each other. This largely helps in the initial rounds, where you don’t need to push your luck that much. Remember the lesser the number of players left, the greater are the returns for strong hands and bluffs. When you feel that you are giving away the advantage explore the reasons why you were there in the first place. It could be as simple as winning a big pot with good hand.

In real life the poker skills and training translates to holding your credibility till you can. A word of caution though is that life doesn’t deal with people being eliminated in true sense. Life is more dynamic with intricate emotions and bonds. This requires your act to be consistent for longer periods of time, which in turn calls for consistent thought process. But it is worth pondering what does ALL IN mean to you? And are you the one who is willing to take the risk for what you believe to be ALL IN or the one who prefers to die a slow death?

2007-07-25T13:56:00.001-07:00

Chicago Diary: Poker and Personality

My summer in Chi City would be very monotonous if not for cricket and cards (Hold’em mainly). Cricket has been part of parcel of my life since very young age, and I’ve always enjoyed playing it, sometimes at professional level and other times just for fun. Poker though is somewhat recent and is menacingly becoming my favorite past time. Apart from the occasional wins and more than occasional losses, my experiences with Poker have been very educative and entertaining. I first began playing poker for fun (without money) and was never serious in betting, it was more a reason to socialize than for competitive reasons. But recently, having tasted some success in Casinos I feel that poker is all the more entertaining when it involves emotions, excitement and more importantly money. Success has fueled me to be more successful on a continuous basis, since success is spelt MONEY in poker. Consequently, to hone my poker skills I got into reading some available literature on poker, mostly books written by some poker legends as well as some fictional story writers. Although each of the authors has their favorite hands and styles of playing, they all convey a same message i.e. play to win. They also try to teach you on how to read others game and play accordingly. However, after analyzing the game under the light shed by the books, I believe that a person’s behavior at poker table can be related to their behavior patterns under pressure.

In Hold’em you play a hand either when you have good cards, or when you can make others believe that you have good cards. You got to hold your cards close to your chest and try to read others cards based three aspects, 1. cards on the board; 2. facial expressions and; 3 body language. This is somewhat analogous to our human behavior in day-to day life, where we tend to make judgment based on the available information. Also in a daily routine you tend to ignore (called ‘fold’ in Hold’em) stuff that are not of concern to you, or stuff that you think will not be beneficial to you in near future. Secondly, we try to pursue things that we have known to be good, or things that we see have some returns in the future (called ‘bet’). In extreme cases when we think that this is the one we want, we give it best shot (called ‘all in’). The tough part is recognizing the opponents. We cannot play this game alone. So as a rule of thumb we are constantly measuring ourselves with people or things around us.

Yet in a philosophical setting, the play style would just represent your way of dealing things around you. How do you fit in a company? Would you be aggressive to make a mark right up front or would you be the silent killer that strikes at the right opportunity or would you be the ‘seasonal loser’ that keeps waiting for that one hand which never comes? As in life the poker table has this dynamic setting about it. One that amazed me most was how to react when someone bullies you around (called ‘high stack bully’)? Do I give into it with frustration or just keep ignoring the trash talk? However, it is not always a learning experience at poker table because there is always a factor called ‘luck’. This brings up an important question of corporate world how would you deal when you know that you had best shot yet some lesser mortal has gained it by sheer luck?

If you were to play and learn at the same time, I guess poker does it. But as it is in all cases of life, learning comes with a price and it is ultimately you who has to decide what PRICE you are going to pay for these invaluable lessons?

2007-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Chicago Diary: Thought process and refinement

After my long deliberation upon how to move up the ladder, its time to focus on how to maintain high levels of internal energy to increase your chances of moving up the ladder. In my previous blog I stumbled upon using the word “Inertia” to describe my laziness i.e. failure to gain momentum unless acted by external force, but its time to take a fresh approach to the same thought process and refine it. In order to “move up the ladder” we could imbibe the other definition of ‘inertia’ i.e. to be in continuous motion unless acted by external force. A very naïve approach would be to meticulously work on a project until you finish it. Needless to say, that path of your work should offer you the innovative approach required. This translates to you loving your work so much that the external forces are miniscule compared to your motivation. In case of lesser mortals the scenario is a little bit different. They start out with high internal motivation. However, companies owing to restrictions of time, money and space are forced to impose deadlines, communication meetings, agenda verifications, timeline sheets and production schedule (though one has to understand that company is sincerely and honestly trying to bring the best of you). These external forces are sure to dampen our initial energy. Intuitively you want to excel in your area and enjoy the benefits. Paradoxically, though the company should be harnessing your inert (state of being in continuously meticulous mode) it is forced to impose external forces. Slowly and surely you are brought to a sedate and boring corporate environment. Now after the company had been successful in making you sedate, they try new techniques (like lunch and learn, supplier meetings, innovation partnership and others). So here is the million dollar question of how can we fit into this paradoxical situation?

