This is something that I wrote on the plane on my way to Germany. Hope you all enjoy it.
As I am writing this, I am at a height of 33000 feet above the ground level somewhere around the boundary of USA and Canada; I think I have already bumped into Canadian
province though I am not sure of it. It is so hard to tell from this height whether I am into one country or the other. We are moving east at a speed of 650 mph to reach Frankfurt, Germany. Yes, as you might have guessed, I am typing this while I am comfortably seated in a 747 savoring the tangy taste of red wine along with cracker snacks; though while I finish writing this, it will be Sunday evening (GMT+1) as my laptop battery will die soon.
A very beautiful young girl is seated right next to me, and as of the moment she is sound asleep with her head almost five inches from my shoulder and moving towards it every second getting as close as three and then suddenly gaining senses to pull it back ten inches away. And on and on. I know you might be thinking of this to be some stupid movie scene right now, but believe me people even I am surprised..... So let me take a little latitude to bore you all, and tell you as what happened that has motivated me to document this. If not everyone, I am sure Keshi is going to appreciate this as I feel right now to be in her shoes. I have always read these kinda stories on her blog; noteworthy of which was the train incident.
My friend dropped me at San Francisco Airport at around 10:15 in the morning wishing me all the luck for a happy stay in Germany and chances to meet European girls. As soon as he left me alone, I walked straight with my baggage to the Luftansa ticket check-in terminals to get my boarding passes. As I was standing last in the line, I saw this beautiful girl in black overcoat and a red sweater walking with a trolley in her hand that carried her bags some fifty feet away from me. It seemed that she was a European. I did not concentrate much on her and waited for my turn to get the boarding passes. On my turn I started to walk towards one of the open counters and as I glanced on the side, there was she standing right behind me waiting for her turn.
Somehow I ignored everything and kept moving towards the currency exchange booth to get some Euros. Later I proceeded towards the terminal. I still had some two hours before I had to leave. So I decided not to go to the departure area which was on the ground floor and instead be seated on the first floor waiting area. After a while I again see her on the escalator to the ground floor. She was looking at me and suddenly turned her face away when my eyes just met. It somehow felt all this quite funny.
After some time I boarded the plane. I had a left hand side window seat towards the end of the aircraft. I kept my bags, removed my jacket, seated myself and started reading "for one more day" by Mitch Albom. The seat next to me was empty and I was waiting to see who comes here. I have read and also believed (until this day) that "Ninty percent of the girls in this world are beautiful; but you will always have one of the rest ten percent in your neighboring seat". However, this does not hold true anymore for me.
Few minutes later I saw someone pushing bags in the luggage compartment above my seat. I looked out of the book to find the beautiful girl waiting to be seated next to me. What a surprise, I thought. She is the one. Exchanged a formal "Hi.. Hello.." and I went back to my book and she started to read Sidney Sheldon's Stranger in the Mirror.
--- Until here, I had written while I was on the flight. Starting here on, I wrote on that night in the hotel in Braunschweig ---
After a while, the air hostess came to ask for food, and I asked for vegetarian. To my sheer surprise, she asked for the same too. I thought, a European and a veggie? She slept after the meal. After some time she put on her earphones and was listening to music. And it was real loud that even I could hear it. And I was swept away by yet another surprise. I heard a hindi song sung by Lata Mangeshkar from the 80's movie "Hero". Wow, I thought. Indian too! Sounds kewl. Anyways, I thought I would not bother her as she looked to be one of those sharmili (shy) types, and I did not for at least three more hours.
Once we reached somewhere over the North Atlantic, I started getting bugged and as everyone knows, nothing helps a bugged mood than spreading it around. With this thought in my mind, I started the conversation and it went on and on after that. I bugged her until we reached Frankfurt where she had to move into another flight to India and I had to go to Braunschweig. We chatted on this and that and what not, details of which would not be furnished here.
Did I enjoy the flight? You betcha. But I let her go without even taking any sort of contact info from her. I thought its better that I not, which on contemplation now, I find was a really dumb idea. So people, remember, all adages are not true and always keep a watch on the neighboring seat. You may never know when Murphy is proved a dumb ass again.
