Ring out the old, Ring in the new. Really?

It was New Year’s eve, and the engineer was chewing the cud. Mentally, that is. His better half was peacefully watching television in the living room, and he was sitting with a book, staring into emtpy space. He’d gotten a new job, and had to shift base shortly.

The telephone rang, and the TV muted itself out, thanks to a thoughtful thumb jabbing at the remote. Squeezing his eyes shut and making a moue to convey his unspoken gratitude, the engineer picked up the phone.

Hello
Hello, Son
Hi Dad, it’s good to hear your voice
(Dad says nothing, smiles at the other end.)
So, son, when do you have to join up at work?
On the 12th, Dad
But that’s a bad day – it’s the eighth day after the new moon, and you know you aren’t supposed to start anything on either the eighth or ninth days.
I’m Sorry, Dad – you know I don’t believe in these things
(A hurt silence at the other end)
It’s all right son, perhaps you’ll realize certain things as you grow up
I’m old enough, Dad
(After an uncomfortable pause, the conversation moves over to more pleasant topics, and ends.)

The engineer is a little piqued, a little saddened, and a little confused.

Is it a crime to live your life, learn from your experiences, and then add to your understanding of the world around you, rather than to blindly believe in what your ancestors believed in? Is it right to hurt someone by holding on to your beliefs which are different from theirs? Is it right to be hurt because someone you care for might have beliefs different from yours? is it a crime to question accepted beliefs?

There are no easy answers to these questions. One might be tempted to say, hey look, it’s just a harmless matter of dates, so moving the date aside to please your parent is OK. Maybe. What should one do when the discussion involves the caste system, and you’re both on opposite sides of the fence? What if you’re in love with someone who doesn’t belong to your caste, and your parents don’t want you to marry this person – only because he or she belongs to a different caste? For that matter, how does one react when Baba Ramdev claims that his flavour of yoga can cure Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS and Cancer? Or when a loved one claims belief in a particular swami’s powers when you believe that the godman is a fake?

In the end, it seems to come down to a question of blind belief at one end versus unbridled skepticism at the other. Should there be a distinction between accepted belief and proven fact? Why go one way and not the other? We shall save the visit to Richard Dawkins land for another day.

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship
and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song
and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face
and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again,
for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call
that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day
with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume,
and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again
to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way
where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn
from a laughing fellow rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream
when the long trick’s over

John Masefield

Interesting thing, memory. I was thinking back to the time when I was clothed for the better part of the day in light blue terry shirt and navy blue cotton shorts, with white socks and polished black leather shoes. Usually when my brain throws up dirt from that long ago, it is unpleasant stuff – like memories of being caned for arriving a few minutes late for the first class of the day. Or for forgetting to do homework. Not this time! My mind’s eye pictured a slim volume with a bright green cover, which was the recommended text to learn English poetry from. Notice that we had to learn things, not enjoy them. I never did pay much attention to what I had to learn, though. Poetry least of all. Funny thing then, that I should remember Sea Fever, and that it had been written by a Poet Laureate. Now when I look at it, the poem appeals to me, immensely.

I also remember that I once scored full marks on a mathematics test, being the only kid in class to write the square root of two as an example for an irrational number. Never mind that I did not know what the heck an irrational number was. I was learning; I still am.

It’s been an odd sort of day. I managed to get some work done, I’m not sure that I’d want to call it useful work, though – which isn’t so great.

Comeuppance

 

Fat, out of shape, lazy-to-exercise and overweight Kovai has just had his comeuppance delivered to him.

Kovai came back home in the morning from a friend’s place where he’d been invited over for dinner the day before.

He looked around the apartment and decided that it needed a little dusting. Memories of the strenuous house cleaning exercise he had indulged in on the last weekend popped up in his mind. He then decided that a little cleaning shouldn’t hurt, and it’d mean that much less work on the weekend anyway. What the heck, he’d go to work late today. Kovai reached for the broom, and disaster struck.

What am I?