In the converse model of inertia, the company apart from teaching models (to initiate drive in us), employs other recharging techniques like give bonuses, vacation, paid vacation and in very rare cases good health insurance. It is very different with everyone and a combination of one or two techniques usually works with most people. In another approach we can look at our physical work environment something similar to a planetary system, where company is the center (and source of energy). The company wants us to work like a planet in a continuous and predictable manner (irrespective of the path of the company). We need to continuously realign ourselves to fit to the path of the company.

As a summary, here are some age-old saying of work (say more tit-bits from people up the ladder) 1. Ask yourself if this is what you want to do for at least next few years; 2. Can you wake up everyday morning feeling excited about it; 3. Do you see the people around you contributing for your betterment? 4. Do you think you can make a difference if you continue doing the same job. These thoughts are worth pondering, and if you have answered yes for atleast 3 of those questions, then (as per second definition of inertial) it is more likely that you are indispensable to company and (depending on your urge) will move up the ladder. If you don’t have the questions for most of the answers then (as per the latter definition of inertia) you will more likely spent more time where you are right now or be exited for ever (oops….).

2007-07-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

Chicago Diary: Tid-bits from "Upstairs People"

The past few weeks of my Chy city experience have been very recreational and informative. Recreational in a sense that I have been playing club cricket and performing well, followed the wimbledon on a 56" TV with full surround system, got to win some poker games. However, the striking part of last few weeks was the amount of information that has been collected about the corporate work culture and the broader perspective I gained from it. Firstly, as interns you get to meet lot of Big shots at a very personal level. Secondly, you get to know about company that you could potentially end up working for and importanty you get wealth of information from the "Upstairs People", who claim to have "Been there and Done that". My first guess about"Upstairs people" was as good as any other amatuer intern, that they tell people what to do. However, upon closer look it occurs that these are the guys who have a 'Birds view' of things happening. Though that doesnt change a thing about people or thier personalities, it does give a new dimension of things in corporate world.

One such learning experience for me was about corporate culture was the plans, goals and actions of the employees. Ironically, everyone is trying to only climb the ladder, following the same suit as the one before them. Then the question is which one gets there first and becomes one of those "Upstairs People"? . Well, this was unravelled to its minutest detail during our "brown bag lunches" (read stuff your mind, while you stuff your mouth meetings) we got to have with these top notch guys. The summary of these interactions is more or less similar to Darwin's thoery of evolution and sustenance. One - Natural selection i.e. the company chooses people who have traits of previously successful people who served the company in long term goals, 2. survival of the fittest - company has limited resources which can only be available to ones that claim it rightfully, 3. Transendence - the successful traits are inculcated into those who are aspiring to be better.

This opens a wide array of thoughts, and one such 'Out-of-Box' approach is to explain the process using particulate models to perdict the ones that will be successful and ones that wont be. In principle, particles that move faster are at higher energy state levels either gained from external or internal source. Company can only provide certain external energy in form of money, vacation and status quo. However, since its resources are limited it tries to tap into the energy of particles that are internally vibrant. However, among those with lot of internal energy the particles that limit thier random motions and converge onto the focal point are more successful. (In true terms, the word "randomness" what is explained by the 'Company Policies' is completely non- transparent). Hence in a bigger picture there should be a symbiotic relationship between your contributions and companies growth, with a very strong emphasis on time.

Though simple, inorder to resourcefully utlize energy from 10,000 particles, you need about 50 - 100 capacitors, to store the incoming energy and prevent sudden energy fluctuations. And you need about 5 to 10 work stations that constantly tap into the energy of the capacitors, and about 3 switch modules, most often represented by 1 bright light (i.e CEO). So if you want to climb the ladder faster you either have "potential" at first rapidly converting into "Kinetic form" or have the "Capacity" to resourcefully use others energy.