P.S. - None of these details here is a fabrication or a figment of my imagination. I know I have rushed hurriedly towards the end of the story, but it's 'details' people ;).
[ADMINS:: Though it is not a train journey, but this has been posted with a special request prior to publishing. As it is a Journey, we are allowing this as a special request ]
Showing posts with label DJ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DJ. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Lesson Learnt (DJ)
This happened like six months back. Me and one of my friends were taking a walk in the night to reach the computing lab at my university. We were chatting about life in general and something triggered in my mind that made me go like - nothing good is happening to me right now; everything seems to be a goddamn mess; what the heck am i doing in US; and what not...
.......... just then a white girl passed through us, riding a bike on a pleasant night in Los Angeles, paddling real fast to get somewhere soon. That's when he pointed to me and said, "You see that? That's LIFE! She is trying to pedal the bike fast enough but then she is still moving slowly when you compare with the person in the car moving ahead. Ultimately both will reach the place they need to go, and who knows, the person in the car might even reach later. He might have to go some place far than the girl. Likewise, everyone is on their own vehicle on their way to their own destinies".........
This is when I learned one important lesson:
.......... just then a white girl passed through us, riding a bike on a pleasant night in Los Angeles, paddling real fast to get somewhere soon. That's when he pointed to me and said, "You see that? That's LIFE! She is trying to pedal the bike fast enough but then she is still moving slowly when you compare with the person in the car moving ahead. Ultimately both will reach the place they need to go, and who knows, the person in the car might even reach later. He might have to go some place far than the girl. Likewise, everyone is on their own vehicle on their way to their own destinies".........
This is when I learned one important lesson:
Never try to rush through LIFE. Let it assume its own pace and you will reach where you are destined to.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
My Favorite Post (DJ)
Luckily I did not have scan too much for getting my favorite post. When the voting was in progress for selecting the next topic, I had already decided what would be my take on the topic if this one is selected.
Just before writing this post, I had completed reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho; though it was not the first time I was reading this book. But somehow I went into some thinking mode and suddenly I started making my own sense of the author's words. This is what I had gathered around from my knowledge and tried to interpret philosophy with science.
This might be quite boring for most of you who are not interested in science or are not into technical fields, but please try to bear it somehow. :)
Here is the link to the original post! Click here.
World in terms of Probability
"When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream" - from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Recently I read, once more, one of the finest books ever written - The Alchemist. The above sentence appears more than a couple of times throughout the book. And this gave me a thought in the context of philosophy as well as science.
Some two years back, I was studying Artificial Intelligence at school and I came across this concept of Probability Distribution Graphs, what we call PDGs. Modelling any situation with the help of PDGs is fun. It is very interesting to see how the conditional probabilities of certain events get raised or lowered under the influence of some evidences which are disclosed or masked at some point of time or their individual probabilities are altered. And in fact, with the vision of evidences on the graphs, the complete probability distribution on the graph changes quite a lot. We used a tool named Genie to model the probability of getting a good grade in any class. I collected a set of events that I could think might have influence on getting a grade. With the help of the tool, I could set the initial probabilities of all the conditions and then after selectively unmasking several evidences, I could see the variation in probability of getting a grade.
Later on, I read a book titled - 'God's Debris' written by Scott Adams. I found several explanations to be really interesting in this context. The reasons that Scott gave for the existence of universe and interpretation of every other thing in the universe in terms of probabilities was engrossing. I could recollect PDGs at that point of time.
After reading "The Alchemist" once more, I again tried to relate the above sentence with PDGs. One can model the world as a really big PDG. But the world is very complex now and things continue to add to the complexities of it. With every step forward in every field of progress, we are adding several conditions to the PDG that makes the interpretation of the graph even more worse. But if it is possible to collect enough knowledge base and resources so as to create this titanic PDG, most of the events can be surely projected as wished. Although, the same thing is happening right now and at every moment of time, we are not in a position to decode enough information so as to reveal accurate predictions.