Hmmm. This question came to me as questions always do when I sit at my computer past midnight listening to great music. I wish I did this more often (listen to great music, that is).Some answers:

- I’m a lazy bum and a natural slacker.
- I’m an atheist.
- I’m NOT a vegetarian. Neither am I a teetotaller.
- I’m NOT a hindu. [1]
- I’m a hacker wannabe.
- I’m a foodie.
- I’m a music lover. In more ways than one.

(more answers coming soon).

Post Scriptum:
A reader who wishes to remain anonymous asked me: Shouldn’t you be saying “I’m also not a Christian/Muslim/Buddhist etc. etc. in addition to not being a Hindu”. Sigh. Okay, here’s the deal: At one point of time, I subscribed to Hinduism as a religion. Now I don’t. Since I never did subscribe to the views of other religions, why should I disown them? The fact that I’m an atheist implies that I disown *all* religions.

–
[1] Also see this.

11July 2006 – 2

It looks as though I am breaking out of the rut.I did something useful/good today. Right now, as a matter fact :)

I’m listening to the golden voice of Balamurali sing a Kalyani fit for the gods. Never mind that the conversion from tape hasn’t come out too well. Never mind the glitches here and there. Never mind the minor variations in recording speed that manifest themselves as changes in pitch. This is the kind of Kalyani that moves you so much that you realise just how insignificant you are. The feeling is akin to that experienced when looking at the sky on a clear summer’s night from a deserted beach. You realise just how many stars there are in the sky, and feel completely, utterly insignificant. The feeling is a fifty-fifty mix of peaberry awe and plantation pleasure.

Tomorrow is another day.

Work, Knuth, LFS, and everything else in my life that needed doing – here I come!

11 July 2006 – 1

It’s been a depressing week, for more reasons than one.I’m dreading the thought of spending one more month alone at home without my wife around.

I’d been planning to hit the gym (as part of my half-hearted efforts to lose weight) three weeks ago. It never happened :)

I lost all respect for Michael Crichton after I read his State of Fear. Easily one of the crappiest, if not *the* crappiest book I’ve read. Ever.

After four weeks of neglect, the apartment (I can’t bring myself to call it *my* apartment – I rent it out from someone else!) had degenerated into a biohazard area. I donned my protective outfit (old tee and tracks) and spent all of a day and a half cleaning it up. At the end of the exercise (pun completely intended) I was in intimate conversation with muscles and nerve endings that I never even knew existed. The conversation is far from over yet. The floors are shiny white now, though. Except for the part of the floor near the door… damn I need to get a doormat. And there goes the spotless white floor… there’s no way in hell I’m going to try cleaning this place up again. Not for another week, at least.

Why?

Why are programmers non-productive?
Because their time is wasted in meetings.

Why are programmers rebellious?
Because the management interferes too much.

Why are the programmers resigning one by one?
Because they are burnt out.

Having worked for poor management, they no longer value their jobs.

- Geoffrey James, The Tao of Programming

Zen Disciple: Master, why do you always beat me on the head with a stick when I ask you a question?

Zen Master: beats disciple on head with stick

Agent Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you’re fighting for something? For more than just your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can’t win. It’s pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why?! Why do you persist!?

Neo: Because I choose to.

The Number of the Beast

Here is Wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six

- The Book of Revelations, Chapter 13, Verse 18

I thought this devilish reputation was all that was there to the number 666; it looks like there’s much more to it than just a bad name ;)

Apparently more than one mathematician has found this number fascinating . I wonder if this was why St. Augustine said:

“The good Christian should beware of mathematicians and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and confine man in the bonds of hell.”

I can’t find a reference for this quote, except for Morris Kline’s “Mathematics in Western Culture”.

Anyway, I was puzzled by the St. Augustine quote (why would he want to hate mathematicians anyway?) until I later found that he was actually referring to astrologers rather than people who worked with mathematics. Which is not to say that those times were kind to people who liked to learn; the history of Hypatia is a case in point.

Here end today’s ramblings.

Enjoy the Shade, Stupid Frog

“Thunbamodu Inbam kalandhadhu Prapancham;
Veyyil Illaiyel Nizhalil Inbamum undo”

“Sorrow and Joy, are inseparable in this World;
If not for the harsh Sun, would we ever find pleasure
under the shade of a Tree?”