However, needless to day the "Tid-bits from Upstairs people" didnot include the roles, responsiblities and enjoyment of those who actually 'Built the whole system' and are currently enjoying the light of the system. I guess we do need more "Brown Bag Lunches" Eh!

2007-06-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

Chicago Diary: First week in the CHY city

Oh! Do I miss enjoying the beautiful summer in a peaceful small town, watching nature transform itself from a gloomy spring to bright cheerful summer? My first week in the CHY City was an amalgam of emotions. The very first thought of working for a top notch company was filled with excitement. But the excitement was followed by thoughts of leaving my beloved one, and of parting from the little pleasures of a small town. Not but the least came the uncertainty of living conditions in CHY city and getting to build the friends circle. Nevertheless the journey till now is filled with adventure. The very first few moments included taking local train to the Union Station and from there another train (about 2 hours of journey), followed by a cab from the train station to the apartment. Ironically, it took me 11 hours from airport to the apartment. The new apartment is somewhere between a dorm and a rooming house. The people work for software companies on a project basis, this meant that I saw nearly 10 new people in the same house within a span of 5 days. Apparently, after the initial chaos there is some order in the roommates’ influx. As a consequence of this temporary orderliness there is a temporary schedule for the other house activities, including rest room usage, kitchen usage and TV.
Most of the week was spent working. The adventurous part was to reach to work place I had to clear all the hurdles of beating the traffic to rest room, get onto the right train, catch the shuttle which departs right on the dot and finally to reach work by 7.30 AM. Never it has been so intensive that we had to meticulous do all the things inorder to be somewhere. I guess that’s part of the CITY LIFE. The work itself was very exciting and interesting. Firstly, I was made part of the elite R&D by the virtue of my degree and was made to attend at least 2 meetings everyday. Secondly, there was no real draft of what I would be trouble shooting, so had to come up with own ideas of making something troublesome…… (hmmmm..). It is worth mentioning that the R&D team was really good, knowledgeable and helpful, which made atleast part of the job easier. Apart from all the good and interesting things about the job, weekend was always a warm welcome.
During the first weekend I got to enjoy cricket and cards. On the cricket front, my previous contacts helped me get into a team, which put on the best display of aggressive cricket. They bowled the opponent out for 30 runs inside 10 overs and clinically chased the target in 6 overs. The game was well under 1.5 hours. This meant that we could play a practice game of 15 overs. I got to open the innings with a “wham bam thank you” kind of attitude which resulted in 15 ball 30. The next day we went to a casino. This was the first time I played roulette, three card poker and slot machines along with perennial poker. Though there were considerable losses in the first three games, profits were reaped from the ever trusted “texas hold’em”. So much so for the profits that we ended up having groceries for six people for two weeks…. yippe skippe.
I hope that the busy schedule doesn’t keep me away from writing a blog. So come back to read more.

2007-05-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Cricket at K-State............Simple pleasures of life

What more can we ask for during beautiful summer evening? You guessed it right, the time is right for CRICKET. The buzz word at K-State during summers is the local tennis ball cricket tournament. A practice game is place where you get to participate in the action without any worry about the result. The pick up games are about 12-15 overs and last about an hour or two; and are played on an astro turf (meant for soccer). Few things that are really catchy about this version of cricket are simple, shorter boundaries, unpredictablity of pitch, nature of the ball on a given day and more importantly 'action packed'. In true terms the over limit (less than the 20/20) calls for players who can accelerate from the word go, but sometimes also accomodates people who call themselves "Clinical Performers". It is a great pleasure to watch all the entertaining cricketers at K-state, who play more for the fun of the game. Although shorter boundaries mean more merries with the bat, the unpredictability of the pitch and 'umpiring' does provide the bowlers thier share of luck.
The fun is in watching all the people irrespective of thier level and talent trying to come with a strategy to win the game. Most noticable is the attitude of the players to give in their best irrespective of a win or a loss. The best matches are the high scoring games, where are the bowlers ability is tested to the maximum with blind as well as calculated swings. A typical high scoring game would be around 100 runs in 12 overs followed by another team chasing it down in 11.3 overs with only one wicket to spare. May be it is my aquaitance with the sport for about 15 years or may be it is sheer enthusiasm to get involved in something that you do good in, or may be it is the nature of this "Gentleman's Game" it remains by favorite sport. And motivated leaders serving the the Cricket Association at K-State (the newly formed student club), Cricket could well be the next Sports Club at K-state.

