Meteor Shower - Nov/Dec - 2018 - Leonid / Geminid - Counting the Stars

Below is a blog written in December 2018, after watching Leonid/Geminid Meteor shower. This was then posted to my friends, and it took a long to post it on this blog. 

Enjoy reading!!

Friends, it was a good gazing last night.

It all started at around 1.30 when I spread my mat on the already swept terrace, so that I could give my eyes enough time to adapt to the darkness of the sky. The weather was cold and I decided to defy it, with the help of my gear - a jerkin, 2 blankets, a towel to cover face, both from cold breeze and from city lights.

 

With all the excitement, my eyes were wandering the entire sky, without any blink. Thanked God for making it a clear sky. Within the first 10 minutes, I could see a bright spot twinkling and flashing in the sky. Felt wow! The journey through the sky started. I could see the asteroid/comet dust entering and burning in the outer layer of our atmosphere. The excitement grew further. In the next 5 minutes, could see 2 more. The show was turning more joyful.

 

All in the while, a phone call disturbed my concentration. It was my friend next door. He is all eager to join me for the Natural event. Advised him to come up to the terrace, with his weather protection kit. In the next 5minutes, he joined me for the spectacular event.  Two is always better than one, and it was proved true again by him joining me. Our joy of glancing the sky-lights, turned manifold.

 

Together, we were facing the sky again, with deep concentration, not to miss any twinkle or flash in the dark sky. With me already completing watching 6, the count started from 7, and from 1 for him.

 

The show started again and we could see a few flashes. Some were observed at a distance for a fraction of second and some very close by. One of it was so close that we could see the fire in red color behind the flashing light, while it was burning, and a long and bright smoke-tail behind it... certainly a very rare sight. What more, it lasted for a second. We were lost for a while in this world, preserving that spectacle in our eyes. This glimpse alone was worth of all our waiting.

 

One more was also found right above our head, again lasting for a second. It was so straight on our head, between our eyes, that it would have fallen on us if it travelled in our direction. We were agape in shock with that event.

 

And close to 3pm, there was another particle coming on to the earth, with one variation from the rest we had seen till then. This had no smoky tail. It appeared like a flash, as if some Angel traveling in the sky flashed a torch light at us to see us. Then we realized that this particle was travelling at exactly 90 degrees to us and hence we could not see its tail. Had it reached the earth, it would have hit us straight. That thought sent a shiver along our spine and made us sweat in such a cold weather.

 

With that, we decided to end our sky gazing after one more sparkle in the sky. Probably, while we were glancing at the sky with joy, the sky too was enjoying looking at us, and so it did not want us go inside early. To sight the last one, it took us another 8 minutes, and it was a close one as well. With that, the count was around 17 or 18 for me and 11 or 12 for my friend and the time was around 3.08am by then.

 

Satisfied with the spectacular event, and thanking Him for making all these wonders, our heart filled with joy and eyes full of memoirs, we walked inside from under Nature made roof to Man made roof, only to feel that man made can never match the Nature and the only way man can reach that level is by getting close to the Nature.

Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyindhey (Heart Slipped and Missed)

Note: My blogs mostly talk from an Indian culture context, unless otherwise specified.

     There are many genres of the movies...of them, i like comedy...a good time pass, light on heart, but heavy on face muscles. I do like action minus violence...a good time pass. I do like movies like Ankuram, Gayam etc. which are close to real society. However, there is one genre which I love....romantic movies! Of course...heavy on heart, but always touch it. Being a living being, we deserve it. There are a few such movies which touched my heart...reason could be the story, the chemistry, the pretty eyed heroin....errr...sorry...I mean heroines, or comparing my self with the characters or the situations which I always wanted or was involved.. The movies list goes like the famous DDLJ, where the story and the eyes of Kajol stole my heart for a life time. I always felt Aishwarya Rai has the prettiest eyes, till the time I saw Kajol. (Though not in the context, I would like to tell that there is one difference between their eyes...I see only bliss in the eyes of the former, where as I see both agony and bliss in those of the latter). Anyways, coming back to the list - Godavari, Nuvve-Nuvve,........................are some of the few romantic movies which touched my heart. Last week, I saw one more movie - Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyindhey....yet another one which pinged my heart and took me back a few years. Did I love anyone as shown in the movie...someone whom I never met, but talked on phone and yet fell in love? Well, that is not necessary to know now. Whatever be the reason, this movie falls into the list of my favorites. Well, it is easy to show the chemistry when two lovers meet each other personally. However, what if they are connected by just a mobile signal? Hmm...not so easy. This movie showed it to a commercial 

     In reality, is it possible for one to fall in love without seeing the other? Falling in love by just talking on phone, and getting to know the tastes of the heart? Is it possible to love to the extent of sharing one's life with the other? And, moreover, it should be the feeling and decision of not just one, but two souls. Is it at all possible? If I were to answer, then it is a big YES.