That's why "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream". And it surely does. Though most of the parts of the world go unnoticed, one can relate everything once the desire gets transformed to achievement. It is only then that the connected dots are visible which can be traced through the path of time to the initial spot where it all began.
Just before writing this post, I had completed reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho; though it was not the first time I was reading this book. But somehow I went into some thinking mode and suddenly I started making my own sense of the author's words. This is what I had gathered around from my knowledge and tried to interpret philosophy with science.
This might be quite boring for most of you who are not interested in science or are not into technical fields, but please try to bear it somehow. :)
Here is the link to the original post! Click here.
World in terms of Probability
"When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream" - from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Recently I read, once more, one of the finest books ever written - The Alchemist. The above sentence appears more than a couple of times throughout the book. And this gave me a thought in the context of philosophy as well as science.
Some two years back, I was studying Artificial Intelligence at school and I came across this concept of Probability Distribution Graphs, what we call PDGs. Modelling any situation with the help of PDGs is fun. It is very interesting to see how the conditional probabilities of certain events get raised or lowered under the influence of some evidences which are disclosed or masked at some point of time or their individual probabilities are altered. And in fact, with the vision of evidences on the graphs, the complete probability distribution on the graph changes quite a lot. We used a tool named Genie to model the probability of getting a good grade in any class. I collected a set of events that I could think might have influence on getting a grade. With the help of the tool, I could set the initial probabilities of all the conditions and then after selectively unmasking several evidences, I could see the variation in probability of getting a grade.
Later on, I read a book titled - 'God's Debris' written by Scott Adams. I found several explanations to be really interesting in this context. The reasons that Scott gave for the existence of universe and interpretation of every other thing in the universe in terms of probabilities was engrossing. I could recollect PDGs at that point of time.
After reading "The Alchemist" once more, I again tried to relate the above sentence with PDGs. One can model the world as a really big PDG. But the world is very complex now and things continue to add to the complexities of it. With every step forward in every field of progress, we are adding several conditions to the PDG that makes the interpretation of the graph even more worse. But if it is possible to collect enough knowledge base and resources so as to create this titanic PDG, most of the events can be surely projected as wished. Although, the same thing is happening right now and at every moment of time, we are not in a position to decode enough information so as to reveal accurate predictions.
That's why "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream". And it surely does. Though most of the parts of the world go unnoticed, one can relate everything once the desire gets transformed to achievement. It is only then that the connected dots are visible which can be traced through the path of time to the initial spot where it all began.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Hug (DJ)
I love the brain child of Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes. Some of the messages conveyed through the words of Calvin or Hobbes are so profound thoughts that they ring many a bells in my head for quite long.So here I have a picture to share with everyone. This picture is important to me for I see the most carefree innocent hug that two friends can have. With this picture and a very short message, a warm hug to all BUFers here.
Rock on!!!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Something about me in 10 lines... (DJ)
Hey everyone! So after seeing the topics selected for the new posts, I was thinking as what should I pick up. Food is a delight to me any time of the day, but I hardly cook (though I can prepare quite some novelties) and hence I thought, may be I won't be able to give justice to the same. Hence, here are 10 things that I can say describe some of me...
1. I think too much on anything before being able to embrace it fully.
2. I do not follow any rules. I hate being guided by some lines written by others directed to be become a mandate. I believe it bogs down the creative part of you.
3. I believe any relationship stands on two fragile pillars - trust and respect. Lose one of these and the structure collapses.
4. I love to read, anything and everything.
5. I absolutely hate idiots.
6. I am lucky enough to be alive. Somehow, I have been through many accidents and threats. The latest ones - last two days I was talking to my mom in India at 2AM while taking a walk outside my apartment complex. Both days, as soon as I entered my apartment, within ten minutes I have heard gang firing on the road where I strolled. Unbelievable; but true. Los Angeles rocks :D.
7. I believe the most complicated thing man has ever created is a shirt. You heard it right, a shirt. And I realize this only when I have to iron it.