2007-04-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

The winning statergy........ go for the kill!!!

College bowl is a quiz competetion in which you put your memory as well as reflexes (to buzz) to use. For me college bowl was a way to stuff up my RAM with tit bits of food science. For beginners here is a brief outline of the college bowl competetion. Each round has 20 questions, for every right question a team gets 4 points and for every wrong answer the team is penalized 2 points. Being associated with the K-state team for two years now I realize the statergy that seperates the winners from the runners and the rest of the crowd. Recently the K-state team has won 2nd place, which is sadly the best performance ever by K-state in the regionals over past decade. We lost the final by a buzzer beater, where the other team out buzzed us (by some milli seconds) for the final question of the round. Looking back at what happened during the final we simply lacked the killing instinct. Having won convincingly against Nebraska, Iowa and Missori we had a slight head start over the other finalists Minnesota. Our macthes were no contest, and we never worried about being vigilant in the last few questions. Our formula was simple. If you think you know the answer (60% confirmation) buzz in right away and if you dont then dont buzz. Minnesota on the other hand won crucial matches with some buzzer beaters. In the final and that too the final question we had two points lead over them. Instead of going for the kill and answering the question, we just waited for the other team to answer it right and win it. In a optimistic scenario had we answered the question wrong and assuming that minnesota were afraid to take the risk, there would be sudden death with team answering the most in next five questions wins it all, we would have been winners. But what we lacked was "KILLER INSTINCT".
My take from the whole experience, stay close to the target and strike it hard when you smell blood. In final, Minnesota had their back to the corner but were not afraid of taking risks. On the other hand our nuetral approach was worth it but was worth for a runners spot. The situation is quite analogous to horse racing. In horse racing the chances of a horse, running upfront in the beginning of the race, winning a race are much lower than the one that is waiting to take you over the corner in the last 100 meters. The winning strategy is to be just behind the opponent for bulk of the race and have the instincts to decide on the right time to take on the game. All is well in theory, but it can only be a reality with lots of practice. Practicing scenario's in which your opponent is leading you by a margin and all you have left is last breath to take you the extra mile. Tough not as simple as it sounds, this is what I think is one of the top startegies that seperates winners from the runners and the rest of the crowd.

2007-01-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

Now what about - "Inertia"?
Newton knew it way before our time, that a body continues to be in state of rest or in state of continous motion unless acted by an external force. Well we as humans upto a certain extent are a complicated amalgam of the former and later parts of the statement. We either tend to be 'inert' in a way that we procrastinate things (put it to complete rest) unless it is pushed by a deadline, or tend to keep doing things like eating, recreation and living, unless we meet some exciting beings. Though the former part can be disgreed by some meticulous people, the same cannot be said about the large fraction of the population, or atleast say that I dont fall in that category. However, coming to the later part of the statement, everyone tends to fall into a praticular pattern, which sociologists more often term as behaviour that forms a regular trend in our eating, recreation and living.
The philosophy has never been realized at such a proportion, untill I had to move out of my old apartment for an exciting new one. On a positive note, the old apartment was near to the campus, near to the REC complex, had small space for moving (so could reach from one corner to the other in a leap), regular cooking turns (enjoyed the most when it was not my cooking turn ofcourse :-)). On the flip side my old apartment lacked human touch to it. However, the very thought of moving into a new apartment, that too with someone special energized the experience. Then came the interesting part of actually putting 'external force' into action. Little did I realize, the amount of stuff that has been accrued over the last few years, not to mention books, extravagent wardrobe, furniture and ofcourse utensils. A far bigger load as compared to the two big suitcases that we get from our home countries. The packing part in itlself took atleast two days (on a eight hours work basis :-)). However, the bigest satisfaction was the day after we moved into the new apartment. Spacious rooms (too spacious I must say), large kitchen with windows (freedom from the curry smells that linger forever), nice TV and not but not the least the excitement of what lies ahead. Call it INERTIA (pertiaining to the later part of the statement) that sometimes we do wish that good things keep happening (unless someone starts me lecturing about KARMA, which could well be my next blog ;-)).