     Ok, good, said that. Yes that people love each other just on phone, without seeing each other. Yes that people even go the extent of wishing to share life with each other, and another Yes that both the lovers have the same feeling. Now, the Big Question is, will they really end up being life partners? What does it take to change the feeling "wishing to become life partners" to "becoming life partners"? Read on to know more.

     So far, I have been using words Love, Taste, Heart etc. All these are useful during the phase of Love. And as you all know, Love if blind. Even if the other person sits in front of the eyes, one can't see as the lover is blinded by love. So, not a big deal that one falls in love with a person whom one never saw. To bridge the gap between the Love phase and the next phase, that is, Life Partnership, there is a magic word. That nexus word is - Trust. Yes. Don't ask me - is it possible to fall in love without trust? Because, I don't have answers. All I have are questions. Do lovers have trust that they would get married? Do the lovers have trust that their parents agree to their love? Do the lovers think of these in the beginning, and then start loving each other? No. Lovers never think this part in the beginning. So, the question of trust does not come into picture in the Love phase. The word Trust comes into picture only when Love thinks of maturing to Marriage.

     The Trust plays a major role especially in our current context...lovers who never met or saw each other. The normal question that tickles the love minds is 'can the other person is really the one whom I think'? Can the other person really take care of me? And finally, Who is this other person really is? This kind of apprehension is a little more in the case of Girls. How to overcome this is another issue. What we need to observe here is, it is this Trust which won't be so strong usually. This results in many stories end at Love phase, and never mature further. No offence. Just stating the point.

     Well, to summarize, the take away of this blog is - It is not as easy to Trust one as to Love one.

wah!! Taj!

Have been to Agra to see the greatest monument representing LOVE - Taj Mahal.
The indomitable love of Shajahaan towards Mumtaj will live on forever. My personal feeling is that this monument is only a drop of his love in the ocean.

The extensive and exquisite landscapes surrounding the Taj mahal reflects the heart of Shajahaan...simple yet wide, calm yet appeasing. The huge walls and gates on three sides tell the protection and caring he has given to his sweetheart - Mumtaj. The picturesque look Taj gives from the gate gives bliss and agony to anyone who understands love. Such a beautiful structure gives us bliss, and the grief of the Shajahaan looking at this beautiful mausoleum gives us agony. Though I have not seen Mumtaj, I can certainly tell that she was the most beautiful woman in the eyes of Shajahaan. Otherwise, Taj mahal will not look so beautiful. Truly Love is beautiful.

The more you see it, the more you love it. Has Shajahaan applied the formula m = E/c**2 to convert the moonlight (energy) into Taj mahal (mass)? The appealing marble added to its size, the Taj mahal is moonlight in the day. I am longing to see it in the night on a fullmoon day, in which it looks spectacular, which is the reason it is considered a world wonder. Ironically, it is not open to tourists in the nights. That's why I did not anywhere specify that I have visited the world wonder.

The intricate work done on the walls is really good. This is something odd we see, as such kind of embedding work is usually seen with Glass, not stones. I feel that Shajahaan has not shown much interest in sculpture, otherwise, the flowers and plants sculpted on the walls would have been more lively. Another reason could be to retain the simplicity of the mausoleum, that he did not touch up on the sculpture. The only recognizable sculpture one can see is the Jali pardah (veil) surrounding the cenotaphs.
The beautiful Yamuna, on the banks of which Taj mahal is built, has added more colours to the monument.

Over all, the place is a must visit for anyone who believes in Love. And whoever visits Taj mahal should say Wah!! Taj!

Dig gold in the farm

An entrepreneur is one who not only finds an opportunity in a problem or obstacle (remember FIPPO rule), but also in future needs and demands.
I can declare without dissent that food items will be the most demanded commodities in the near future (by the end of next decade).
Well, given this situation, a scientist would think of how to increase the productivity, how to produce maximum with less water etc.
A politician would think how to make the food available to all, affordable to all, who to implement ration and reservation of food to different sects etc (LoL).
An engineer would think how to improve the existing tools and machinery to help farmers to reduce the effort.
A business man thinks how to procure at less cost and sell at a higher cost, and how much would be the profit margins.
However, an entrepreneur thinks how to turn this opportunity into a business. (Please understand that there is a lot of different between business man and an entrepreneur.)