8. Music is my way of representing many emotions. I regularly express my feelings through the songs I play. I sing too; but only when I'm alone.
9. I am highly impatient. I hate waiting for things. :)
10. Trouble comes uninvited to me. :(
Lastly, here is one of the strips from, my favorite, Calvin and Hobbes that I use to characterize myself.
Ciao friends. Keep rocking!!!
1. I think too much on anything before being able to embrace it fully.
2. I do not follow any rules. I hate being guided by some lines written by others directed to be become a mandate. I believe it bogs down the creative part of you.
3. I believe any relationship stands on two fragile pillars - trust and respect. Lose one of these and the structure collapses.
4. I love to read, anything and everything.
5. I absolutely hate idiots.
6. I am lucky enough to be alive. Somehow, I have been through many accidents and threats. The latest ones - last two days I was talking to my mom in India at 2AM while taking a walk outside my apartment complex. Both days, as soon as I entered my apartment, within ten minutes I have heard gang firing on the road where I strolled. Unbelievable; but true. Los Angeles rocks :D.
7. I believe the most complicated thing man has ever created is a shirt. You heard it right, a shirt. And I realize this only when I have to iron it.
8. Music is my way of representing many emotions. I regularly express my feelings through the songs I play. I sing too; but only when I'm alone.
9. I am highly impatient. I hate waiting for things. :)
10. Trouble comes uninvited to me. :(
Lastly, here is one of the strips from, my favorite, Calvin and Hobbes that I use to characterize myself.
Ciao friends. Keep rocking!!!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Elixir of Life - Music (DJ)
I feel music is the only language that is spoken at every corner in the world. People, no matter how disjoint cultures they belong to, always share at least the thinnest link of music between them.
Music is one of my ways to vent out my feelings at times. My penchant for music sprouted right from my childhood and it had a great influence on the way I grew up. I do not classify music according to genres. I believe there are only two types of music - Good & Bad. Good music is something that is pleasing to hear, whereas the other one is not.
On composers:
Some of my favorite composers are - Vangelis, Enya, Yanni, and A.R.Rehman. I believe they are on an altogether different wavelength which is incomparable with any other entity in the same domain. I love classical pieces of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart; and of course not to forget the '4 seasons' by Antonio Vivaldi! I love to close my eyes and relax to the soprano sax and clarinets of Kenny G also.
Am a big time fan of old bollywood film music too. Songs from RK's movies are especially worth a mention here.
On singers:
I think Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the best vocalist that ever walked on this earth. After all, a person who can sing in almost five octaves does bear some special gift from the almighty, isn't it?
Lata Mangeshkar, a living legend, is another such goddess of music. Besides, I also admire the voices of Jagjit Singh, Kishore Kumar, Enya, Harry Bellafonte, Shankar Mahadevan etc.
To sum up, if I compile a list of my 10 most favorite songs, it would look somewhat like this:
1. Afreen Afreen - NFAK
2. Chariots of Fire Titles - Vangelis
3. Carribean Blue - Enya
4. Spring - Vivaldi
5. Aria - Yanni
6. Return to Innocence - Enigma
7. Kiya Hai Pyaar Jise - Jagjit Singh, Chitra Singh
8. Kingston Town - Harry Bellafonte
9. When you say nothing at all - Ronan Keating
10. Mere Naina Saawan Bhado - Kishore Kumar
11. Yaad Kiya Dil Ne - Hemant Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
See guys, I already exceeded the maximum limit I had set; and I did not even cover what I like most. So in conclusion, such kind of list of not possible for me. Music is to sit back and enjoy; a comprehensive favorites list can never be scribbled down :).
On an ending note, I also play keyboard since quite a few years now. But since I did never received any professional training at music, I play by ear and I never managed to read music notes. Here is a song that I had played and recorded recently on my digital keyboard. It is from the movie Fanaa and it's a semi-original :) composition of Jatin Lalit. Comments and criticisms, as always are most welcome. With Love!
powered by ODEO
Music is one of my ways to vent out my feelings at times. My penchant for music sprouted right from my childhood and it had a great influence on the way I grew up. I do not classify music according to genres. I believe there are only two types of music - Good & Bad. Good music is something that is pleasing to hear, whereas the other one is not.