2006-09-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

Greyhound Journey

It is always a pleasant experience to work hard and some times travel the extra mile for something that you long for. Especially, if the extra mile is for the ‘special’ person then miles never count. For the very same reason the frequency of my travel has been increased, to an extent that I could have got a free ticket to ‘Las Vegas’ has been it for any major airline. However, my recent travel has been mostly by ‘Greyhound’ the very thought of it which might bring back nightmarish smells to people who have been ‘carried’ by it. Personally, greyhound is the best mode of travel for solo long journeys for three compelling reasons. Firstly you spend only half of the money that you would otherwise by renting a car or by air. Secondly, you get to sleep or write a blog or crochet a beautiful gift instead of concentrating on driving. Thirdly, you get to meet lot of interesting people. The first journey may not convey all these special points of greyhound travel, but frequent traveling will change the initial dynamic bitter state to as a static bland taste. The blandness could turn into occasional sweetness due to our exposure to a community different to the vibrant college one. Initially, I was in denial of such community at least in ‘land of opportunities’, but soon realized that attitude and mentality of people in certain ‘communities’ is same irrespective of place, race or creed. If you were to travel by it, then make sure you have some good company of people or books that can keep you distracted from the smells from the underworld.

2006-09-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

Transition from summer to fall

The first two weeks of classes have been really hectic. Though it has been the same story since undergrad, it is always a learning experience to get adjusted to the new classes, new schedule and the fast paced life. We learn so many new things and not to forget we sometimes re-learn and un-learn about some obvious things. It is amazing how many things that we have learned over ‘summer’ are being put to help. Thanks to morning classes that there is no more drooling over those sweet dreams early in the morning (which we always wish would last for few more hours). Honestly, the first week was not at all clear, half sleeps continued until the last hour of the work, just seemed like there was not enough sleep. This is when a ‘poker face’ was the best option. With new information being stuffed in at enormous pace, ‘lateral’ thinking about the subject quizzes has been a new game. With many reports to write, blog writing skills are definitely being put to use (though I wrote only one before this). Nuero-simulators (caffeine) are being used survive (wonder how we made it through those 9 hours of weekend poker). All this makes one ponder how beautiful summer was, those cool lazy days, routine uninterrupted research schedule, those sweet mornings of waking up late, regular badminton schedule and not to forget regular weekend schedule too. Been so used to not hearing the wake up call, that the very annoying alarm sound is now the first tone we hear every “fall” day. However, the transition so far is been very pleasant. Though it is too early to wake up the very thought of challenging ourselves makes us do it. Though the half sleeps continue much into the day, we are broad awake to observe the increased beauty of the campus (…….beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder). Though we have so much to do with so little time, the fact that it is process of learning makes us content. However, occasional complain can never be avoided.

2006-08-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

In pursuit of a new game – I. Badminton

Badminton is a very interesting game, which requires the speed of tennis as well as flexibility of an acrobat. My first impression of this game was least to mention boring. I used to watch some veterans hit the birdie in an open ground and I used to jeer at their struggle to overcome wind, space restrictions and hole(y) net to play a non-physically intensive game. And with cricket always being the main sport, the thought of badminton was a far cry. However, one cold harsh winter of Minnesota few of my colleagues convinced me to visit their game in indoor facilities. After which, all my previous excuses for not pursuing this particular game seemed trivial. A couple of weeks later I bought a new racket and started playing in October, 2005. However, as it turned out this sport required lot of time for practice and with impending “MS” defense time was the last thing that could be spared. The next encounter with badminton was at K-state, where dedication of quite a few individuals attracted me to the sport. Friday evenings were official badminton days. The occasional wins in doubles kept me going. But my real quest for leaning this game came during the doubles tournament in the summer. I found a very good teaching partner with patience and skill. He took my game to the next level by teaching movement and strategies. Though we did well for being “Underdogs”, we couldn’t win the tournament; nevertheless it was a good learning experience. Now with intramural singles tournament impending there are still so many things to learn and a great amount of fitness to be achieved. While the skillful Indians and the Chinese counterparts are already preparing for the game, here I’m trying to see the sport as a means of getting fit. Hopefully, before some of the skillful ones leave K-State I better get geared up to take my game to another level, at least a level where I could mention that I can play “Badminton”.