Here are a few points to ponder on:
1. What to produce
2. How to produce
3. How to market
These represent some form of direct Agriculture and Farming activities, which are nothing new.
Farmers are already aware of and to some extent following - Which crop to grow in which area in which season, crop changing from harvest to harvest, manure, machinery. Storing, procuring directly from farmers is something which is done by the retail market chains like FoodBazaar, Reliance, Heritage etc.
However, my blog is about a new kind of opportunities which I would like the term as Agri Enabled Services (AeS), similar to ITeS.
These kinds of services are something which are dependent on Agriculture, but not direct farming. These in turn affect the Agriculture either in increasing the productivity or accessibility to markets, or increase the rate benefit to farmers etc.

Wondering what they are, here are some examples. As I always say, these are some, and not limited to them.
Get the history of price fluctuations of different agricultural products in the market on a monthly basis for the past 5years. Make a trend and analyze when the prices are high and when they are low. Based on that analysis, find out when the price of a particular good would rise and accordingly advise the farmer to store their product till that time and sell it then.

Or, procure the produce from the farmers at the time when the price is low, and store them and sell when their prices rise. Though this process is being done already, no one is doing it using the statistical data. Thus, they either end up storing it for a longer time or don't store sufficient quantity.

Just think the reverse way. Say that the price of rice is going to be high in the month of May, and say growing paddy would take 3 to 4 months. Exactly....what you are thinking is right....cultivate paddy by sowing in the month of February or March. Your crop grows along with the price and your harvest will be ready when the price is at its peak.

Think of the Organic food items that are growing popularity. Well, producing organic food items is not what I am going to talk about. I am talking about the AeS, for this Organic food items sector. It needs organic manure. So, making organic manure and fertilizers is a good opportunity.
This is a double edge knife. To produce organic manure, you need organic wastes. Getting that organic waste itself is a profit making business. As an example, organic wastes from sugar factories, fruit pulp industries, disposing the leftover food in school canteens, cleaning the dried leaves inside university campuses etc. Doing these cleaning activities itself is a business. How about taking all that waste to convert into organic manure? Isn't it a double edged blade?

Well, as said earlier, these are only some examples. What more, any business related to Agriculture is going to be a sure success. Take if for granted.
That's why I always tell my friends that if we have a piece of cultivable land with enough water, then we are having gold mines. Sow seeds and harvest gold.

Time to say Jai Kissan!
Dig gold in the farm!!

Lift(Elevator) manners

Day in and day out everyone of us would be travelling up and down in lifts(elevators). From my observation, I feel that Lift Manners need to inculcated in everyone of us. Refer to the list, though it is not complete.

1. If you are going to the top most floor, then better get in first and try to stand back inside.
2. If you are going to getdown in the next immediate floors, then better wait outside till everyone gets in, and then at the end, you get it, so that it would be easy to get out. However, dont wait till the lift gets completely filled. Otherwise, you will be standing out forever :).
3. Don't press the "close" (><) button. Better to wait for people to join untill the Lift is at least 50% occupied. Remember, Lift consumes almost the same energy (electricity) to take 1 person or 10 persons. So, by waiting for a few more seconds (i really mean seconds, not minutes), we will not lose anything. Instead we will be saving the Environment.
4. Please get out side the lift in case you are obstructing someone's exit, and then get in.
5. Avoid farting inside the lift.
6. Don't forget to switch off the Fan if it is manually operated.
7. Never scratch/write on the walls of the lift.
8. Avoid using the "non-stop" button unless you are in some emergency.
9. Try to press the "open" button when the door closes while someone is entering the Lift.
10. Help the ignorant people on how to use the Lift. Correct if someone operates the Lift in a wrong way.

As I always say, this is not the end of the list.

I know these are not any difficult actions to follow. Following these simple rules lift your comfort in Lift travel :-)

Incredible !ndia

Who does not want to go places.... ;)

Thanks to the Incredible !ndia campaign started in 2001, world is now gaga about visiting this country of diversities.
To the surprise of Tourism department, more than foreigners, Indian nationals started touring different places in India. I am not sure if this is because of the increased infrastructure like roads or the irresistible publicity through media or the increased spending culture, that has prompted the Indians to throng places.
Whatever be the reason, I am excited that places are getting more and more popular, and at the same time, apprehensive that the places are being polluted/mistreated/abused by the tourists (Non-Indians and Indians alike).

Anyways, coming to me, am always excited about listening to the strange and ancient fables. I believe every place in India has a mythology attached to it. What more, there will be unfound (till date) science in each mythology. If, around my native town, there are around 10 to 20 eye-brow raising scientific mythic constructions/phenomena present, then imagine how many such things will be there in this Karma Bhumi.
As an example, a big temple (of south Indian architecture built by Sri Krishnadevaraya) is built in such a way that the Ravi rays fall on the Feet, the Navel and the Face of the main deity in the sanctum sanctorum respectively on each day for 3 continuous days around March 22nd every year. Doesn't it say how in depth we have studied the solar system and the movement of the Ravi, the earth and other planets.
There was another temple, in whose sanctum tank, water continuously flows from the mouth of a pachyderm’s statue. That tells our civil engineering maturity.
There is yet another sanctum tank of a temple whose holy water cures all the skin diseases. Of course, there are many such tanks/wells in India which have got medicinal properties.
...And the list goes endless.