On composers:
Some of my favorite composers are - Vangelis, Enya, Yanni, and A.R.Rehman. I believe they are on an altogether different wavelength which is incomparable with any other entity in the same domain. I love classical pieces of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart; and of course not to forget the '4 seasons' by Antonio Vivaldi! I love to close my eyes and relax to the soprano sax and clarinets of Kenny G also.
Am a big time fan of old bollywood film music too. Songs from RK's movies are especially worth a mention here.
On singers:
I think Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the best vocalist that ever walked on this earth. After all, a person who can sing in almost five octaves does bear some special gift from the almighty, isn't it?
Lata Mangeshkar, a living legend, is another such goddess of music. Besides, I also admire the voices of Jagjit Singh, Kishore Kumar, Enya, Harry Bellafonte, Shankar Mahadevan etc.
To sum up, if I compile a list of my 10 most favorite songs, it would look somewhat like this:
1. Afreen Afreen - NFAK
2. Chariots of Fire Titles - Vangelis
3. Carribean Blue - Enya
4. Spring - Vivaldi
5. Aria - Yanni
6. Return to Innocence - Enigma
7. Kiya Hai Pyaar Jise - Jagjit Singh, Chitra Singh
8. Kingston Town - Harry Bellafonte
9. When you say nothing at all - Ronan Keating
10. Mere Naina Saawan Bhado - Kishore Kumar
11. Yaad Kiya Dil Ne - Hemant Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
See guys, I already exceeded the maximum limit I had set; and I did not even cover what I like most. So in conclusion, such kind of list of not possible for me. Music is to sit back and enjoy; a comprehensive favorites list can never be scribbled down :).
On an ending note, I also play keyboard since quite a few years now. But since I did never received any professional training at music, I play by ear and I never managed to read music notes. Here is a song that I had played and recorded recently on my digital keyboard. It is from the movie Fanaa and it's a semi-original :) composition of Jatin Lalit. Comments and criticisms, as always are most welcome. With Love!
powered by ODEO
Saturday, April 14, 2007
A bit of bragging (DJ)
Hola people! [*Drumrolls* and *Bugles*]
Thanks for letting me in this wonderful community.
This is DJ (Dharmesh Jani) here from California, USA. I am a graduate student in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering, which I am gonna leave pretty soon to join the microprocessor leaders again as a researcher.
I have been into the blog zone since the last four years; but used to write under hidden covers without my identity being exposed. Since the last six months or so, I started to post with my name (after an inspiration from someone though).
A die-hard Calvin and Hobbes fan as I am, I also hold interests in philosophy, fiction literature and most prominent of all - music. I like playing piano and reading books for a pleasant pass time. I can characterize myself as little bit possessive; excessively impulsive, emotional and passionate; slightly careless and one who follows his whims and fancies.
Let me cut down this intro here; but I'd make sure you come closer to me with my future posts.
Adios!
PS - I do not know any more Spanish than the first and last words here. :)
Thanks for letting me in this wonderful community.
This is DJ (Dharmesh Jani) here from California, USA. I am a graduate student in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering, which I am gonna leave pretty soon to join the microprocessor leaders again as a researcher.
I have been into the blog zone since the last four years; but used to write under hidden covers without my identity being exposed. Since the last six months or so, I started to post with my name (after an inspiration from someone though).
A die-hard Calvin and Hobbes fan as I am, I also hold interests in philosophy, fiction literature and most prominent of all - music. I like playing piano and reading books for a pleasant pass time. I can characterize myself as little bit possessive; excessively impulsive, emotional and passionate; slightly careless and one who follows his whims and fancies.
Let me cut down this intro here; but I'd make sure you come closer to me with my future posts.
Adios!
PS - I do not know any more Spanish than the first and last words here. :)
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