My interest in visiting places is growing day-by-day. I wish now I worked in tourism department J. I want to see this entire Bharatha Khand from Sethu in the south to the Himalayam in the north.

There are miracles everywhere in India. In this incredible land, everything and everyone is incredible.

Looking for some food for your mind, then visit the thirunaallu where people walk on red-hot burning coal, without burning their heels J
Or Go to the Himalayas, you will find saints doing dhyan while floating on water.
Recently, Indian DRDO scientists did some tests on a saint who did not eat or drink anything in the past 70years.

If you are an enthusiastic pedagogue, visit and know the teaching models of the ancient universities like Nalanda, Varanasi, Kanchi which existed from thousands of years.
Learn about Avadhanam and types in it, which is a language lab to its most sophisticated level. Tell me if you don't go agape after knowing about it.

Want more science, then dig into the epics and puranas. You will come to know that a war took place only for 18days, in which millions of warriors died, not possible without the use of state-of-the-art arsenal, but did not an inch of harm to the Mother Nature Prakruthi.
Visit the Jantar Mantar from which our astronomical researchers are still learning so much of science.

Pathology, oncology, cardiology, nephrology......huh...just say Ayurveda. A no-side-effect solution to all your ailments. Want more? Come to Indhya.

Pages and Pages can be written about this holy nation. In short I would say Incredible India.

Bond with the best

Bond is such a good thing to feel. One day, this topic jumped in suddenly during my discussion with my American friend (and colleague).
I have compiled and edited the chat, and made it a complete text. Read through…..
In USA, the culture is to be "Independent". In India, the culture is to be "Dependent". When I say "dependent"...not financially, but emotionally and physically….tight bond between the family members and relatives....so, no one feels that "solitude".

However, that was the case till yesterday (I would say till last night). Today’s parents are feeling that they are "left over" ...with the children "migrating" to cities in search of their livelihood.
After our parents retire, they find no one at home to accompany them. They experience solitude at that time. I don’t think they will come and stay with us in the city nor do I think that we go and stay in the Town/village with our parents. We only keep "visiting" each other.

Unlike us, who have done matriculation in one area, graduation in another place, and PG in yet another place, and working in a couple cities for a couple of years, our parents have spent most of their lives in one place. Their secondary education, job…all in one locality. They certainly have got bonds with their native place, native people, friends and relatives. That bond is true, and unbreakable. This makes them hard to leave their place, and enter our (migration/virtual land(s). I think no one can disagree with that. Just think of our relations….when was the last time we visited our relatives or friends? We have only temporary friends….depending on the organization and city we live in. Once we move out of that organization, we will not bother about each other till we come back to the same place. So, for us, it is all virtual and temporary, just like our jobs :)

However, given the number of years we spent together, and culture in which we are grown, we still attach the (emotional) bond to our parents. Going forward to the next generation, I think this emotional bondage gets weakened. For them, might be, these virtual and temporary bonds are the only bonds, because they will be grown up with them. May be generations later, this ‘bond’ would be called as an extinct genome in human DNA.

Well, that is the problem. What about the solution?
It is arguably harder to maintain close relationships at a distance (with parents in towns and villages, and children in cities)... but it can be done if everyone works at it.
How?

This is what one of my retired client manager (an American) has to speak about, when we were chatting about this topic….”For family it would be on a larger scale, but I think what you (me) and I(client manger) are doing are some of the things people do who care about each other and don't want to 'lose' the other person.
Family would write, call, chat, visit, may be even take some joint holiday together.”
Well, being an Indian, I would like to have more. Just take my case, who visit my native place (which is around 6hrs journey from my work place) every weekend, only to cherish that bond. If not every weekend, one should visit at least once in 2 weeks. Rest as said above…call, chat, and go on vacations all together.

Here is yet another question that came into my mind at this time –
“I agree....but over a few generations, will that still happen? My worry is not about the current time, but future.”
Well, here is what my 65year young client manager has told me – “We only have control over the present...we must do what we can and want to do to maintain important relationships... but we can't guarantee what our children or grandchildren will do...”

Hmm...true. Isn’t it?

“We must hope and believe that our example will not be lost on them.”

True again.....we should inspire them and see that the inspiration continues.

What else is there...? I think I have summed it up perfectly.